The Baltimore Chapter, co-sponsored by the CityLit Project and the Write Here, Write Now workshops, presents poet, neurosurgeon, and CityLit board member Michael Salcman speaking about writing contests: what to look (and look out) for, how they can help (or hurt) your writing career, and how to identify legitimate contests amid the proliferating plague of scams. He'll be talking about the different types of contests, how to pick a contest and assess your chances, the importance of learning and following contest rules, and what happens after you enter. Members will be encouraged to share their experiences with writing contests during the Q&A.

Michael Salcman is a physician, brain scientist and essayist on the visual arts. He was born in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia and came to the United States in 1949. He attended the combined program in liberal arts and medical education at Boston University and trained in neurosurgery at Columbia University. Former chairman of neurosurgery at the University of Maryland, he served as president of the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore. He is the author of almost 200 scientific and medical articles as well as six textbooks; his books have been translated into Spanish, German, Portuguese and Chinese. Presently he serves as Special Lecturer in the Osher Institute at Towson University, where he teaches history of contemporary art and neuroscience. He has lectured widely on art and the brain at such venues as The Cooper Union in New York and the Maryland Institute College of Art. He has been writing and publishing poetry for forty years. Recent poems appear in Alaska Quarterly Review, New Letters, The Ontario Review, Harvard Review, Raritan, Notre Dame Review, and New York Quarterly. His work has been heard on NPR's All Things Considered and in Euphoria, a documentary on the brain and creativity (2008). The author of four chapbooks, most recently, Stones In Our Pockets (Parallel Press, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2007), his collection The Clock Made of Confetti (Orchises Press), was nominated for The Poet's Prize in 2009 and is a Finalist for The Towson Prize in Literature. Most recently, Dr. Salcman was a nominee to be Poet Laureate of Maryland. Video clips and audio recordings of his readings are available at www.salcman.com.

Monday, April 27, at 7:00 at Ukazoo Books, 730 Dulaney Valley Road, in Towson. Ukazoo Books, an independently owned and operated bookstore, features more than 100,000 used and out-of-print titles, and new selections from the New York Times Bestseller List. The Book Buyback program offers competitive pricing for used books and pays with store credit or cash back. Reading rooms are open to the public for events and relaxing with free coffee, tea or wifi. Ukazoo is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The buyback desk is open Monday to Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. For more information or to see a calendar of events, visit www.ukazoo.com or call (410) 832-BOOK (2665).