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

Books in Bloom, the multigenerational, multicultural festival presented by Downtown Columbia Partnership and Howard Hughes Holdings, will feature three poets paying homage to the 50th Anniversary of the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society (HoCoPoLitSo). The 8th annual book festival is set for Saturday, May 11, 11:30-5 p.m., Color Burst Park, Merriweather District, Downtown Columbia. Admission is free.

The Poetry+ program will include remarks, reminiscences and readings by new Howard County Poet Laureate Truth Thomas, Bauder Writer-in-Residence Hayes Davis, and regional poet E. Ethelbert Miller.
Thomas is a singer-songwriter and poet, Davis is a poet and educator, and Miller is a poet, teacher and literary activist. Each of the trio has been associated with HoCoPoLitSo through its various outreach initiatives to local schools, Howard Community College and at other locations in the county. The Poetry+ event will be moderated by HoCoPoLitSo Board Co-Chairs Tara Hart and Tim Singleton.

Other featured attractions at Books in Bloom 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, linguist and social critic Amanda Montell, middle grade novelist Emily Barth Isler, and children’s book author Sue Fliess.
A Student Showcase will feature Howard County student writers from Navigating the Margins and Our Voice Literary Magazine.

See the entire schedule and other activities here.