The 2022 Gaithersburg Book Festival was a resounding success at its new location, Bohrer Park. It had far more shade and the tents seemed to be full from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
We had a lovely reception at Asbury Methodist Village for the authors and presenters, and I’ll share those photos here (Thanks to Photographer Bruce Guthrie!):
- Julia Kuo, Jenn Koiter, Courtney LeBlanc, Kristin Ferragut, Emily Perez
- Me, Cris, Shellie and her husband
- High School Poetry Final Judge Gregory Luce
- Poet and Moderator Fran Abrams
- Kristin Ferragut and friend
- Courtney LeBlanc, Me, and Cris
- Jenn Koiter
- Jay Hall Carpenter
- Jay Hall Carpenter and Kristin Ferragut
Here are some of the photos I took from the Edgar Allan Poe tent where the poetry programming was located.
We had 2 mixed genre panels as well — one with short stories (brilliant Tara Cambell’s Cabinet of Wrath) and poetry and another with nonfiction/memoir (brilliant Leslie Wheeler’s Poetry’s Possible Worlds) and poetry. (these are my own photos, except for the one with Jay Hall Carpenter, Lisa Stice, and Lucinda Marshall)
- Lesley Wheeler
- Jay Carpenter, Lisa Stice, Lucinda Marshall
- Courtney LeBlanc
- Kristin Ferragut
- Lesley Reading Useful Junk by Erika Meitner
- Emily Perez & Meg Eden
- Jenn Koiter, Tara Campbell, Laura Costas
- Alan King, Luther Jett, Gregory Luce
- Indran Amirthanayagam
We also announced the winners of the High School Poetry Contest. While the first and second place winners were not available for the ceremony, we did have a good crowd with the third place winner and the other honorable finalists.
Gaithersburg Book Festival High School Poetry Contest Winners and Finalists 2022 (taken by city staff)
GIVEAWAY:
Win a package of poetry books from the book festival. The books are:
- Inheritance of Aging Self by Lucinda Marshall (my review)
- Exquisite Bloody, Beating Heart by Courtney LeBlanc (my review)
- Little Wars by W. Luther Jett (my review)
- Poetry’s Possible Worlds by Lesley Wheeler (she was a phenomenal speaker and I plan to read my copy later this year)
- Riffs & Improvisations by Gregory Luce (my review)
Deadline to enter is June 3, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. EST. You must be 18 years old and up to enter.
Leave a comment below with your email to be entered