![]() New memoir, Black Boy Smile, is due out in May. “I wasn’t exposed to writers as a kid growing up inīaltimore, going to school here,” says Watkins, whose The Enoch Pratt Free Library on Cathedral Street. Inevitably are influenced by, and influence, the city’s Local authors, who, like the Baltimore writers of the past, Library and the city’s bookstores provide a platform for University of Baltimore do, too.) And, of course, the Pratt Programs at Johns Hopkins, Goucher College, and the The pandemic-continue to bring the finest writersįrom around the country to the city. We’re also fortunate in Baltimore that our librariesĪnd bookstores-the number seems to be growing despite Ta-Nehisi Coates and playwright Anna Deavere Smith-to name a few, has garnered national praise. Tyler, Taylor Branch, Dan Fesperman, Danielle Evans, Years, work from Baltimore writers Laura Lippman, Anne Its publication-and the poet, novelist, and abolitionistįrances Ellen Watkins Harper, who was one of the firstīlack women in this country to be published. And to beĬlear, it’s a legacy that doesn’t just begin with Poe, butĪlso Frederick Douglass-whose acclaimed autobiography sold 5,000 copies in just the first few months after Living up to the city’s storied literary past. In The City That Reads-former Mayor Kurt Schmoke’sĪspirational nickname from his 1987 inaugural address-is the abundance of Baltimore writers who are All that said, what is most exciting today Here by an obsessive German immigrant named Otto The modern printing press, the linotype, was invented In terms of Baltimore’s literary contributions toĪmerica, let’s also not forget the Pratt was the firstįree, inclusive public library in this country, and that I BELONG HERE, WHERE EVERYTHING IS CIVILIZED AND GAY AND ROTTED AND POLITE.” Once the pandemic has relented, hopefully we can return to the annual Baltimore Book Festival and the CityLit Festival, a project of the indispensable CityLit Project, as well. Ground since the 1970s, when she came with her since-deceased One year, I met a woman who had been attending theĪccompanying late afternoon readings at his burying Over the past decade has been the annual January 19Ĭelebrations of Mr. One more not-to-be missed literary experience Into an education center and writers retreat by ![]() Of her most acclaimed works, is currently being transformed Victorian home in Windsor Hills, where she wrote some ![]() Noteworthy as well: The poet Lucille Clifton’s former ![]() Mencken home in Union Square.īoth are designated National Historic Landmarks. Poe House and Museum in West Baltimore, and the Visit, for those who haven’t been, are the Edgar Allan Visitors to the city, but we Baltimoreans could benefitĮven more from those kinds of tactile trips through theĬity’s history, architecture, and artifacts. That walking tour-see our map below-is one of those things generally populated by “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” was set in Civil One often-forgotten example: Fitzgerald’sįamous short story about the man who ages in reverse, Once lived in Baltimore, but the impact of the city on Sinclair, and Gertrude Stein, among other iconic figures, Morning, and learned not just where Fitzgerald, Upton Literary Walking Tour of Mount Vernon one weekend Since that tour, there have been countless other inspirations.Ī few years ago, I joined a Maryland Humanities
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