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

R. Eric Thomas, a television writer, playwright and bestselling author, is a featured attraction at the 8th annual Books in Bloom festival on Saturday, May 11, 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Color Burst Park, Merriweather District, in Downtown Columbia.

The multigenerational, multicultural event, presented by Downtown Columbia Partnership and Howard Hughes Holdings, is free and open to the public.

Thomas is the author of “Here For It, or How to Save Your Soul in Amerca” and “Congratulations, The Best is Over.” The two are collections of essays, both poignant and humorous. He is also the author of the Young Adult novel, “Kings of B’More,” a 2023 Stonewall Honor Book. Thomas will be interviewed at the festival by Howard County LGBTQIA+ Commission Chair Brian Bailey and member Thomas Zei.

Thomas is a mentor in the Howard County Public School System’s “Navigating the Margins” program. Student writers in the program will read from their work during the Books in Bloom Student Showcase, which will also include Our Voice literary magazine writers.

In addition to Thomas, other Books in Bloom attractions include literary novelist Julie Otsuka, book club favorite Helen Simonson, linguist and author Amanda Montell, journalist and memoirist Natasha S. Alford, wunderkind scientist and innovator Gitanjali Rao, 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.