The 2024 Featured Author List Continues to Expand
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With only three months until the 15th annual Festival, our committee has been working hard to bring the best and the brightest to Gaithersburg on May 18. Welcome to our most recent additions to our featured author line-up:
~ Fiction ~
 Sarah Adler writes romantic comedies about lovable weirdos finding their happily ever afters. Her debut novel, "Mrs. Nash’s Ashes," was featured on Today as a Best Beach Read of All Time and was also selected as one of the New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2023. She grew up in south-central Pennsylvania, attended undergrad and grad school in D.C., and now lives in Frederick, Md., with her husband, daughter, and very mischievous cat, Noodle. She will be presenting "Happy Medium."
 Rachel Beanland is the author of "The House is on Fire" and "Florence Adler Swims Forever." She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and earned her M.F.A. in creative writing from Virginia Commonwealth University. She lives with her husband and three children in Richmond, Va. She has taught creative writing at the College of William & Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University and is the 2023–2024 Writer in Residence at the University of Richmond.
 Adrienne Brodeur is the author of the memoir "Wild Game," which was selected as a Best Book of the Year by NPR and The Washington Post, and is in development as a Netflix film. She founded the literary magazine, Zoetrope: All-Story, with Francis Ford Coppola, and currently serves as executive director of Aspen Words, a literary nonprofit and program of the Aspen Institute. She splits her time between Cambridge,Mass., and Cape Cod, Mass., where she lives with her husband and children. She will be presenting "Little Monsters."
 Andie Burke writes romantic comedies in between her pediatric RN shifts. She lives in Maryland with an alarming number of books, ultra-fine point pens, dehydrated houseplants and two small humans. When you read this, she’s probably listening to Taylor Swift or finding a new hyper-fixation for her ADHD brain. Her debut, "Fly with Me," was listed as one of POPSUGAR’s Best Romance Books of 2023 and Autostraddle's Best Queer Books of the Year. Her next book, "Fall for Him," will be out in Fall 2024.
 Stephanie Dray is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author of historical fiction. Her award-winning work has been translated into many languages and tops lists for the most anticipated reads of the year. She lives in Maryland with her husband, cats and history books. She will be presenting "Becoming Madam Secretary."
 Mojgan Ghazirad is a medical doctor and currently works as an assistant professor of pediatrics at The George Washington University. She holds an M.F.A. in creative writing and has published three collections of short stories in Farsi. Her essays have appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, Idaho Review, Longreads, The Common, Bombay Review and Assignment. "The House on Sun Street" is her debut novel.
 Donna Hemans is the author of three novels, "River Woman," "Tea by the Sea" and "The House of Plain Truth." Her short fiction and essays have appeared in Electric Literature, Ms. Magazine, The Rumpus and Crab Orchard Review, among others. She received her undergraduate degree in English and Media Studies from Fordham University and an M.F.A. from American University. She lives in Maryland, and is also the owner of DC Writers Room, a co-working studio for writers based in Washington, D.C.
 Jeff Hoffmann's second novel is "Like It Never Happened." His debut novel was "Other People’s Children," and his writing has appeared in The Sun, Booth, Harpur Palate and Publishers Weekly. He was the winner of the Madison Review’s Chris O’Malley Prize in Fiction and a finalist for the Missouri Review’s Jeffrey E. Smith Editor’s Prize. He is a passionate proponent of the Oxford comma, a mediocre men’s league hockey player and a fair-weather fan of the Chicago Blackhawks. He was raised in St. Louis and now lives in Elmhurst, Ill., with his wife and two children.
 Jeffrey Dale Lofton hails from Warm Springs, Ga., best known as the home of Roosevelt’s Little White House. He calls the nation’s capital home now and has for over three decades. He is a senior advisor at the Library of Congress, where he is surrounded by books and people who love books—in short, paradise. "Red Clay Suzie" is written through his personal lens as an outsider—gay and living with a disability in the conservative Deep South. It was longlisted for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and was awarded the Seven Hills Literary Prize.
 Alice McDermott’s eighth novel, “The Ninth Hour,” was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Critics Circle Award and The 2017 Kirkus Prize for Fiction. In 2018, “The Ninth Hour” was awarded France’s Prix Femina for a work in translation. Her seventh novel, “Someone,” was a New York Times best-seller, a finalist for the Dublin IMPAC Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Patterson Prize for Fiction, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Three of her previous novels — “After This,” “At Weddings and Wakes” and “That Night” — were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. “Charming Billy” won the National Book Award for fiction in 1998. “That Night” was also a finalist for the National Book Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award and The Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She is the former Richard A. Macksey Professor of the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University. She will be presenting “Absolution.”
 A.D. Nauman is an author and educator whose second novel is "Down the Steep." Her short fiction, appearing in many literary journals, has been recognized in Best American Short Stories and Pushcart Prize anthology, produced by Stories on Stage, broadcast on NPR and granted an Illinois Arts Council Literary Award. Her first novel, "Scorch," was re-released in an ebook StoryBundle in 2019. Nauman’s fiction investigates the sociopolitical in the personal, especially the impact of culture on identity. Now a Midwesterner, Nauman grew up mostly in Tidewater, Va.
 K.T. Nguyen is a former magazine editor. Her features have appeared in Glamour, Shape and Fitness. After graduating from Brown University, she spent her 20s and 30s bouncing from New York City to San Francisco, Shanghai, Beijing and Taipei, and has now settled just outside Washington, D.C. with her family. K.T. enjoys native plant gardening, playing with her rescue terrier and rooting for the Mets. "You Know What You Did" is her debut novel.
 Jayne Anne Phillips is the author of "Black Tickets," "Machine Dreams," "Fast Lanes," "Shelter," "MotherKind," "Lark and Termite" and "Quiet Dell." She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Bunting Fellowship and two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships. Winner of an Arts and Letters Award and the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Jayne was inducted into the Academy in 2018. She also is a National Book Award finalist, and twice a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Jayne lives in New York and Boston. She will be presenting "Night Watch."
Barbara J. Taylor was born and raised in Scranton, Pa. She sets her novels in the hometown she loves and fills them with miners, evangelists, vaudevillians, nuns, gangsters, prostitutes, widows, musicians, dreamers, and a seer or two. She is the author of "Sing in the Morning," "Cry at Night" and "All Waiting Is  Long." "Rain Breaks No Bones" is the final installment in her Scranton Trilogy.
Sophie Wan is a Bay Area native who is now battling the winters in Philadelphia. She graduated from UC Berkeley and spends far too much time drafting emails and drinking tea. "Women of Good Fortune" is her debut novel.
 Paul Yoon is the author of four previous works of fiction: "Once the Shore," which was a New York Times Notable Book; "Snow Hunters," which won the Young Lions Fiction Award; "The Mountain," which was an NPR Best Book of the Year; and "Run Me to Earth," which was one of Time’s Must-Read Books of 2020 and longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, he lives in the Hudson Valley, N.Y. Paul will be presenting "The Hive and the Honey: Stories."
~ Mystery/Thriller ~
 Tara Laskowski is the author of the suspense novels "The Weekend Retreat," "The Mother Next Door" and "One Night Gone," which won the Agatha Award, Macavity Award and the Anthony Award. She has also been awarded the Agatha Award and Thriller Award for her short fiction and was the longtime editor of the online flash fiction journal, SmokeLong Quarterly. She lives in Virginia with her husband, crime writer Art Taylor, and their son Dashiell.
 Kate White, the former editor in chief of Cosmopolitan Magazine, is The New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of 10 standalone psychological thrillers, including "The Last Time She Saw Him," as well as eight Bailey Weggins mysteries, including "Such a Perfect Wife," which was nominated for an International Thriller Writers Award. Kate is also the editor of "The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook." She has been published in over 30 countries worldwide.
~ Non-Fiction ~
 Dr. Chris Balakrishnan founded Nerd Nite when he was a graduate student in evolutionary biology at Boston University. Nerd Nite was born of a Boston bar owner’s curiosity about Chris’ ornithological adventures and goal of making science more accessible. He will be presenting "How To Win Friends and Influence Fungi: Collected Quirks of Science, Tech, Engineering, and Math from Nerd Nite."
 Fergus M. Bordewich is the author of nine non-fiction books: "Klan War: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction;" "Congress at War: How Republican Reformers Fought the Civil War, Defied Lincoln, Ended Slavery, and Remade America;" "The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government" (winner of the D.B. Hardeman Prize in American History); "America's Great Debate: Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Compromise that Preserved the Union" (winner of the 2012 Los Angeles Times History Prize); "Washington: The Making of the American Capital;" and "Bound for Canaan," a history of the Underground Railroad. His articles have appeared in many national magazines. His book reviews appear regularly in The Wall Street Journal. He lives in Washington, D.C.
 A.J. Jacobs is a journalist, lecturer and human guinea pig whose books include "Drop Dead Healthy," "The Year of Living Biblically" and "The Puzzler." A contributor to NPR, The New York Times and Esquire, among other media outlets, A.J. lives in New York City with his family. He will be presenting "The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution's Original Meaning."
 Emily Monosson is a writer and is/was a toxicologist. She writes about our impact on the environment and the consequences. In addition to "Blight: Fungi and the Coming Pandemic," she is the author of "Natural Defense," "Unnatural Selection," "Evolution in a Toxic World" and an edited volume of essays by women scientists called "Motherhood, the Elephant in the Laboratory." She is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and lives in Montague, Mass.
 Susan Page, Washington Bureau chief of USA Today, is an award-winning journalist and best-selling author. Her latest book is "The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters." Previous books include "Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power" and "The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty," both New York Times best-sellers. Susan is covering her twelfth presidential election in 2024. She has interviewed the past 10 presidents (three after they left the White House and one before he moved in). She has won every journalism award given specifically for White House coverage and served as president of the White House Correspondents Association. In 2020, she moderated the vice presidential debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris.
 Jeffrey Rosen is president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, where he hosts "We the People," a weekly podcast of constitutional debate. He is also a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor at The Atlantic. Jeffrey is a graduate of Harvard College, Oxford University and Yale Law School. He is the author of seven previous books, including The New York Times best-seller "Conversations with RBG: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law." His essays and commentaries have appeared in The New York Times Magazine; on NPR; in The New Republic, where he was the legal affairs editor; and in The New Yorker, where he has been a staff writer.
 Matt Wasowski is director of Events for the engineering association SAE International and CEO of Nerd Nite. He is co-author of "How To Win Friends and Influence Fungi: Collected Quirks of Science, Tech, Engineering, and Math from Nerd Nite," published in February by St. Martin's Press.
 Bernardine (Dine) Watson is a non-fiction writer and poet who lives in Washington, D.C. Her memoir, "Transplant," won the 2023 Washington Writers’ Publishing House prize for nonfiction. "Transplant" also appeared on National Public Radio’s 2023 list of Books We Love. Dine was selected by Poets and Writers as one of their “5 over 50” debut authors for 2023 and was featured in the magazine’s November/December 2023 issue. Her poetry has been published in Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Bourgeon/Mid Atlantic Review and Gargoyle Magazine. In 2023, two of her poems were nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Dine is a member of the 2015 class of the D.C. Commission on Arts and Humanities Poet in Progress Program and the 2017 and 2018 classes of the Hurston Wright Foundation’s Summer Writers’ Workshop for Poetry.
~ Poetry ~
 Kathryn Bratt-Pfotenhauer is the author of the poetry collection "Bad Animal" and the chapbook "Small Geometries." The recipient of a Pushcart Prize, their work has been published in The Missouri Review, The Adroit Journal and others. They have been nominated for Best of the Net and Best New Poets and have received support from The Seventh Wave and Tin House. They are a graduate of Syracuse University’s M.F.A. program.
 Sunu P. Chandy is a social justice activist as a poet and a civil rights attorney. She is the daughter of immigrants from Kerala, India, and lives in Washington, D.C., with her family. Sunu’s award-winning collection of poems, "My Dear Comrades," was published by Regal House. Sunu’s work can be found in anthologies, including "The Penguin Book of Indian Poets" and "The Long Devotion: Poets Writing Motherhood." Sunu is currently a senior advisor with Democracy Forward, and serves on the board of the Transgender Law Center. Sunu has been included as one of the Queer Women of Washington.
 Jona Colson’s poetry collection, "Said Through Glass," won the 2018 Jean Feldman Poetry Prize from the Washington Writers’ Publishing House. A full-length translated collection of poems by Uruguayan author Miguel Avero, "Aguas/Waters," will be published this spring. He is also the co-editor of "This Is What America Looks Like: Poetry and Fiction from D.C., Maryland, and Virginia." His poems have appeared in Ploughshares, The Southern Review, The Massachusetts Review and elsewhere. His translations and interviews can be found in Prairie Schooner, Tupelo Quarterly and The Writer’s Chronicle. In 2022, he became co-president with Caroline Bock of the Washington Writers’ Publishing House and edits the bi-weekly journal, WWPH Writes.
 Jessica Cuello’s most recent book is "Yours, Creature." Her book, "Liar," selected by Dorianne Laux for The 2020 Barrow Street Book Prize, was honored with The Eugene Nassar Prize and The CNY Book Award. Jessica is also the author of "Hunt" and "Pricking." Jessica has been awarded The 2022 Nina Riggs Poetry Prize, two CNY Book Awards, The 2016 Washington Prize, The New Letters Poetry Prize, a Saltonstall Fellowship and The New Ohio Review Poetry Prize. She is poetry editor at Tahoma Literary Review and teaches French in CNY.
 Michael Gushue has been published in many journals, including the Indiana Review, Third Coast, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Gargoyle, and American Letters and Commentary. His latest book — poems about movies — is “Sympathy for the Monster,” from Alien Buddha Press. His first book, “Gather Down Women” — poems in the voices of women from Greek myth — has been re-issued in a revised edition by Souvenir Spoon Books. His other books are “Conrad,” “Pachinko Mouth” and — in collaboration with CL Bledsoe — "I Never Promised You A Sea Monkey” and “The Judy Poems.” He lives in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
 Sarah Kain Gutowski is the author of "The Familiar," a fabulist narrative-in-poems about female existential crisis, and "Fabulous Beast: Poems." Her poetry has appeared in various print and online journals, including The Gettysburg Review, The Threepenny Review, Painted Bride Quarterly and The Southern Review. With interdisciplinary artist Meredith Starr, she is co-creator of "Every Second Feels Like Theft," a conversation in cyanotypes and poetry, and "It's All Too Much," a limited-edition audio project. Her criticism has been published by Colorado Review, Calyx: A Journal of Art and Literature by Women and New York Journal of Books.
 Cynthia Marie Hoffman is the author of four collections of poetry: "Exploding Head," "Call Me When You Want to Talk about the Tombstones," "Paper Doll Fetus" and "Sightseer." She is the recipient of fellowships from the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, Civitella Ranieri Foundation and the Wisconsin Arts Board. Poems have appeared in Electric Literature, The Believer, Image, Smartish Pace, The Los Angeles Review and elsewhere. She lives in Madison, Wisc.
 Edgar Kunz is the author of two poetry collections: "Fixer," a New York Times Editors' Choice book; and "Tap Out," which The Washington Post called “a gritty insightful debut.” He has been a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, a MacDowell Fellow and a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Recent poems appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Poetry and American Poetry Review. He lives in Baltimore and teaches at Goucher College.
 Kim Roberts is the author of six books of poems, most recently "Corona/Crown," a cross-disciplinary collaboration with photographer Robert Revere. Kim edited "By Broad Potomac’s Shore: Great Poems from the Early Days of our Nation’s Capital," selected by the East Coast Centers for the Book to represent Washington, D.C., in the Route 1 Reads program. She is the author of the popular guidebook, "A Literary Guide to Washington, DC: Walking in the Footsteps of American Writers from Francis Scott Key to Zora Neale Hurston."
 Joseph Ross is the author of five books of poetry: "Crushed & Crowned," "Raising King," "Ache," "Gospel of Dust" and "Meeting Bone Man." His poems appear in many publications, including The New York Times Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Poet Lore, The Langston Hughes Review and the 2022 anthology, "Where We Stand: Poems of Black Resilience." He has received multiple Pushcart Prize nominations and won the 2012 Pratt Library/Little Patuxent Review Poetry Prize for his poem “If Mamie Till Was the Mother of God.” Recently, Joseph served as judge for the 2021 Ken Ebert Poetry Prize from Iris G. Press. He currently serves on the Poetry Board at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., where he teaches English and Creative Writing.
 Alba Sarria is a poet and flash fictionist fascinated by all things eerie and disquieting entangled in folklore. You can usually find Alba wandering old cemeteries at night keeping flower-less graves company. Alba is the 2018 CSPA Gold Circle Free Form Poetry recipient, the 2021 CSPA Gold Circle Short Fiction CM, the 2021 William Heath Award recipient, and a 2022 Pushcart nominee. Alba will be presenting "Night Life: A Folk Horror Poetry Collection."
 Jennifer A Sutherland is a poet, essayist, attorney and educator from Baltimore, Md. She is a graduate of Hollins University (M.F.A.), where she was a teaching fellow; the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law (J.D.), where she served as Notes and Comments Editor for the CUA Law Review; and Stevenson University (B.S.). She is an alumna of workshops at Bread Loaf, Tin House and Kenyon Review. Her creative work has appeared or will appear in Best New Poets, Hopkins Review, Epoch, Denver Quarterly, Hollins Critic, I-70 Review, Parhelion and elsewhere. "Bullet Points: A Lyric" is her first book.
 Dr. Ping Wang was born in Shanghai, earned her B.A. at Beijing University, Ph.D. at NYU, M.D. at AAAOM (traditional Chinese Medicine). Her books of poetry and prose include "The River Within," "My Name Is Immigrant," "Life of Miracles along the Yangtze" and "Mississippi" among others. She’s the recipient of NEA, Bush, Lannan and McKnight Fellowships, AWP, MN, Eugene Kayden Book Award and others. She was a featured poet and storyteller at NYT, PBS, NPR, MPR, the Moth, Snap Judgement, Boston String Quartet, Cape Symphony and many other places. She’s director of Kinship of Rivers project, a photographer, dancer and installation artist. Her multimedia installations were shown at colleges, galleries, museums, river confluences and mountains around the world. She’s the Emerita Professor of Poetry, Macalester College.
~ Children's ~
 B. B. Alston lives in Chapin, S.C. His debut novel, "Amari and the Night Brothers," was a #1 Kids’ Indie Next pick and the winner of Barnes & Noble’s inaugural Children’s and YA Book Award, as well as a New York Times and indie best-seller. When not writing, he can be found eating too many sweets and exploring country roads to see where they lead. B. B. will be presenting "Amari and the Great Game (Supernatural Investigations Book 2)."
 L.M. Elliott, an award-winning D.C. magazine journalist before becoming a New York Times best-selling author, has written 14 historical novels, including "Bea and the New Deal Horse," "Under a War-torn Sky," "WALLS" and "Hamilton and Peggy!" Her works have been named NCSS/CBC Notables, Bank Street College of Ed. Best Books, Kirkus Best YA, VLA Cardinal Cup and Grateful American Book Prize for Historical Fiction winners. Elliott witnessed the extraordinary symbiosis possible between horse and rider as a mother watching her daughter and USPC/USEA compatriots train their eventers and jumpers. She’s merely a “pleasure rider,” happy trailer-driver and groom.
Beth Ferry is The New York Times best-selling author of numerous picture books, including "Stick and Stone," "The Scarecrow" and "The Nice Dream Truck." She lives with her family by the beach in New Jersey, where she finds inspiration in the salty air. She will be presenting "Solar Bear."
 Sharon G. Flake is the author of the groundbreaking novel, "The Skin I’m In," which brought a bold dimension to literature for young readers. Now considered a modern classic, the book is used in classrooms worldwide and studied by experts in education and literature. Flake has authored over a dozen books, with more than 1.5 million in print globally. Her work has been translated into multiple languages including Korean, Italian and Portuguese. Her work has been recognized with several Coretta Scott King Author Honors; an NAACP Award Nomination; the YWCA Racial Justice Award, and numerous top 10 best books for teens citations by libraries and industry organizations. Sharon is also a Kirkus Prize Award finalist. "Once in a Blue Moon" and "You Make Me Sneeze" are her latest books.
 Margaret Peterson Haddix worked as a newspaper reporter and copy editor in Indiana before her first book, "Running Out of Time," was published. She has since written more than 40 books for kids and teens, including the "Greystone Secrets" series, the "Shadow Children" series, the "Missing" series, the "Children of Exile" series, and lots of stand-alones. Haddix and her husband, Doug, now live in Columbus, Ohio, where they raised their two kids. She will be presenting "Mysteries of Trash and Treasure: The Ghostly Photos."
 Leah Henderson is the author of many critically acclaimed books for young readers, including "The Courage of the Little Hummingbird" and "Together We March." When she is not scribbling down her characters’ adventures, she is off in search of her own, exploring new spaces and places around the world. Many of the hopes, struggles and traditions she witnessed find a home in her work. Leah holds an M.F.A. in writing and teaches in Spalding University’s graduate writing program. She currently calls Washington, D.C., home. Leah will be presenting "A Little Bit Super: With Small Powers Come Big Problems."
 Hena Khan is a Pakistani American writer and winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature. She is the author of the middle grade novels "Amina’s Voice," "Amina’s Song," "More to the Story," "Drawing Deena" 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. Hena lives in her hometown of Rockville, Md., with her family.
 Rajani LaRocca was born in India, raised in Kentucky and now lives in Massachusetts, where she practices medicine and writes award-winning books for young readers, including the Newbery Honor-winning novel in verse, "Red, White, and Whole." She’s always been an omnivorous reader, and now she is an omnivorous writer of novels and picture books, fiction and non-fiction, in prose and poetry. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, she lives outside Boston with her family. Rajani will be presenting "Sona and the Golden Beasts."
 David LaRochelle is the author of many books for young readers, including "How to Apologize," the Geisel Award winner, "See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog," and its sequels, all illustrated by his good friend Mike Wohnoukta; and "Isle of You," illustrated by Jaime Kim. "Go and Get with Rex," illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka, is his newest picture book. David lives in White Bear Lake, Minn.
 Brian Lies is the author/illustrator of over 30 children’s books, including his New York Times best-selling bat series ("Bats at the Beach," etc.), and his 2019 Caldecott Honor-winning "The Rough Patch." His work in book and editorial illustration has won many awards, and he is acclaimed as a visiting author, working with elementary schools throughout the United States. He was the featured artist at the 2023 Abilene CALF Festival. A graduate of Brown University, Brian lives with his family and two cats in Duxbury, Mass., where he works, tends a large vegetable garden, and enjoys reading, cooking and woodworking.
 Tim Probert is an author and illustrator whose work is made of equal parts wonder, magic and adventure, with a dose of monsters and the occasional dinosaur. In addition to making books, he is an art director at Aardman Nathan Love, working on projects for Nickelodeon, Kellogg’s, Coca-Cola, Candy Crush and more. Tim lives in New York City with his wife and two cats. Tim will be presenting "Lightfall: The Dark Times."
 Dave Roman is the author/illustrator of the new graphic novel, "Unicorn Boy," and the acclaimed "Astronaut Academy" series. He’s worked as a writer on the graphic novels "Teen Boat! Race for Boatlantis" and "Agnes Quill: An Anthology of Mystery," and as an illustrator for "Goosebumps Graphix: Slappy’s Tales of Horror." Dave teaches at the School of Visual Arts, is a former editor at Nickelodeon Magazine, and is currently series editor for First Second’s "History Comics" and the "InvestiGators" by John Patrick Green. He draws a webcomic called "Pup & Duck," lives in New York City, and is always on the lookout for the perfect waffle.
 John Schu has made a career out of advocating for the people and things he cares about most: kids, books and the people that connect them. He was named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker for his dynamic interactions with students and his passionate adoption of new technologies as a means of connecting authors, illustrators, books, and readers. He is the children’s librarian for Bookelicious, a part-time lecturer at Rutgers University, and shares his love of reading with countless educators and students around the world. He is the author of "Louder Than Hunger;" "This Is a School," illustrated by Veronica Miller Jamison; "This Is a Story," illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist Lauren Castillo; "Louder Than Hunger" and "The Gift of Story: Exploring the Affective Side of the Reading Life." John Schu lives in Naperville, Ill.
 Gary D. Schmidt is the best-selling author of "The Labors of Hercules Beal," "Just Like That," National Book Award finalist "Okay for Now," "Pay Attention, Carter Jones," "Orbiting Jupiter," the Newbery Honor and Printz Honor Book "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" and the Newbery Honor Book "The Wednesday Wars." He lives in rural Michigan. Gary will be presenting "A Little Bit Super: With Small Powers Come Big Problems."
 Carole Boston Weatherford, a Coretta Scott King Award winner, has over 70 books, including the Newbery Honor winner, "BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom," and four Caldecott Honor winners: "Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre," "Freedom in Congo Square," "Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer" and "Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom." Recent releases are "Bros," "Outspoken: Paul Robeson" and "A Crown of Stories: Toni Morrison." Other popular titles include "R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, The Queen of Soul" and "The Roots of Rap." The two-time NAACP Image Award winner teaches at Fayetteville State University and lives in Baltimore. She will be presenting "Kin: Rooted in Hope."
~ Graphic Novels ~
 Julian Voloj is an award-winning writer and photographer. Born to Colombian parents in Germany, where he studied literature and linguistics, Julian moved to New York in 2004. The city and its inhabitants are often subjects of his graphic novels, for instance in “Ghetto Brother” (with Claudia Ahlering), “Joe Shuster” (with Thomas Campi), “Basquiat” (with Soren Modal), “Clayton: Godfather of Lower East Side Documentary” and most recently “Black & White: The Rise and Fall of Bobby Fischer” (with Wagner Willian). He will be presenting his latest book, “(Not) A New York Love Story” (illustrated by Andreas Gefe).
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Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins Joins GBF for Special Event
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 Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins joined the Gaithersburg Book Festival for a special event on Friday, February 9.
With tickets selling out in just three minutes, more than 250 people had the opportunity to hear a great presentation highlighting many of Collins' poems.
Attendees were then treated to a reception with appetizers provided by Asbury Methodist Village, where Collins signed books for over an hour.
The Gaithersburg Book Festival would like to thank Asbury Methodist Village for hosting the event and Politics and Prose Bookstore for selling books onsite.
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High School Poetry Contest Entries Due February 22
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The 2024 Gaithersburg Book Festival high school poetry contest is open for submissions. This year students are asked to craft a poem on the topic of “Envisioning a Better Future.”
Winners will be unveiled at the Gaithersburg Book Festival on May 18, 2024. First- and second-place winners will receive $250 and $100, respectively. Third-place and fan favorite winners will receive $50 and $25, respectively.
Up to 12 poems will be selected as finalists and posted on the Gaithersburg Book Festival website prior to the Festival. Finalists will also be asked to record a video of themselves reading their poems, which will be posted on the Gaithersburg Book Festival website.
Complete rules can be found on the GBF website.
Poems must be submitted online by midnight ET on Thursday, February 22, 2024.
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Help Us Celebrate 15 Years of the Festival
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The Gaithersburg Book Festival is selling pins to commemorate its 15th anniversary.
Proceeds from sales will go towards purchasing diverse books to support GPARC & GBF's Little Free Library Program and to enhance program offerings at the 2024 Festival, taking place May 18.
If you love the GBF, don't miss out on this opportunity to wear your pin proudly all year long and help spread the word!
Supplies are limited.
Purchase your pin today!
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Vendor Applications Now Available
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Whether you’re an author, poet, publisher, literary non-profit 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 at the Gaithersburg Book Festival, 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.
Submit your application today.
NOTE: Due to the overwhelming number of applications already received, we can no longer accept new applications in the following categories:
- Exhibiting Author – Adult Fiction & Nonfiction
- Exhibiting Author – Young Adult
Applicants will be notified of their acceptance status after the March 22 submission deadline.
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GBF Workshop Proposals Due March 1
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Professionals in the literary community with teaching experience are invited to submit proposals to lead writing workshops for adults or children in person, at the 2024 Festival.
Workshops are selected on a number of criteria, including teaching experience, topic appeal and ensuring a variety of offerings. Proposed workshops should be 30 to 60 minutes long and specific in scope and target audience age range.
To be considered as a workshop leader, please submit the GBF Workshop Application.
All applications are due no later than March 1, 2024.
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Pratt Library, Little Patuxent Review
Poetry Contest
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The Enoch Pratt Free Library and Little Patuxent Review is hosting a free poetry contest for Maryland residents age 18 and older.
Deadline: March 1, 2024.
The winning poem will be published in Little Patuxent Review and celebrated at a public reading.
For complete guidelines see prattlibrary.org/poetry-contest.
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Official Bookseller
& Partner
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~ Partners ~
~ Festival Sponsors ~
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The Gaithersburg Book Festival thanks the organizations that have recently pledged their support to this year's event.
~ Literary Sponsors ~
Amazing Art Studio
Kiddie Academy of Gaithersburg
Montgomery History
VisArts
~ Book Lovers ~
Kite Realty Group -
Downtown Crown
~ Festival Friends ~
Leslie Shapiro
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Bringing more than 20,000 avid readers and book lovers together each year, the Gaithersburg Book Festival offers an ideal opportunity for your organization to make a name for itself among the best-read and well-educated individuals from across the nation.
Get the notice you deserve in
2024 with a GBF sponsorship.
We offer a variety of sponsorship levels, with new benefits added for our 15th year.
You can also become a Festival Friend, and help ensure the GBF remains free and open to all. These donations can be made through G-PARC, a 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to promote awareness, engage public and private partnerships and raise resources for parks, arts and recreation in the City of Gaithersburg. All donations made to G-PARC directly support the GBF and are tax-deductible.
For more information, please
e-mail Amanda McPherson.
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