The 23rd annual Baltimore Book Festival returns to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor on Friday, September 28 through Sunday, September 30, 2018. Produced by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA), the literary arts celebration takes place along the Inner Harbor Promenade, from the Inner Harbor Amphitheater to Rash Field from 11am to 7pm daily. The festival is 100 percent free and open to the public.
In addition to the hundreds of author appearances and book signings, the Baltimore Book Festival features more than 100 exhibitors and bookseller tents, readings on multiple stages, cooking demonstrations and samplings, poetry readings, workshops, panel discussions, storytellers, children’s activities, the annual Storybook Parade and live music. Plus, the three-day festival offers varied local food and craft beverage including Charm City Pops; El Tenedor de Nacho; Farm To Face; Island Quizine; and Smokin’ Joe’s.
Acclaimed local, regional and national authors at the 2018 Baltimore Book Festival include: White House Correspondent April Ryan, Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House, in conversation with 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker; author of four New York Times best sellers, A.J. Jacobs, It’s All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World’s Family Tree; 2018 One Maryland One Book author Tim Junkin, Bloodsworth: The True Story of the First Death Row Inmate Exonerated by DNA Evidence, in a rare appearance with the book’s subject; Hurston/Wright Legacy Award recipient Tayari Jones, An American Marriage (Oprah’s Book Club 2018 Selection); best-selling illustrator and author Ricardo Cortés, Sea Creatures from the Sky; Green Lantern: Legacy graphic novel writer Minh Lê, Drawn Together; 2018 One Book Baltimore author Nic Stone, Dear Martin; author of young adult romance, Nisha Sharma, My So-Called Bollywood Life; science fiction and fantasy writer Sam J. Miller, Blackfish City: A Novel; PEN/Hemingway Award recipient Ben Fountain, Beautiful Country Burn Again: Democracy, Rebellion, and Revolution; 2018 RWA RITA double finalist Priscilla Oliveras, Her Perfect Affair and Resort to Love; author and The Weekly Reader radio show and podcast host Marion Winik, The Baltimore Book of the Dead; author and retired Lieutenant and Barrack Commander David Reichenbaugh, In Pursuit: The Hunt for the Beltway Snipers; author of New York Times best seller Dread Nation, Justina Ireland; and cookbook author and chef John Shields, The New Chesapeake Kitchen. The full schedule is available at www.baltimorebookfestival.org. The Ivy Bookshop is the festival’s official bookseller and lead curator, and sells copies of appearing authors’ books on-site at the stages and the festival’s bookshop.
The festival offers family-fun adventure with children and young adult authors and illustrators, storytellers, the Storybook Parade, crafts, music and food. The Crafts Corridor, located on the Inner Harbor South Shore Promenade near Rash Field, offers “A Wrinkle in Time”-themed crafts as well as DIY Galaxy Zen Jars and DIY Tesseracts. The festive Storybook Parade returns on Saturday, September 29 at 11am with children’s book characters Junie B. Jones, Cookie Mouse, Peter Rabbit and Wild Thing, together with the Griots’ Circle of Maryland. Book lovers of all ages are welcome to dress as their favorite characters, authors or playwrights and march down the promenade from the South Shore Promenade to the World Trade Center. Throughout the weekend, Poetry in Motion provides students an opportunity to use visual theater to create visual adaptations of Shel Silverstein poetry, play theater games using creative movement, mime and gesture, and learn how to use their bodies as a tool for expression. Enoch Pratt Free Library Children’s Stage features top authors, interactive programs and books for children and teens. Families can also sign up for a library card. Highlights include: a Zumbini music and movement class with Miss Kelly on Friday, September 28 at 12pm; a demonstration and 3D printing pen activity with Open Works Mobile Workshop also on Friday at 3pm; Read to Reef Book Club featuring Ricardo Cortés’ Sea Creatures from the Sky on Saturday, September 29 at 2pm; Brigid Kemmerer, More Than We Can Tell, in conversation with Nisha Sharma, My So-Called Bollywood Life, moderated by Matthew Winner of The Children’s Book Podcast, also on Saturday at 4:30pm; and Children’s Picture Book Panel hosted by Paula Willey, featuring Sarah Jacoby, Forever or a Day, Minh Lê, Drawn Together, and Elizabeth Lilly, Geraldine, on Sunday, September 30 at 1 pm.
The Baltimore Book Festival Music Stage features lively performances by local and regional bands including The Billy Price Charm City Rhythm Band, R&B; Joi Carter, neo-soul; QOK, pop; The Palovations, soul; The Outcalls, indie pop; and ellen cherry, pop.