We are now just 39 days away from the second annual Chestertown Book Festival! By Friday, September 10, we will have a complete schedule of events ready and then we will print them in a tri-fold style brochure and set them loose around the region. In about a week and a half, you will see our colorful posters on bulletin boards and in shop windows, and stacks of festival schedules on the countertops. We have also been working on a billboard to help announce the imminence of this year's festival, as seen in the adjacent photo. But don't worry! We have the logo artist, Paul Hostetler, coming to paint our illustration onto the board. It will look much prettier soon!
In the meantime, here are a few of the events we're especially excited about:
2010 Chestertown Book Festival Kick-Off:
An Evening with Michael Dirda
Author, Washington Post Book World Columnist, Pulitzer prize-winner and general bibliophile, Michael Dirda, opens the festival with an intimate talk about the finer details of a reading and reviewing life. To be followed by wine and cheese reception.
Literary Picture Books for Adults (and Maladjusted Children): The Provocative Space Between Language and Image
Robbi Behr and Matthew Swanson of Chestertown-based small press Idiots'Books will read from their catalog of illustrated volumes while discussing the pleasures and challenges of combining pictures and words. Topics will include running a small press, interactive storytelling techniques, and the critical role of the reader in confronting the confounding space between language and image.
Steelworks on the
Sparrows Point was the only American steelworks built on tidewater. Deborah Rudacille, author of Roots of Steel: Boom and Bust in an American Mill Town (Pantheon), talks about the impact of 120 years of steelmaking on the Bay.
Good to the Last Crumb
R. Crumb, founder of the underground comix movement, in conversation with Idiots’Books illustrator and admirer, Robbi Behr. Crumb and Behr will discuss his life's work, the importance of the public library in a community, and field audience questions. Book sale and signing to follow.
Voices of the Chesapeake: Book Fest Radio
Michael Buckley, author of Voices of the Chesapeake and host of “The Sunday Brunch” broadcast on 103.1FM (WRNR), will be recording interviews with Book Festival authors including Ginger Doyel (with the Hon. Lynne A. Battaglia), Vince Gisriel, Jr, Deborah Rudacille, Lenny Rudow, and Fran Severn. Join us to be a part of the live studio audience!
Faith & Inspiration panel discussion:
Finding the Words Through God
Author Terwana Brown will moderate this panel discussion with authors whose books focus on their faith in God and how that faith has inspired them, transformed their lives and their writing. Betty Chambers, author of On the Inspirational Side of Poetry, books I & II. Cathy Jones, author of Unpredictable Stories of Life Experiences Expressed in Poetry. Alishia Louis, author of Woman, Will Thou Be Made Whole: Healing from the Wounds of Divorce. Ciera McQueen, local author of Standing Still. J.L. Price, author of Poetry to Glorify the Father. LaDonna M. Smith, author of I Married Satan.
Humane Habits of
“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” –Groucho Marx. The Humane Society of Kent County and author Cynthia P. Gallagher present a discussion of dog breeds based on Gallagher’s books. Gallagher will be donating $5 from every book sold at this event to the Humane Society. Come buy a good book and adopt a good dog!
