22nd Annual CityLit Festival: Our Stories Give Light to Our Future

On April 5th, I had the opportunity to participate in one of Baltimore's largest literary traditions: the 22nd Annual CityLit Festival! Free to attend, the Baltimore's CityLit Festival is a day-long celebration of writers and readers alike. The public are invited to a series of informational sessions, writer panels, and even individual workshops with publishing industry professionals. 

This year, the event was hosted at the Lord Baltimore Hotel. Upon entering the lobby, I immediately made my way towards the Literary Marketplace, a space dedicated to showcasing self-published authors, independent journals and presses, and other local literary organizations. 

The room was filled with rows and rows of tables, each of them stacked high with books, magazines, and other memorabilia. I had a wonderful time speaking with a number of authors about their latest projects. Though I'm not a writer myself, it was interesting to hear about different writers' experiences in the industry and their connections within Baltimore. Needless to say, I added quite a few books to my TBR!

I was so busy browsing that I only caught the end of 'The Literary Life of AI: Output Through the Years.' With so much recent debate about training artificial intelligence to replace creative writing and companies feeding published works through current AI platforms, I was especially impressed with CityLit for shedding awareness on this topic. Speakers Nick Montfort and Lillian-Yvonne Bertram contributed to an excellent dialogue. 

Uno and Convo! with Eros Da Artiste

If you couldn't make it to the festivities, it's not too late! Baltimore Unity Hall and Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse will be hosting the festival finale on April 25th. Stop by during the day to experience the Baltimore Youth Poetry Summit and Slam Competition, or in the evening for performances in honor of poet Nikki Giovanni.

For more information about upcoming events, visit www.citylitproject.org!