Congratulations to Kwame Alexander and Anne Enright - two authors who will be featured at the 2015 Gaithersburg Book Festival - for being bestowed prestigious honors recently.
  A local poet and author, Kwame won the 2015 Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contribution to children’s literature for “The Crossover,” his book written in verse about 12-year-old basketball-playing twins. A resident of Herndon, Va., Alexander has previously published “He Said, She Said,” as well as “Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band” and “Indigo Blume and the Garden City,” both NAACP Image Award Nominees. He is also a published playwright and poet. In addition, he earned the designation of an "Honor Book" within the Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award category. The category recognizes an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults.
 In late January, the Irish Arts Council announced that Anne, the Man Booker prize-winning novelist, will serve as Ireland’s first laureate for fiction. According to The New York Times Arts Beat column, "[o]ver a three-year term Ms. Enright will hold university residencies, deliver lectures and take part in public events as she promotes that country’s vibrant literary culture at home and abroad. The title also comes with a cash prize of 150,000 euros (roughly $170,000), distributed between now and 2018. Among her teaching duties will be a semester of creative writing at New York University, a supporter of the award." |
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2015 GBF Attracts Authors
From Ireland to Istanbul
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The sixth annual Gaithersburg Book Festival is expanding its reach, bringing authors from around the world to the grounds of City Hall on May 16.
~ Fiction ~
 Elliot Ackerman served five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and is the recipient of the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for Valor and the Purple Heart. A former White House Fellow, his essays and fiction have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New Republic and Ecotone, among others. His forthcoming novel, “Green on Blue,” is due out in February 2015. Elliot has been interviewed in The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and appeared on Charlie Rose, The Colbert Report, NPR Talk of the Nation, Meet the Press, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Al Jazeera and PBS News Hour. Elliot currently lives in Istanbul with his wife and two children, and writes on the Syrian Civil War.
 Anne Enright was born in Dublin, where she now lives and works. She recently was appointed Ireland’s very first Fiction Laureate, a new post created by Arts Council Ireland. She has published three volumes of stories, one book of non-fiction and five novels. Her 2007 novel, “The Gathering,” won the Man Booker Prize, and her last novel, “The Forgotten Waltz,” won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.
 Katherine Heiny’s fiction has been published in The New Yorker, Ploughshares, Narrative, Glimmer Train and many other places. “Single, Carefree, Mellow” is her first book. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and children.
Benjamin Percy is the author of three novels, “The Dead Lands,” “Red Moon” and “The Wilding,” as well as two books of short stories, “Refresh, Refresh”
and “The  Language of Elk.” His fiction and non-fiction have been read on National Public Radio, performed at Symphony Space and published by Esquire (where he is a contributing editor), GQ, Time, Men’s Journal, Outside, The Wall Street Journal, The Paris Review, McSweeney’s, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train and Tin House. He also writes for Detective Comics. His honors include a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Whiting Writers’ Award, two Pushcart Prizes, the Plimpton Prize and inclusion in “Best American Short Stories” and “Best American Comics.” He is adapting “Red Moon” as a series with Oscar-winner Akiva Goldsman (“A Beautiful Mind” and “I am Legend”) with producer Ilene Staple for FOX TV. He is also currently at work on the screenplay adaptation of “The Wilding” for filmmaker Tanya Wexler (“Hysteria”). He is currently the writer-in-residence at St. Olaf College and teaches in the low-residency M.F.A. program at Pacific University.
~ Mystery ~
 James Grady is The New York Times best-selling author of “Six Days of the Condor,” which became the Robert Redford movie “Three Days of the Condor.” Besides working as a screenwriter for CBS, FX, HBO and major studios, James’ journalism includes street time as a muckraker for columnist Jack Anderson after Watergate and being a cultural columnist for AOL’s PoliticsDaily.com. Internationally renowned for his work, James won France’s Grand Prix du Roman Noir and Italy’s Raymond Chandler medal, and was named by London’s Daily Telegraph as “one of 50 crime writers to read before you die.”
~ Non-Fiction ~
 Alice Eve Cohen is a theater artist and playwright. Her first book, a memoir titled “What I Thought I Knew,” received the Elle magazine Literary Grand Prix for Non-fiction, was one of O: The Oprah Magazine’s 25 Best Books of Summer and was one of Salon’s Best Books of the Year. She has written for Nickelodeon, CTW and CBS and has toured her solo plays internationally. Her new memoir, “The Year My Mother Came Back,” will be published in March. Alice earned a B.A. from Princeton University and an M.F.A. from the New School, where she currently teaches.
 David Gelles is a staff writer for The New York Times and its business blog, DealBook. Previously, he was a correspondent for the Financial Times, and his work has appeared in Forbes, The Los Angeles Times and other publications. David’s book, “Mindful Work: How Meditation Is Changing Business from the Inside Out,” brings together his 15 years of meditation practice with his work as a business journalist.
 Charles King is the author of “Midnight at the Pera Palace,” “Odessa” and other books on European history and politics. He is a professor of International Affairs and Government at Georgetown University, where he previously served as chairman of the faculty of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. A frequent media commentator on global affairs, King has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Foreign Affairs, the Times Literary Supplement and other publications, and has appeared on broadcast media such as NPR, the BBC, CNN and MSNBC.
 Nina MacLaughlin lives in Cambridge, Mass., where she works as a carpenter and a writer. Formerly an editor at the Boston Phoenix, she has written for the Believer, Bookslut, the Los Angeles Review of Books and elsewhere. Her book, “Hammer Head,” details her experience leaving her job at an alt-weekly to become a carpenter.
 Mary Norris has spent more than three decades as a copy editor (or “prose goddess”) at The New Yorker, where she’s worked with such celebrated writers as Philip Roth, Pauline Kael and George Saunders. She has written for The Talk of the Town and for newyorker.com, on topics ranging from her cousin Dennis Kucinich to mud wrestling in Rockaway. She is best known for her pieces on pencils and punctuation. Norris’s love of language, and her wish to help “all of you who want to feel better about your grammar,” led her to write her first book, “Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen.”
 Michael Signer is an author, advocate, political theorist and attorney. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from University of California Berkeley; a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and a B.A. in politics, magna cum laude, from Princeton University. He is the author of “Demagogue: The Fight to Save Democracy from Its Worst Enemies.” Michael’s writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Republic and USA Today, and he reviews books for The Daily Beast. He has appeared on MSNBC, Fox News, the BBC and NPR.
 Jacob Silverman’s work has been published in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Slate, The Atlantic, The New Republic and many other publications. In 2008, the Virginia Quarterly Review recognized him as one of the top literary critics under 30, and in 2012 he was a three-time “Jeopardy!” champion. He is also on the board of Deep Vellum, a new publisher of international literature.
~ Young Adults ~
 Winifred Conkling studied journalism at Northwestern University and received her M.A. in writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her first book for children, “Sylvia & Aki,” won the 2012 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award for Older Readers and the 2012 Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award. She also has written more than 30 non-fiction books for adults, most involving health and consumer topics.
 Gene Luen Yang is the author of “American Born Chinese,” the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award and the first to win the ALA’s Printz Award. “Boxers & Saints,” about the Boxer Rebellion, was nominated for a National Book Award and won The Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Gene has done a number of other graphic novels, including the comics continuation of the popular Nickelodeon cartoon “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” In addition to cartooning, he also teaches high school computer science, as well as creative writing through Hamline University. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
~ Childrens ~
 Tracey Baptiste was born in Trinidad where she grew up on jumbie stories and fairy tales. She decided to be a writer at the wise old age of three. Her debut, a young adult novel titled “Angel’s Grace,” was named one of the 100 best books for reading and sharing by New York City librarians. Her second young adult novel, “The Jumbies,” is due out this spring.
 Lana Krumwiede is the creator of the Psi Chronicles series. Her forthcoming picture book, “Just Itzy,” features the Itzy Bitzy Spider of nursery rhyme fame… and perhaps a few other familiar nursery rhyme characters. Lana’s work has appeared in Highlights, High Five, Spider, Babybug, The Friend and Chicken Soup for the Child’s Soul. Before becoming a writer, Lana worked as an office manager, a stay-at-home mom, a teacher, a swimming instructor and a reading tutor.
 Erica S. Perl is excited to return to the Gaithersburg Book Festival with “Goatilocks and the Three Bears,” the tale of a hungry kid who makes a meal, a mess, and – hopefully – amends. Erica is also the author of popular picture books including “King of the Zoo,” “Chicken Butt!” and “Dotty,” plus novels for older readers (“When Life Gives You O.J.” and “Aces Wild”). Her books have been featured on NPR, The Washington Post, Read Kiddo Read, Slate and Amazon’s Best Books.
 Adam Rubin is The New York Times best-selling author of half a dozen children’s stories, including “Dragons Love Tacos,” “Secret Pizza Party,”” Big Bad Bubble” and the Darn Squirrels Trilogy. Adam lives in New York City, went to school at Washington University in St. Louis and spent his “formative” years in Chicago. Adam’s interests include puzzles, camping, magic tricks, improv comedy, 3D printing, fine dining and cartoons. |
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Book Drive Winner Announced
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The Gaithersburg Book Festival and the Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spa in the Kentlands extend heartfelt thanks to all who donated to the 2014 children’s book drive, and we congratulate Mitch Bass, the winner of the free massage or facial at Hand and Stone.
Everyone who donated received a coupon from Kentlands Hand and Stone for free aromatherapy on a massage or $10 off an Exceptional Facial and was entered to win a free massage or facial.
“We received about 100 books and, with the help of Stephanie Brant, principal of Gaithersburg Elementary School, are delighted to get them into the hands of kids and families in Gaithersburg,” said Jud Ashman, Festival chair and mayor of the City of Gaithersburg. “We are fostering a culture of reading in our children, and these books help us with our mission to promote literacy.”
“We are truly appreciative of the generosity of our wonderful patrons and their support of this program. Seeing the excitement that kids have for reading could not be more rewarding,” said Kay Hechler, owner, Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spa. “The Kentlands Hand and Stone looks forward to working with the Gaithersburg Book Festival on building this program and delivering more books to our community.”
If you are interested in learning more about the donation program, please email Kay Hechler. |
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The Gaithersburg Book Festival offers sponsorships to fit a variety of budgets, and organizers can tailor a sponsorship package to fit any company’s needs. Depending on the level of sponsorship, a company can be featured prominently in Festival-related advertising, as well as its e-newsletter, blog, website and program; receive complimentary exhibit space and/or exclusive naming rights to author pavilions; and earn complimentary admission to the exclusive Author Reception preceding the Festival.
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GBF Still Accepting Applications from Literary Vendors
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If you’ve got literary wares to sell, the Gaithersburg Book Festival has buyers!
With tens of thousands of visitors and more than 100 award-winning and best-selling authors expected to converge at the grounds of City Hall on Saturday, May 16, the Festival will offer an excellent opportunity to capture the attention of book lovers and avid readers of all ages. Growing in attendance each year, the Festival attracts literary-minded individuals from around the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and many states around the country. ~Literary Vendors~Literary Vendor spaces – which include a 10’ x 10’ canopy, one 6-foot table and two chairs – are available throughout the Festival grounds. Vendors are responsible for bringing their own table covering and decorative materials, and must operate only within their assigned space. The cost for Literary Vendors ranges from $100 to $175. Vendor acceptance will be dependent upon literary applicability, the quality and engagement level of the activities offered, and number of spaces available. To receive published literary vendor rates, applications must be submitted by Monday, March 16. Applications will be accepted until 5 p.m. Eastern time on April 3, 2015; however, applications submitted between March 16 and April 3 will incur and must include a $25 late fee. The application for this exhibiting opportunity is available on the Exhibit page of the Festival website. |
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6th Annual Gaithersburg Book
Festival
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Saturday
May 16, 2015
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On the Grounds of
City Hall in
Olde Towne Gaithersburg, Md.
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The Deadline is Near:
Short Story Contest Entries Due February 20
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Only a few more days are left for high school students in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., to submit stories to the Gaithersburg Book Festival High School Student Short Story Contest. This year, we’re trying a new format -- instead of being guided by opening lines, students entering the 2015 contest will draw inspiration from photographs taken by three Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) high school students.
To participate in the short story contest, individuals must be enrolled in grades 9-12 at a public or private school, or in a homeschool program, for the 2014-15 school year, and reside in Maryland, Virginia or the District of Columbia. Stories must be no longer than 1,000 words and must be inspired by one of the three photographs posted on the Gaithersburg Book Festival website.
Stories must be submitted as a Word document by midnight ET on February 20, 2015. Up to 12 stories will be selected as finalists and posted on the Gaithersburg Book Festival website prior to the Book Festival. The first-, second- and third-place winners will be announced at the Festival on Saturday, May 16, 2015, and will be awarded $100, $50 and $25 gift certificates, respectively, courtesy of the Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus. The three photographs, plus complete contest rules can be found on the Gaithersburg Book Festival website.
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GBF Presents an Evening with
Jeffery Deaver
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 You don’t have to wait until May 16 to see top-notch authors brought to you by the Gaithersburg Book Festival. We’ll be kicking off the festivities on April 16 when we host an evening with best-selling mystery author Jeffery Deaver at the Bethesda Library. Deaver is best known for his book “The Bone Collector,” which was made into a film starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.
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Welcome to Our Newest Sponsors
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The GBF would like to thank the latest sponsors to commit their support to the 2015 Gaithersburg Book Festival:
~Pavilion Sponsors~
Holy Cross Germantown Hospital (Trinity Health)
Lakeforest Mall
Novavax, Inc.
Watkins Mill Town Center (BP Realty Investments, LLC)
~Book Lovers~
Allied Party Rentals
DANAC Corporation
The Elegant Envelope
Friends of the Library
Hess Construction and Engineering
Signs By Tomorrow
~Festival Friends~
City of Gaithersburg - Education Enrichment Committee
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~Partners ~
~Featured Sponsors ~
~Festival Sponsor ~
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