Poet Weaver Joins Authors Lippman, Fesperman, Suri, Carson, and Others at CityLit Project?s Fifth Annual Celebration of Literature

APRIL, 2008 ? Afaa Michael Weaver was born on Baltimore?s eastside and graduated high school during the turbulent Spring of 1968. Marking the fortieth anniversary of that personal milestone, as well as a chaotic chapter in the city?s history, Weaver returns to Baltimore to read at CityLit Festival.

The fifth edition of the festival takes place on Saturday, April 19, 2008, from 10am to 5pm at Enoch Pratt Free Library. The event is free and open to the public.

Weaver wrote and published poetry on the side while working factory jobs at Procter & Gamble and Bethlehem Steel. He founded 7th Son Press and published the journal ?Blind Alleys,” which featured Andrei Codrescu, Frank Marshall Davis, and Lucille Clifton among others. As a freelancer, he has written for the Baltimore Sun, the Boston Globe, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Chicago Tribune, and the Baltimore Afro-American. He began his teaching career as an adjunct in 1987, teaching at New York University, the City University of New York, Seton Hall Law School, and Essex County College. In 1990, he began at Rutgers Camden and received tenure with distinction there as an early candidate. In 1998, Weaver joined the English Department at Simmons College, where he founded the Zora Neale Hurston Literary Center.

Deputy Mayor Salima Siler Marriott, Pratt Library Executive Director Dr. Carla Hayden, and CityLit Project Executive Director Gregg Wilhelm join the poet at 10:30 to declare April 19 ?Afaa Michael Weaver Day.” Weaver reads from The Plum Flower Dance at 2:00.

Meanwhile, three of Baltimore?s most prominent literati share their brand new books at 1:00 in Pratt Library?s Wheeler Auditorium. Tom Hall, Culture Editor for WYPR?s ?Maryland Morning,” talks with Dan Fesperman, The Amateur Spy; Laura Lippman, Another Thing to Fall; and Manil Suri, The Age of Shiva.

Dr. Ben Carson, world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon, shares his insight and advice from Take the Risk: Learning to Identify, Choose, and Live with Acceptable Risk. Dr. Carson presents at 3:00. The Maryland Humanities Council?s Maryland Center for the Book honors its ?Letters About Literature” contest winners from around the state at 11:00 with special guest children?s chapter book author Margaret Meacham. S. James Guitard and Victoria Christopher Murray read from and discuss their latest novels, and sports writer John Eisenberg revisits the Barbaro story in his new book. Michael Olesker, Tonight at Six; Diane Scharper, Reading Lips; and contributors to a new anthology based on writing from the popular ?Write Here, Write Now” workshops all present special pre-publication previews of their new books. For families, Caldecott Honoree and New York Times bestselling children?s book author Carole Boston Weatherford shares her latest book, Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins.

Poetry is never in short supply at CityLit Festival. Reggie Harris returns to host ?Poetry by Place,” a spoken word tour de force featuring poets who appear at various venues around Baltimore. Poets Ink is back again conducting a workshop and reading.

Programs take place throughout the library. A complete schedule of times and locations is available at www.CityLitProject.org. Attendees are also encouraged to browse and buy at the Literary Marketplace, featuring more than fifty authors, editors, literary journals, presses and organizations.

CityLit Festival is made possible with the support of the Maryland State Arts Council and the Baltimore Office of Promotion and The Arts.

CONTACT:Gregg A. Wilhelm
Executive Director
CityLit Project
410.274.5691
gregg@citylitproject.org
Nurturing the Culture of Literature
CityLit Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization

CITYLIT FESTIVAL V SCHEDULE

Fifth annual FREE celebration. Come support, enjoy, and nurture the culture of literature.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
10 am ? 5 pm
Enoch Pratt Free Library
400 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
For information: 410-274-5691 or info@citylitproject.org

CENTRAL HALL (Special Morning Program)
10:30-11:00
Join Deputy Mayor Salima Siler Marriott, Pratt Library Executive Director Dr. Carla Hayden, CityLit Project President and CEO Gregg Wilhelm, and poet Afaa Michael Weaver as they proclaim April 19 ?Afaa Michael Weaver Day” in Baltimore!

WHEELER AUDITORIUM
11:00-12:30
Letters About Literature
Celebrate with the winners of Maryland Humanities Council Maryland Center for the Book?s ?Letters About Literature” contest with special guest children?s chapter book author Margaret Meacham.
1:00-2:30
Baltimore?s Literati
Three of Baltimore?s favorite authors discuss and read from their new books. Join Dan Fesperman (The Amateur Spy), Laura Lippman, (Another Thing to Fall), and Manil Suri (The Age of Shiva) with host Tom Hall, Culture Editor, ?Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast.”
3:00-4:00
Dr. Ben Carson
World-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon shares his insight and advice from Take the Risk: Learning to Identify, Choose, and Live with Acceptable Risk. Introduced by Dr. Carla Hayden.

FORMER MARYLAND ROOM
12:00-12:45
Michael Olesker
Olesker?long-time Baltimore newsman, author, and former WJZ commentator?explores the general decline of local TV broadcast news in Tonight at Six: A Daily Show Masquerading as Local TV News.
1:00-2:00
S. James Guitard and Victoria Christopher Murray
Best-selling authors Guitard (Delilah?s Revenge) and Murray (The Ex Files) read from and discuss their latest work.
2:30-3:15
John Eisenberg
Former Baltimore Sun sports columnist debuts his new book, My Guy Barbaro (written with jockey Edgar Prado). WBAL Radio?s Keith Mills sits down with the award-winning sports book author.
3:30-4:30
New Voices, Freshly Squeezed
Readings from contributors to Freshly Squeezed, the first anthology of writing created in the popular ?Write Here, Write Now” workshops. Hosted by WHWN founder Christine Stewart.

POE ROOM
11:00-12:00
Diane Scharper
Scharper, Towson University Professor of English and National Book Critics Circle member, leads a workshop on writing the personal essay that draws inspiration from her new edited collection of award-winning writing, Reading Lips, And Other Ways to Overcome a Disability.
12:15-1:45
Poetry by Place
Reggie Harris hosts a cavalcade of poets who represent various venues around Baltimore where the poetic word can be heard.
2:00-3:00
Afaa Michael Weaver
Baltimore-born poet Weaver reads his verse most recently collected in The Plum Flower Dance.

MEYERHOFF CHILDREN'S GARDEN
1:00-2:00
Carole Boston Weatherford
Weatherford?Caldecott Honoree, Coretta Scott King Award-winning children?s book author, and New York Times Bestseller with Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom?shares her latest, Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins.

CENTRAL HALL
All Day
Literary Marketplace
Discover Baltimore?s literary artists at the Literary Marketplace, featuring authors, poets, self-published writers, lit mags and journals, and literary arts organizations!
11:00-12:30
?What?s My Lit?” gives exhibitors the opportunity to pitch their books, describe their organizations, or announce upcoming events. Sign-up is first come, first served. Hosted by Chad Sawyer and Billy Hwang, CityLit Project.
1:00-3:00
Poet's Ink Workshop
Dennis Barnes and Maryland State Poetry & Literary Society. Meet one-on-one with poets and editors from the Maryland State Poetry and Literary Society. Bring two copies of a poem you have written.
3:30-4:30
Poet's Ink Reading
Poets from the Poet?s Ink Workshop

CityLit Project is supported by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive, and by a grant from the Creative Baltimore Fund, made possible by Mayor Sheila Dixon and the City of Baltimore, as administered by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and The Arts.