Getting = Lit=C2=A0|=C2=A0What Weekly Magazine

Documenting the Baltimore=20 Renaissance

Getting Lit

14 September = 2011

=E2=98=85 Gregg Wilhelm, Theresa Keil, & Matt = Kelley

=20

The Baltimore Book=20 Festival is next weekend~ September 23-25!

*The photos were taken at last year=E2=80=99s Book Festival by = Theresa Keil and=20 Matt Kelley.

Given declining rates of reading, = decimation of=20 brick-and-mortar bookstores large (Borders) and small (Looking Glass in=20 Portland, OR, as just one example), and the boring homogeneity of = reading=20 different types of books on the same e-reader, one might think that the = phrase=20 =E2=80=9Cbook festival=E2=80=9D is an oxymoron. But not only does = Baltimore=E2=80=99s literary community=20 defy that perception, it does so twice a year with two book festivals. = In April,=20 CityLit Festival with partner Enoch Pratt Free Library presents seven = jam-packed=20 hours of indoor literary programs. In September, in less than two weeks = in fact,=20 the three-day outdoor Baltimore Book Festival sprouts up in Mt. Vernon. =

The latter often takes an unfair hit as being somehow less bookish = and more=20 formulaic with its music, beer, and food stands (here=E2=80=99s the same = festival=20 recipe, insert random cultural focus here). Some raise an eyebrow with = =E2=80=9Cauthor=E2=80=9D=20 line-ups that include the likes of Tim Gunn, Candace Bushnell, and = whoever the=20 actress is who played Marcia Brady. I may not be a fan of these = celebri-writers=20 either, but I know what makes for a good festival. The Baltimore Office = of=20 Promotion and The Arts, which produces the festival, strikes the perfect = balance=20 with its annual autumnal salute to the written word. In full disclosure, = CityLit=20 Project has been a programming partner with the Baltimore Book Festival = for=20 several years.

We can hide away in a corner and read a book to ourselves, which I = often do.=20 But a festival is something different. It is communal, noisy, and at = times,=20 raucous. Take a fresh look at the Baltimore Book Festival by surfing its = new web=20 site, which epitomizes all that is good in any festival: quality, = diversity,=20 fun, and collaboration. That last word is important, because it is the = way=20 things get done in these recession-anchored times. But even before it = became=20 fiscally prudent to act collaboratively, the Baltimore Book Festival was = partnering with writers, publishers, and literary organizations to = provide much=20 of the weekend=E2=80=99s content. Those partnerships now include, in = addition to=20 CityLit, the Baltimore Free School, The Children=E2=80=99s Bookstore, = Johns Hopkins=20 University Press, the Maryland Humanities Council, and Red = Emma=E2=80=99s Bookstore=20 Coffee House. These entities often further collaborate with other = organizations=20 to cover the spectrum of the region=E2=80=99s literary community: the = local literary=20 scene, literature and language, children=E2=80=99s literature, academic = and regional=20 literature, the humanities, and political/social awareness issues.

Festival managers also add their own programming notes primarily for = the=20 Literary Salon stage. Authors featured this year include Sherman Alexie = (author=20 of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the Maryland = Humanities=20 Council=E2=80=99s One Maryland One Book selection); Myla Goldberg, most = widely known for=20 her 2000 debut novel Bee Season and who represents the vanguard of=20 Brooklyn-based writers; Tavis Smiley, talk show host and political = commentator;=20 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger, master of psychological = thrillers;=20 Erin Morgenstern, whose debut The Night Circus is part-J.K. Rowling, = part-Neil=20 Gaiman, part-Stephenie Meyer that=E2=80=99s being positioned=E2=80=93for = better or for worse=E2=80=93as=20 the post-Potter torchbearer; and Terry McMillan with Getting to Happy, a = sequel=20 to her bestselling hit Waiting to Exhale.

Want a more social justice edge to your festival experience? Check = out=20 CityLit Stage=E2=80=99s Saturday program, its special presentation, = =E2=80=9CWriting About Crime=20 and Justice=E2=80=9D on Sunday in the Literary Salon, or =E2=80=9CSocial = Movements and State=20 Repression, Then and Now=E2=80=9D at the Radical Bookfair Pavilion on = Sunday afternoon.=20 Families will find a variety of programming in the west park.

Mix in plenty of food vendors, beer, and music (band Red Sammy takes = its name=20 from a Flannery O=E2=80=99Connor short story), and here is a festival = that celebrates=20 the written word, the artists who create it, and the readers who enjoy = it.

I have attended several book festivals with different venues, = formats, and=20 footprints. It is hard to beat the combination of selection, = navigability,=20 collaboration, and community building found at the Baltimore Book = Festival. (For=20 the record, I think the Boston Book Festival, Decatur Book Festival, and = Texas=20 Book Festival are excellent, too.) Few Baltimore city events do as = admirable a=20 job as the book festival in catering to so many tastes while still = making the=20 event what every festival should be: FUN.

NOTE: What Weekly contributor Baynard Woods appears on the CityLit = Stage at=20 Baltimore Book Festival on Saturday, September 24 at 6:30 with Mike = Young, We=20 Are All Good If They Try Hard Enough; Dominic Smith, Bright and Distant = Shores;=20 and music by Cliff Murphy and Her Fantastic Cats.

Gregg Wilhelm
Executive Director
CityLit Project