City students are hitting the books, and it’s time the rest of Baltimore followed suit as tents line the streets of Mount Vernon Place for the 15th annual Baltimore Book Festival. A collection of readings, discussions, used and new book sales, and live music, the free, three-day festival features more than 200 authors, both local and celebrity.
Spend an afternoon lost in a graphic novel and a cup of coffee from Red Emma’s or hoping for a hint about cycle 15 of America’s Next Top Model during a guest appearance from noted fashion photographer Nigel Barker. In the Author’s Tent, independent authors showcase their published work, including autobiographies, histories, poetry, self-help, fiction, and non-fiction. Surrounding tents feature panels and writers from the Maryland chapter of Romance Writers of America and advice from first-time authors and book business experts about breaking into publishing.
Cookbook images can look so good your mouth waters even before smelling or tasting the dish you plan to prepare. For the reader/foodie, Ikea Baltimore’s Food for Thought Stage offers food demonstrations, a cocktail hour, recipes, and the live advice of chefs and cookbook authors. Fans of Southern cooking beyond the realm of comfort food can learn from brothers Matt and Ted Lee (pictured), co-authors of The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern (featured Saturday at 4:30 p.m.). College students can benefit from Daphne Oz’s The Dorm Room Diet, a 10-step program designed to help students stay healthy their first time away from home (featured Sunday at 1:30 p.m.). Celebrity authors are featured all weekend at the Literary Salon. Buy or bring copies of books from television’s Judge Glenda Hatchett (pictured), author of Dare to Take Charge: How to Live Your Life on Purpose; actress and activist Holly Robinson Peete, who wrote My Brother Charlie; and former NFL quarterback and TV/radio personality Rodney Peete, author of Not My Boy!, all of whom sign their work after readings and panel discussions.
A Book Festival staple, the Radical Bookfair Pavilion, sponsored for the fifth year by Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse, features publications from zines, cartoonists, and journalists who write with independent thought. And City Paper is kicking it recycle-style with our annual leave-a-book, take-a-book table, this year featuring Karma’s Cupcakes.
For Baltimore’s younger readers, a children’s park, author’s tent, and bookstore stage features kid-friendly events during every day of the festival. Storytelling, games, crafts, and discussions with local, published authors are a sampling of activities. (Lauren Slavin)