The Baltimore Book Festival has announced its headliners for the September weekend event in Waverly. Authors represent voices in literary categories like “adult fiction,” “notable fiction,” “nonfiction: politics and culture,” “nonfiction: music and art,” and more.
International bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater makes her adult fiction debut with “The Listeners,” a story of shifting power and moral choices that is already drawing praise. Her young adult fantasy novels have sold more than five million copies worldwide, so this adult novel debut has been much anticipated.
Jeff Chang is an acclaimed cultural critic and author of the groundbreaking classic “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation.” He will reflect on music, race, and the cultural movements that continue to shape America.
Pioneering trans icon Kate Bornstein will headline a conversation in the “nonfiction: politics and culture” category. Bornstein’s landmark books, “Gender Outlaw” and “My Gender Workbook,” reshaped global conversations on gender and continue to inspire new generations. They are taught in six languages at hundreds of colleges.
Tourmaline, a celebrated artist and activist and a TIME 100 honoree, will discuss her bestselling biography, “Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson.” Her book explores and illuminates the life of one of the most influential figures in LGBTQ+ history, and Tourmaline brings it to the Baltimore Book Festival stage. Tourmaline is also a Guggenheim Fellow.
In the “nonfiction: memoir and autobiography” category, Lee Hawkins brings his deeply personal and historically grounded book “I Am Nobody’s Slave: How Uncovering My Family’s History Set Me Free” to the festival. Hawkins is a 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist, and his book uncovers his family’s story from enslavement to emancipation in a work that has already earned wide critical praise.
As for local literary heroes, Hannah V. Sawyerr headlines in the notable fiction category, as her sophomore novel in verse, “Truth Is,” is set for release on Sept. 23. Sawyerr was Youth Poet Laureate of Baltimore in 2016, and her debut novel in verse, “All the Fighting Parts,” was a finalist for the William C. Morris Debut award, a Walter Dean Myers Award Honoree, a Rise Feminist Book Project Top Ten Title, and a Kirkus Best Book of the Year.
Also from Baltimore, State Sen. Cory V. McCray will discuss his book, “The Apprenticeship That Saved My Life.” McCray was raised in Baltimore and became a journeyman electrician, then a member of the Maryland General Assembly. His life was transformed by a union apprenticeship – an experience that shifted his trajectory from the job site to public leadership.
Other local voices include music writer and critic Lawrence Burney, music journalist Al Shipley, and renowned poet Shane McCrae. These, along with writers from around the nation and globe, will make the Baltimore Book Festival a venue for unforgettable storytelling and conversations about identity, history, and the cultural forces shaping our world and our future.
For the full schedule of events, visit Baltimore Book Festival’s website.
