BmoreArt

Under the theme “How We Break Free: Confronting Hard Truths,” the festival’s March 12 keynote address features Nikole Hannah-Jones, the New York Times Magazine journalist and editor of The 1619 Project, the multimedia reorientation of America’s origin story that focuses less on the myth of exceptionalism and more on the realities of white supremacy, slavery, and domination. Hannah-Jones will be in conversation with historian Martha S. Jones, a Johns Hopkins University professor “whose work examines how black Americans have shaped the story of American democracy.” 

“We’re beyond thrilled to feature Nikole Hannah-Jones’ groundbreaking work that revisits, reframes, and confronts this nation’s past and its legacy of slavery,” Du Pree said in a CityLit press release. “We’re also ecstatic by the burgeoning enthusiasm surrounding this work, how it has fostered a wider, more cohesive creative community that exists in Baltimore.”

Throughout the month of March, renowned authors and creators will present their work through various timely themes. The March 1 kickoff event, a virtual talk entitled “Navigating Solitude,” features artist-writers Kristen Radtke (author of the graphic novel Seek You) and Natalie Eve Garrett (author of The Lonely Stories) in conversation with Nguyên Khôi Nguyễn, author of Bittersweet: A Pandemic Sketchbook. “How often do we actually talk about being alone and what that feels like?” Du Pree says. “It’s far more than just the pandemic.”

The following week, on March 8, is the festival’s first 90-minute craft intensive, with the virtual discussion “Writing, Revising & Editing Your Story.” Authors Matt Bell, Melissa Febos, Dean Smith, and Nguyen Phan Que Mai will talk about “writing the body through trauma and desire.” Along with the philosophical aspects of their work, the multidisciplinary group (featuring a poet, two novelists, and a memoirist) will also delve into practical matters of writing and revising for publication.

Saturday, March 12, boasts a full day of programming, some live on-site at the Enoch Pratt Free Library’s central branch and some virtual. At the Pratt, curator and writer Saima Adil Sitwat presents her series “Becoming American,” featuring vignettes and videos of ten immigrant women who live in Maryland, along with writers Eman Quotah and Nadia Hashimi, business owner Mariam Thakkur, and Maryland State Delegate Joseline A. Pena-Melnyk. 

At noon, a live/virtual panel, “Black Girls: Bone Black & Breathing,” will discuss the “interior and public lives of Black girlhood” and coming of age through works of poetry, film, and story. This panel features filmmaker and poet Nia June with writers Glory Edim, DaMaris Hill, and Kai Harris, in conversation with Jamesha Caldwell, the co-director of A Revolutionary Summer.

Also at noon, in person at the Pratt, is the 90-minute craft intensive entitled “The ‘Real’ Business of Writing Creative Nonfiction: You Can’t Make It Up,” featuring Angela Carroll, Ron Cassie, Kristina Gaddy, and me. We’ll be presenting our own work and discussing how we craft engaging nonfiction essays and articles through research, investigation, and close observation. The keynote conversation with Hannah-Jones follows, from 2-4 p.m., both live and virtual.

Attendees who plan ahead can sign up for one-on-one 30-minute critique sessions, occurring throughout that day, with editors Bret McCabe, Karen Houppert, Nora Belblidia, Rosalia Scalia, Laura Ballou, and Chelsea Lemon Fetzer. 

Then you get a few days off to absorb all of that. On Tuesday, March 15, the award-winning novelist Kiese Laymon leads a master class called “Keeping It in the House,” which will explore “virtue and villainy in our writings about home.” Through reading and writing exercises, Laymon and the attendees will be challenged to think through not only “the harm we might have experienced at home, but the harm we might have caused.” 

Avoiding conflict with the AWP Writers Conference, there’s a gap in programming the week of March 20-27, but it picks back up with a live finale at the Motor House theater. “How We Get Free: Birth of Promise” features authors Christine Platt, Chloe Dulce Louvouezo, and Kristoffer Carter in conversation with Alanah Nichole. The first half hour features a coaching session with Carter, followed by a talk with the authors “on ways to clear space and closets for the good coming, for ways to embrace self-examination.”

Lastly, to mark the start of National Poetry Month, on Friday, April 1, CityLit hosts “Killing Rage: A Festival of Poets” at the Baltimore location of Busboys & Poets, with musical guest Like Water and poets Jasmine Mans, Burji Zenhaeusern, Marjan Naderi, Dora Malech, and many more.

All but two of the 2022 CityLit Festival programs are entirely free for attendees, and all live events require proof of full vaccination and masks. The one-on-one critique sessions and the Master Class with Kiese Laymon cost $10 to attend, but Du Pree says that CityLit doesn’t want cost to be a barrier for writers eager to learn: “If they contact us directly, we will make it happen.”

Many of the challenges during the pandemic have ultimately helped CityLit “grow up,” Du Pree says. As it grows, Du Pree wants CityLit to provide more resources for more writers, while still remaining accessible. Knowing that the organization can adapt and change—going from a jam-packed single-day festival to a monthlong hybrid one and managing all the logistical details this requires—makes Du Pree excited for the future. “It means we get to take a few more risks,” she says, adding that maybe one day they’ll incorporate music, dance, and visual art into the programming. “There are so many ways to be more innovative to bring literature front and center to our arts community. It doesn’t belong in one box.”

This article was made possible with support from CityLit Project. BmoreArt is a partner of the 2022 CityLit Festival, along with partners Enoch Pratt Free Library, Maryland Centers for Creative Classrooms, Maryland Humanities, Arts Education in Maryland Schools, Motor House, Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance, Busboys and Poets – Baltimore, and the Ivy Bookshop.