Join Red Emma’s, Baltimore Artists Against Apartheid and NoMüNoMü for a narrative design workshop led by culture strategist and author, Jeff Chang.

Bring your littles to the Book Festival early for our annual Drag Story Hour in partnership with Absolutely Dragulous. This year, we’ll feature a special guest reader: NYT Bestselling author Tourmaline is coming to town early to share her new children’s book, One Day In June, about the transgender icon Marsha P. Johnson!

Dive in to the emerging world of diverse YA writing with three women authors blazing new paths for black and brown heroines across multiple genres. Featuring NYT bestselling Punjabi-American author Xan Kaur, Baltimore hometown heroine Hannah Sawyerr, and award-winning Latina novelist and educator, Anna Lapera.

A radical reimagining of our food system that’s grounded in sustainability, equity, and compassion for animals, with two of the leading voices in the food space: Miyoko Schinner—founder of Miyoko’s Creamery, and author of the forthcoming The Vegan Creamery, and Alicia Kennedy, food journalist and author of No Meat Required: The Cultural History and Culinary Future of Plant-Based Eating.

A preeminent national-security journalist takes on the most notorious superhero of the military industrial complex

Are you a literary artist looking to build a better portfolio to showcase your creative work? Join us for an interactive workshop with Baker Artist Portfolios!

Uncovering radical histories for young audiences! Award-winning author Deb Heiligman presents her latest biography for young audiences, telling the story of early American agitator, Emma Goldman. She’s joined in conversation by prolific Baltimore writer Kristina Gaddy, whose new book, A Most Perilous World tells the story of four young abolitionists in the years leading up to the Civil War.

Hosted by BCP Digital Printing Join leading self-publishers for a conversation on growing and sustaining an audience. Discover proven approaches to connect with readers, build community, and expand your reach.

'Light streams out of this collection - it etches the angles and curves of Palestinian humanity' - Ta-Nehisi Coates

Take control of your publishing journey with this practical, hands-on workshop designed for aspiring and emerging self-publishers.

Four cultural producers and writers explore multiple modes for telling the stories of the Asian diaspora in America. Presented by Baker Artist Portfolios.

Celebrated transsexual trailblazer Kate Bornstein has, with more humor and spunk than any other, ushered us into a world of limitless possibility through a daring re-envisionment of the gender system as we know it.

Acclaimed public scholar Andrew Ross explores climate change and the horizons of a just future from Palestine to the UAE, Arizona, and China.

Black transgender luminary Tourmaline brings to life the first definitive biography of the revolutionary activist Marsha P. Johnson, one of the most important and remarkable figures in LGBTQIA+ history, revealing her story, her impact, and her legacy. “She is the preeminent and foremost scholar on Marsha P. Johnson. . . . To us, Tourmaline is the expert.”—Janet Mock, Allure

Water Mirror Echo: A cultural biography, both sweeping and intimate, of the legend Bruce Lee, set against the extraordinary, untold story of the rise of Asian America—from the author of the award-winning classic Can’t Stop Won’t Stop and one of the finest culture observers of our era. No Sense in Wishing: An essay collection from culture critic Lawrence Burney that is a personal and analytical look at his home city of Baltimore, music from throughout the global Black diaspora, and the traditions that raised him.

A collective portrait of the Black Power movement by a radical journalist and former Black Panther.

A deep dive into the sometimes surprising history of Baltimore Club Music, with veterans of Baltimore’s homegrown scene.

A new history of the racist roots of modern policing in Baltimore

Writing Through Crisis: Real-Time Memoir and the Art of Uncertain Endings

From a former Youth Poet Laureate of Baltimore and the critically acclaimed author of All the Fighting Parts comes an empowering and defiant novel in verse in which a teen poet grapples with an unplanned pregnancy and determines what happens to her body in a world that wants to take the choice away from her.

A candid look at what existing in an unconventional body means for our self-image, mental health, relationships, and ambitions.

This summer, WBS's YouthWorks interns produced an anthology of elementary and middle school student writing from the 2024 - 2025 Writing Clubs. Join young writers of all ages to celebrate the launch of "Off The Hinges: Swings That Never Stop" with a reading.

Ever wonder why the Stonewall protests became an uprising or what the earliest acts of queer resistance looked like? How about the ways queer communities have organized against oppression across the globe? Come learn about the history of resistance in queer communities across the the country!

From the creator of “a unified field theory of racism” (NPR’s Planet Money), a dollars-and-cents reckoning of the state of Black America and a new framework to close the power gap

A discussion on the essential role of the Black press, presented by Afro Charities

Romantic mini dates with LGBTQIA2S+ folx in Baltimore-- find a quality date based on what you're looking for! Sugg Ages: 21-35 . CUFF IT! <3

Lessons for the antifascist fight now and to come rooted in well-learned lessons from Black liberation.

How the US crusade against prostitution became a tool of empire.

Join poet Bitania Yemane for a reading and signing of WORDS OF YESTERDAY—a poetry collection that, while themeless in structure, is deeply inspired by Langston Hughes’ concept of dreams and the scattered thoughts of resistance, love, social justice, and identity.

Every year, there are more than 1.5 million drug arrests in the United States. More than 80% of these arrests are for possession only. Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia have already decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana, and some are exploring the merits of decriminalizing other drugs. The opioid crisis has jump-started the conversation on the best approach to drug use across the country, including in Maryland.

In FREE GIFTS, Alyssa Battistoni explores capitalism’s persistent failure to value nature, arguing that the key question is not the moral issue of why some kinds of nature shouldn’t be commodified, but the economic puzzle of why they haven’t been.

A landmark reinterpretation of the civil rights movement that challenges reductive heroic narratives of the 1950s and 1960s and invigorates new debates and possibilities for the future of the struggle for liberation.

A bold retelling of the 1960s civil rights struggle through its work against police violence—and a prehistory of both the Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter movements that emerged half a century later.

A compelling urban history, LET US ALONE uses voices from all levels of society to examine police power, incarceration, and the perils of being Black in post–Civil War Baltimore.

When a mid-life couple finds an old farm that promises refuge from hectic lives and encroaching illness, their world opens up to unexpected adventures: breeding heritage goats, hogs, and cattle; managing a half-dozen large guardian dogs; dealing with barn fires, rapacious logging, and the death of treasured animals.

Bestselling author and advocate Dr. Monique Couvson makes a compelling, passionate case for why we should invest in girls’ unlimited potential.

A revelatory novel (or parable) of art, adventure, and a radical politics, set in a world on the precipice.