Books in Bloom Festival Set for Saturday, May 11 at Color Burst Park

New York Times-bestselling author and iHeart Radio Award-winning podcaster Amanda Montell is a headliner at the 8th annual Books in Bloom festival on May 11, 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m., in Color Burst Park, Merriweather District, Downtown Columbia. The multigenerational, multicultural event, presented by Downtown Columbia Partnership and Howard Hughes Holdings, is free of charge.

Montel, a linguist, is the author of “Cultish,” “Wordslut,” and, most recently, “The Age of Magical Overthinking.” Her podcast “Sounds Like a Cult” was named a best podcast of 2022 by Vulture, Esquire, Marie Claire, and others, and won the 2023 iHeart Radio Award for Best Emerging Podcast. During her appearance at Books in Bloom, she will be interviewed by Robin Stimson, Community Engagement Manager for Columbia Association.

In addition to Montell, other attractions include literary novelist Julie Otsuka, book club favorite Helen Simonson, journalist and memoirist Natasha S. Alford, wunderkind scientist and innovator Gitanjali Rao, playwright and essayist R. Eric Thomas, middle grade novelist Emily Barth Isler, and children’s book author Sue Fliess.

See the entire schedule and other activities here, including a poetry reading to celebrate the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society’s (HoCoPoLitSo) 50th anniversary and a showcase of student writers.