Capital Book Fest

Has it really been 7 days since my last blog entry? Geez. Time flies.

Saturday, I attended the second annual Capital Book Fest. It is co-produced by Kwame Alexander. I met Kwame through BackList. He wrote a controversial piece for the site a couple of years ago. Kwame had some strong opinions about the state of black literature, but don't get it twisted, he's not one of those that just talks without action.

The Capital Book Fest is a great literary event that supports literary arts in P.G. County. Panels were hosted inside the Borders store as well as on the parking lot. I thought the Borders connection was very smart. Self-published authors had an opportunity to exhibit and sell books as well.

I was on a panel that discussed black publishing. My fellow panelists included Marita Golden, Jonathan Luckett, and Christopher Chambers.

I have to be honest, I was very excited to hear Ms. Golden was going to be on the panel, because I've wanted to meet her for quite some time. We were finally able to connect and she's just as smart, warm, and committed as I knew she would be.

I thought we had a good panel. We discussed the publishing industry, tips for writers, publishing horror stories, and ways we can increase literacy in the community. People afterwards told us that they got something from it. That was good to hear because sometimes panels fall flat.

Kudos to all those involved in the planning and execution of the Capital Book Fest!