Best-Sellers and Award Winners Joining Us May 21 at the Festival
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Pulitzer Prize winners, New York Times best-sellers, Anthony and Edgar Award honorees, and ALA/YALSA Excellence in Fiction and Non-Fiction winners are among the impressive group of authors and poets who will be joining us May 21, when the Gaithersburg Book Festival returns in-person at Bohrer Park at Summit Hall Farm in Gaithersburg, Md.
~ Non-Fiction ~
 John Feinstein is the author of 45 books to date, including two of the most highly acclaimed sports books of all time: "A Season On The Brink" and "A Good Walk Spoiled," both #1 New York Times best-sellers. More than 20 of his books have been on The New York Times best-seller list, including "A Civil War," "Hard Courts," "The Legends Club" and "Where Nobody Knows Your Name." Fifteen of his books have been teen mysteries; the first of which, "Last Shot," won the Edgar Allan Poe Award and reached No.3 on The New York Times best-seller list. In addition to his books, John has also contributed to The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, Golf Digest, Golf Channel, Sirius XM, CBS Sports Radio, Comcast SportsNet, UMBC Basketball and The Navy Football Radio Network. He will be presenting "Raise a Fist, Take a Knee: Race and the Illusion of Progress in Modern Sports" at the Festival.
Ann Hood is the author of the best-selling novels "The Book That Matters Most," "The Obituary Writer" and "The Knitting Circle" and the memoir, "Comfort: A Journey Through Grief." Her most recent book is the memoir "Fly Girl." She lives in Providence, R.I., and New York City.
 Congressman Jamie Raskin is the U.S. Representative for Maryland’s 8th Congressional District. He served as the Lead House Manager in the second Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, which ended with a 57-43 vote to convict the president for inciting a violent insurrection against the government to overthrow the 2020 presidential election. He serves on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Rep. Raskin is serving his third term on the House Judiciary, Oversight and Administration Committees and is serving his second term on the Rules Committee. He has authored several books, including "We the Students," The Washington Post best-seller "Overruling Democracy: The Supreme Court versus the American People" and The New York Times number one best-seller "Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth and the Trials of American Democracy."
 Congressman Adam Schiff is the U.S. Representative for California’s 28th Congressional District. Rep. Schiff is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and he served as the lead manager in the first impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump. Before he served in Congress, he worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles and as a California State Senator. Adam and his wife, Eve, have two children, Lexi and Eli. Rep. Schiff will be presenting "Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could" at the Festival.
 Kathryn Schulz is a staff writer at The New Yorker and author of the memoir "Lost & Found," an instant national best-seller. She won a National Magazine Award and a Pulitzer Prize in 2015 for “The Really Big One,” an article about seismic risk in the Pacific Northwest. "Lost & Found" grew out of “Losing Streak,” which was originally published in The New Yorker and later anthologized in "The Best American Essays." Her other essays and reporting have appeared in "The Best American Science and Nature Writing," "The Best American Travel Writing" and "The Best American Food Writing." A native of Ohio, she lives with her family on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
~ Fiction ~
 Stephanie Barron, who also writes as Francine Mathews, is the author of 30 novels of suspense, espionage and historical fiction. These include the Jane Austen Mystery Series, of which "Jane and the Year Without a Summer" is her latest title. A graduate of Princeton, Stephanie received an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship in the Humanities and earned a Masters in History from Stanford University. Stephanie has also worked as a journalist and as an intelligence analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency, where she briefly served on the investigation into the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Raised in Potomac, Md., she lives and works in Denver.
 Karen Joy Fowler is The New York Times best-selling author of six novels, including "The Jane Austen Book Club" and "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves," which was the winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Her debut novel, "Sarah Canary," won the Commonwealth medal for best first novel by a Californian, was listed for the Irish Times International Fiction Prize, as well as the Bay Area Book Reviewers Prize, and was a New York Times Notable Book. Her novel, "Sister Noon," was a finalist for the 2001 PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction. Fowler’s short story collection, "Black Glass," won the World Fantasy Award in 1999, and her collection, "What I Didn’t See" won the World Fantasy Award in 2011. She will be presenting "Booth" at the Festival.
 Elena Gorokhova was born and raised in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, Russia. After graduating from Leningrad University, she moved to the United States, carrying one suitcase with 20 kilograms of what used to be her life. Elena is the author of two memoirs published by Simon & Schuster: "A Mountain of Crumbs" and "Russian Tattoo." "A Train to Moscow" is her first novel. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Daily Beast, New Jersey Monthly and The Daily Telegraph, on NPR and BBC Radio, and in a number of literary magazines. She lives and teaches in New Jersey.
 Louise Marburg is the author of "No Diving Allowed" and a previous collection of stories, "The Truth About Me," which was winner of the Independent Press Book Award for Short Stories. Her work has appeared in such journals as Narrative, Ploughshares, STORY, The Hudson Review and many others, and has been supported by the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the Kenyon Writers Workshops and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her third collection of stories, "You Have Reached Your Destination," is forthcoming in September 2022.
 Nathaniel Ian Miller, who holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing and M.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana, is a former resident in the Arctic Circle Expeditionary Program. He has written for Virginia Quarterly Review, and for newspapers in Wisconsin, New Mexico, Montana and Colorado, for which he received multiple Associated Press Awards. He lives with his family on a farm in central Vermont. He will be presenting "The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven" at the Festival.
 Leslie Pietrzyk’s collection of D.C. stories, "Admit This to No One," was called “insidery, insightful and deftly executed” by Washingtonian magazine. She’s the author of three novels, including "Silver Girl," and a previous book of stories, "This Angel on My Chest," winner of the 2015 Drue Heinz Literature Prize. Short fiction/essays have appeared in Ploughshares, Story Magazine, Southern Review, The Gettysburg Review, The Iowa Review, Washingtonian, The Sun, The Washington Post Magazine and others. Awards include a Pushcart Prize in 2020. After living in Northern Virginia for more than 25 years, she recently moved to North Carolina.
 B. A. Shapiro is the best-selling author of "Metropolis," "The Collector's Apprentice," "The Muralist" and "The Art Forger," which won the New England Book Award for Fiction and the Boston Authors Society Award for Fiction, among other honors. Her books have been selected as community reads in numerous cities and translated throughout the world. Before becoming a novelist, she taught sociology at Tufts University and creative writing at Northeastern University. She and her husband, Dan, divide their time between Boston and Florida.
~ Mystery/Thriller ~
 S. A. Cosby is an Anthony Award-winning writer from Southeastern Virginia. He is the author of The New York Times best-seller "Razorblade Tears," which topped multiple “Best” lists including Time, The New York Times, NPR, The Strand and PBS Masterpiece Mystery. He is also the author of "Blacktop Wasteland," which won The Los Angeles Times Book Prize, was a New York Times Notable Book, and was named a best book of the year by NPR, The Guardian and Library Journal, among others. Both books have been optioned for movies. When not writing, he is an avid hiker and chess player.
 Vera Kurian is a writer and scientist based in Washington, D.C. Her debut novel, "Never Saw Me Coming," was published in September 2021. Her short fiction has been published in magazines, such as Glimmer Train, Day One and The Pinch. She has a Ph.D. in Social Psychology, where she studied intergroup relations, ideology and quantitative methods.
 Chris Pavone is the author of "Two Nights in Lisbon," "The Paris Diversion," "The Travelers," "The Accident" and "The Expats." His novels have appeared on the best-seller lists of The New York Times, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal; have won both the Edgar and Anthony awards; are in development for film and television; and have been translated into two dozen languages. Chris grew up in Brooklyn, graduated from Cornell and worked as a book editor for nearly two decades. He lives in New York City and on the North Fork of Long Island with his family.
 Brendan Nicholaus Slocumb was raised in Fayetteville, N.C., and earned a degree in music education (with concentrations in violin and viola) from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. For more than 20 years, he has been a public and private school music educator and has performed with orchestras throughout Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. He is author of "The Violin Conspiracy," and is currently working on his second novel.
 Ashley Winstead is the author of "In My Dreams I Hold a Knife," "Fool Me Once" and the forthcoming thriller, "The Last Housewife." A graduate of Vanderbilt University with a Ph.D. in English from Southern Methodist University, she has lived the itinerant millennial life, working in academia, the music industry, the entertainment industry and philanthropy. She currently lives in Houston with her husband.
~ Poetry ~
 Indran Amirthanayagam writes in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Haitian Creole. He has published 21 poetry books, including the just-released "Blue Window," "Ten Thousand Steps Against the Tyrant," "The MigrantStates," "Coconuts on Mars, The Elephants of Reckoning," "Uncivil War" and "The Splintered Face: Tsunami Poems." In music, he recorded "Rankont Dout." He edits the Beltway Poetry Quarterly; co-directs Poets & Writers Studio International; writes a weekly poem for Haiti en Marche and El Acento; has received fellowships from the Foundation for the Contemporary Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, The US/Mexico Fund for Culture and the Macdowell Colony. He is a 2021 Emergent Seed grant winner. His poem “ Free Bird” has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. He also hosts The Poetry Channel. New books, including "Powèt nan po la" (Poet of the Port) and "Isleño," will be published in late 2021 and early 2022.
 Tara Campbell is a writer, teacher, Kimbilio Fellow and fiction co-editor at Barrelhouse. She received her M.F.A. from American University. Previous publication credits include SmokeLong Quarterly, Masters Review, Wigleaf, Booth, Strange Horizons, CRAFT Literary and Escape Pod/Artemis Rising. She's the author of a novel, "TreeVolution," and four collections: "Circe's Bicycle," "Midnight at the Organporium," "Political AF: A Rage Collection" and "Cabinet of Wrath: A Doll Collection."
 Laura Costas is an artist, writer and Washington, D.C., native. She is the author of "Fabulae, Tales for an Age of Ambivalence" and "Honest Stories." She loves big ideas and would like to know what you think. She will be presenting "Ariadne Awakes, Instructions for the Labyrinth" at the Festival.
 Alan King is a Caribbean American poet, whose parents emigrated to the U.S. from Trinidad and Tobago in the early '70s. He's a father, husband and author of "Crooked Smiling Light," "Point Blank" and "Drift." King's poetry caught the attention of U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, who said: "Alan King is one of my favorite up-and-coming poets of his generation. His poems are not pop and flash, rather more like a slow dance with someone you're going to love forever." He lives with his family in Bowie, Md.
 Meg Eden Kuyatt is a 2020 Pitch Wars mentee, and teaches creative writing at Anne Arundel Community College. She is the author of the 2021 Towson Prize for Literature winning poetry collection “Drowning in the Floating World” and children’s novels, most recently “Selah’s Guide to Normal.”
 Erika Meitner is the author of six books of poems, including "Ideal Cities" — a 2009 National Poetry Series winner; "Copia;" and "Holy Moly Carry Me" — winner of the 2018 National Jewish Book Award and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in poetry. Her work has appeared most recently in The New Yorker, VQR, The New Republic, Poetry Northwest, Orion and The Believer. Erika is currently a professor of English at Virginia Tech. Her newest book, "Useful Junk," will be available April 2022.
 Emily Pérez is the author of "What Flies Want," winner of the Iowa Prize; "House of Sugar, House of Stone" and the chapbooks "Made and Unmade" and "Backyard Migration Route." She is co-editor of the anthology "The Long Devotion: Poets Writing Motherhood." A CantoMundo fellow and Ledbury Emerging Critic, her poetry has appeared in Poetry Northwest, Prairie Schooner, Copper Nickel, Poetry and Fairy Tale Review, and her reviews appear in RHINO, The Guardian and The Georgia Review. She teaches in Denver, where she lives with her family.
 Lisa Stice is a poet/mother/military spouse. She is the author of three full-length collections, "Forces," "Permanent Change of Station" and "Uniform," and a chapbook, "Desert." She is poetry editor for Inklette Magazine, and she volunteers with the Military Spouse Fine Artists Network (MilspoFAN) and the Veterans Writing Project. While it is difficult to say where home is, she currently lives in North Carolina with her husband, daughter and dog.
 Lesley Wheeler’s most recent book is "Poetry’s Possible Worlds," a memoir of reading poetry during a time of crisis. Her previous books include "The State She’s In," her fifth poetry collection, and "Unbecoming," her first novel. Her work has received support from the Fulbright Foundation, Bread Loaf, Sewanee Writers Workshop and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Lesley’s poems and essays appear in Kenyon Review Online, Poetry, American Poetry Review, Guernica, Massachusetts Review and other journals. Poetry Editor of Shenandoah, she lives in Lexington, Va.
~ Children's ~
 Jonathan Auxier is The New York Times best-selling and critically acclaimed author of "Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes," "The Night Gardener," "Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard" and Sweep. He lives with his family in Pittsburgh. Jonathan will be presenting "Belly of the Beast" (The Fabled Stables Book #3) at the Festival.
 Fred Bowen is the author of 27 sports books for young readers ages 8-12. He is the creator and author of the Fred Bowen Sports Story series, 24 books that combine sports fiction, sports history and always have a chapter of sports history in the back. Fred also has written three sports history books, including "Hardcourt: Stories From 75 Years of the National Basketball Association." Since April 2000, Fred has written a weekly kids’ sports column for the KidsPost page of The Washington Post. He lives in Silver Spring, Md., with his wife Peggy Jackson.
Sheela Chari is the author of the Edgar Award finalist "Vanished" and "Finding Mighty," a Children's Choice Award finalist and Junior Library Guild selection. She lives with her family in New York. She will be presenting "Karthik Delivers" at the Festival.
 Angela Dominguez was born in Mexico City, and now resides on the East Coast. She is the author and illustrator of several books for children, including the Pura Belpré Illustration Honor books "Mango, Abuela, and Me" (written by Meg Medina) and "Maria Had a Little Llama." She will be presenting "Stella Díaz to the Rescue" at the Festival. When Angela is not in her studio, she teaches at the Academy of Art University. Angela is a proud member of SCBWI and PEN America, and is represented by Wernick and Pratt Literary Agency.
Marti Dumas taught elementary school literacy for 10 years, conducts teacher literacy trainings, and is the author of "Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest." She lives in New Orleans with her family. Marti will be presenting "Wildseed Witch" (Book 1) at the Festival.
 Clare Fieseler, Ph.D., is a National Geographic explorer, photojournalist and conservation biologist. She has conducted field research on coral reefs and climate-threatened marine environments across the world. She is currently the Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. As a journalist, Clare reports on emerging environmental problems. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post and Vox. In 2019, she won the prestigious AAAS Mass Media Fellowship. Clare is most proud of the time she rappelled down a rock cliff with a broken foot to photograph the world’s most endangered fern. She will be presenting "No Boundaries: 25 Women Explorers and Scientists Share Adventures, Inspiration, and Advice" at the Festival.
 John Gallagher is the art director of the National Wildlife Foundation's Ranger Rick magazine, co-founder of Kids Love Comics (an organization that uses graphic novels to promote literacy), and leads workshops teaching kids how to create their own comics. John lives in Virginia with his wife and their three kids. He will be presenting "Max Meow Book 3: Pugs from Planet X" at the Festival.
 Joyce Hesselberth’s illustrations have appeared in national ad campaigns, theater productions, and major newspapers and magazines. She writes and illustrates children’s books, including "Mapping Sam," which won a special mention award in the Bologna Ragazzi non-fiction category. Her most recent book, "Beatrice Was a Tree," was published in 2021. Her work has been recognized by American Illustration, Society of Illustrators and the Art Directors’ Club of New York, among others. She and her husband David Plunkert co-founded Spur Design in 1995. Spur Design is located in a renovated factory building in Baltimore, Md. Joyce is also a professor of illustration at Maryland Institute College of Art.
 Hena Khan is a Pakistani-American writer. She is the author of the middle grade novels, "Amina’s Voice," "Amina’s Song," "More to the Story" and the Zara’s Rules series, and picture books, "Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns," "Under My Hijab" and "It’s Ramadan, Curious George," among others. She will be presenting "Zara's Rules for Record-Breaking Fun" at the Festival. Hena lives in her hometown of Rockville, Md., with her family.
 Scott Magoon has illustrated several acclaimed picture books, including The New York Times best-selling "Rescue and Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship" by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes, "Misunderstood Shark" by Ame Dyckman, "Spoon" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and The Nuts series by Eric Litwin. He is also the author-illustrator of "Breathe" and "The Boy Who Cried Bigfoot!" He lives in Massachusetts. His most recent title is "The Extincts: Quest for the Unicorn Horn" (The Extincts #1).
 Dr. Christle Nwora works at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. She is also part of the Black Girl White Coat initiative, which provides mentorship and support for people of color working in medicine. She dreams of a future where all people are able to enjoy their healthiest and happiest lives! She will be presenting "The Hospital: The Inside Story" at the Festival.
 Rex Ogle is the award-winning author of nearly a hundred books, comics and graphic novels — most notably "Free Lunch," which won the ALA/YALSA Excellence in Non-Fiction award. He has worked at DC Comics, Scholastic and Little Brown Young Readers, where he edited over a dozen New York Times best-sellers, including Neil Patrick Harris’s "Magic Misfits. Rex also writes under the pen name Rey Terciero (a nickname given by his Abuela). Now, Rex lives in Los Angeles where he writes full-time — that is, when he’s not outdoors hiking with his dog Toby, playing MarioKart with friends, or reading. He will be presenting "The Supernatural Society" at the Festival.
 Charly Palmer is a graphic designer, illustrator, and the Africana Book Award and Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Award winner for "Mama Africa!" As a child, he was fascinated by Ezra Jack Keats’s illustrations for "The Snowy Day," which inspired Charly’s own use of color and geometric shapes. He studied art and design at the American Academy of Art and the School of the Art Institute, both in Chicago. Charly will be presenting "The Legend of Gravity: A Tall Basketball Tale" at the Festival.
 NoNieqa Ramos is an educator and writer of picture books and young adult literature. They wrote "The Disturbed Girl's Dictionary," a 2019 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Selection. Their debut picture book, "Your Mama," illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántara was selected by The Virginia Center for the Book as Virginia’s GREAT READ for 2021. "Your Mama" also was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize, a School Library Journal Best Picture Book of 2021, a Kirkus Best Picture Book of the 2021, and a National Council of English Books Notable Poetry Book. NoNieqa is a proud member of Las Musas Books collective, the Soaring 20s PB debut group and www.pbtales2022.com/books. They will be presenting "Beauty Woke" at the Festival.
 Peter H. Reynolds is The New York Times best-selling author/illustrator and beloved creator of more than 50 award-winning picture books, including "The Dot," "Our Table," "The Word Collector," "Happy Dreamer," "Be You," "Going Places" and "Love You By Heart," as well as illustrator of the Judy Moody & Stink series. Peter is founder of Boston-based educational media and interactive developer FableVision that creates positive media, storytelling and tech-powered learning tools. He oversees InternationalDotDay.org a global celebration of creativity, which has attracted more than 21 million in 196 countries. He founded the indie bookshop, The Blue Bunny, nearly two decades ago in Dedham, Mass.
 Dave Roman is the author/illustrator of the Astronaut Academy series (winner of Maryland’s Black-Eyed Susan Book Award) and writer of the graphic novels, "Teen Boat! Race for Boatlantis" (with John Patrick Green) and "Agnes Quill: An Anthology of Mystery." He has contributed stories and art to "Goosebumps Graphix: Slappy’s Tales of Horror," "Nursery Rhyme Comics" and the Flight series. Dave is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts, a former editor at Nickelodeon Magazine, and is currently the editor for First Second’s Science Comics and History Comics ongoing series of non-fiction graphic novels. He lives in New York City and draws a webcomic called "Starbunny, Inc."
 June Smalls has been making up stories since she only had pets and stuffed animals to share them with. She is the author of fiction and non-fiction picture books, such as "He Leads: Mountain Gorilla, a Gentle Giant" and "Odd Animal ABC’s," as well as books for the educational market. June is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and resides in Northern Virginia with her family and an ever-growing assortment of animals.
Tammy Tomlinson is author of "Daniel, the Golden Retriever." She also is the owner of Hillock Goldens, a small home-based kennel in Western Pennsylvania that has been active in golden retrievers since 1971.
~ Teen/Young Adult ~
 Natasha Friend is the author of several YA and middle-grade novels that tackle the truths of teen and tween lives. Her most recent YA novels are "How We Roll" and "The Other F-Word (FSG)," the latter received starred reviews from PW and Booklist and was named on the Rainbow List and ILA Young Adult's Choice Reading List. Natasha lives in Connecticut with her family and two crazy dogs. When she isn’t writing, she is reading, watching baseball pants and wishing she was in a talent show. She will be presenting "The Wolves Are Waiting" at the Festival.
 Diana Ma is a Chinese American author who holds a B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Washington and an M.A. in English with a creative writing focus from the University of Illinois, Chicago. She lives in a suburb of Seattle. Her most recent novel is "Her Rebel Highness."
 Sajni Patel is the author of the YA rom-com, “My Sister’s Big Fat Indian Wedding.” Kirkus Reviews said: “Patel lovingly portrays the rich and vibrant festivities of a Gujarati Hindu wedding celebration… a sweet and entertaining romp.” Sajni is also the author of “The Trouble with Hating You,” published with Grand Central/Forever and selected by Apple Books for its “10 Debuts to Read” in 2020. Her YA debut, “The Knockout,” was published in January 2021 from Flux. She currently lives in Texas.
 Gilly Segal grew up in Florida, came of age in Israel, where she served in the IDF and graduated from Hebrew University, and finally decided to call Decatur, Ga., home. By day, she’s a lawyer for an advertising agency. By night, she is a caped crusader! No, just kidding (she wishes). Her real not-actually-secret identity is writer. She’s been writing in one form or another since she wrote her first young adult novel – a Sunfire YA romance fanfic – typed out on an electric typewriter. Although she will confess it was titled "Claudia," she will neither confirm nor deny that any copies still exist. Her debut young adult novel, "I’m Not Dying With You Tonight," co-written with Kimberly Jones, is a New York Times best-seller and NAACP Image Award Nominee. She is represented by Tracey Adams of Adams Literary and is a Georgia Author of the Year Nominee.
 Zack Smedley was born in 1995, in an endearing Southern Maryland county almost no one has heard of. His critically acclaimed debut novel, "Deposing Nathan," was a Kirkus Best Books of 2019 selection, an ALA Rainbow List selection, a Lambda Literary Award finalist and winner of the 2019 YA Bi Book Award. Alongside writing, he has a degree in Chemical Engineering from UMBC and currently works within the field. He spends his free time building furniture, baking, programming, screenwriting and tinkering with electronic systems. Zack will be presenting "Tonight We Rule the World" at the Festival.
 Phil Stamper is the best-selling author of "The Gravity of Us" and "As Far As You’ll Take Me." His stories are packed with queer joy, and his characters are often too ambitious for their own good. Born and raised in a rural village near Dayton, Ohio, he now lives outside New York City with his husband and their dog. "Golden Boys" is the first in a duology.
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12 Finalists Announced in
High School Poetry Contest
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Finalists have been announced for the Festival's fourth annual poetry contest for high school students. The students had to write a poem on themes of community, escape, and/or freedom, and more than 185 entries poured in from around the region.
The finalists, listed in alphabetical order with the school they attend, city in which they reside and grade, are:
- Lucy Collins – Archbishop Spalding High School (Columbia, Md.; grade 11)
- Clara Goldberg – Winston Churchill High School (Potomac, Md.; grade 12)
- Mischa Green – Annapolis High School (Glen Burnie, Md.; grade 11)
- Naomi Kaul – Northwest High School (Germantown, Md.; grade 12)
- Joy Kim – Oakton High School (Oakton, Va.; grade 11)
- Anastasia Matveev – Montgomery Blair High School (Silver Spring, Md.; grade 12)
- Lilly Rogers – The Bryn Mawr School (Baltimore, Md.; grade 9)
- Sarah Siskind – Annapolis High School (Annapolis, Md.; grade 12)
- Eugene Tibbs – Landon School (Arlington, Va.; grade 11)
- Sophia Toth-Fejel – Archbishop Spalding High School (Millersville, Md.; grade 11)
- Jasmin Wu – Walter Johnson High School (Bethesda, Md.; grade 10)
- Allison Xu – Walter Johnson High School (Rockville, Md.; grade 10)
The first-, second- and third-place winners and the fan favorite will be announced on the Festival website Friday, May 13, by 2022 judge Gregory Luce, a local poet who will select the top three entries. Prizes for first-, second- and third-place winners are $250, $100 and $50, respectively. The fan favorite winner will receive $25.
"It is an honor to be able to read these fine poems and it will be very difficult to choose just three," said Luce. "The DMV can be proud that it is an incubator for the next generation of poets."
The 12 finalist poems have been posted to the Gaithersburg Book Festival website so visitors can read the entries and vote for their favorite. Fan favorite voting will close on Friday, May 13, at 11 p.m. ET.
Winners will be announced at the Festival, taking place May 21 at Bohrer Park at Summit Hall Farm in Gaithersburg, Md.
“Once again, I am blown away by the talented young writers and poets in our region,” said Jud Ashman, founder of the Festival and Mayor of the City of Gaithersburg. “They have taken the themes of freedom, community and escape, and crafted phenomenal poetry. We are so proud to spotlight all of these budding artists at the Gaithersburg Book Festival.”
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Exhibitor Applications
Due March 28
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Show your stuff at the 2022 Gaithersburg Book Festival!
Whether you’re an author, poet, publisher, literary non-profit, rock star food vendor or have a business that relates to reading or the book industry, the Gaithersburg Book Festival provides you with a great opportunity to connect with nearly 20,000 book lovers.
Exhibiting or vending at the 2022 Gaithersburg Book Festival - taking place Saturday, May 21 at Bohrer Park at Summit Hall Farm - you’ll have your own space for the day where you can interact with thousands of attendees and showcase your work, literary-related wares, services, and programs.
Applications are due by March 28. If spaces are still available after that date, applications including a late fee will be considered until April 18.
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We Want You...
to Volunteer!
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Interested in spending the day rubbing elbows with today’s literary stars and helping your community? If so, consider volunteering for the 2022 Gaithersburg Book Festival.
The Festival is an enormous undertaking that would not be possible without the generous assistance of numerous volunteers. There are many different ways you can help us put on this world-class event.
Visit our website to see the various volunteer job descriptions, then fill out our Volunteer Sign-Up Form.
We’ll be in touch to find out more about your interests and availability and to provide training Note: You must be at least 16 years old to apply. SSL hours are available.
If you have questions about volunteering, please email Sheila Bouley.
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~ Featured Sponsor ~
~ Premier Sponsors ~
~ Festival Sponsors ~
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The Gaithersburg Book Festival thanks the organizations that have recently pledged their support to this year's event.
~ Presenting Sponsor ~
Spectrum at Watkins Mill Apartments
~ Literary Sponsors ~
Friends of the Library,
Montgomery County
Goldfish Swim School
Kentlands Community Foundation
Lakeforest Mall
Montgomery College
Montgomery College Early Childhood Club
National Federation of the Blind, Sligo Creek Chapter
Story Tapestries Inc.
The Collaboration Council for Children, Youth and Families
The Last Word
The National Museum of Language
~ Book Lovers ~
Editorial Freelance Association
Grace United Methodist Church
KidsCo
LA House Cleaning
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Sponsoring the Gaithersburg Book Festival, scheduled to take place May 21, 2022, is a highly visible way to show that you support the community and value the arts, while gaining visibility with our attendees, who are among the region’s best-read and most well-educated individuals.
We offer sponsorships to fit a variety of budgets, or we can tailor a sponsorship plan to fit your needs.
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