HoCoPoLitSo welcomes all to the October edition of the Wilde Reading Series, which this year proudly opens its tenth season of highlighting local authors in Howard County. This month’s reading features Hannah V. Sawyerr and Ronald L. Smith, hosted by Laura Shovan. Please join us at independent bookstore Queen Takes Book on Tuesday, September 9th at 7 p.m., at 6955 Oakland Mills Rd, Suite E, Columbia MD, 21045. Please spread the word— bring your friends, family and students! Light refreshments will be served and books by the readers available for sale.

An open mic follows the featured authors and we encourage you to participate. Please prepare no more than five minutes of performance time, about two poems, and sign up when you arrive.

Below, get to know Hannah and Ronald!

Who is the person in your life (past or present) that shows up most often in your writing?

Hannah: Maya Angelou and James Baldwin show up most in my writing. The epigraph of my first novel is a James Baldwin quote and I attended a James Baldwin conference before my second novel that influenced the writing. Both my first and second novels also feature nods to Maya Angelou.

Ronald: Me.

Where is your favorite place to write?

Hannah: I love writing in coffee shops. I love people watching and it helps me become “unstuck” the way I can when I am writing alone.

Ronald: In my office, looking out at the city and the great view.

Do you have any consistent pre-writing rituals?

Hannah: I have particular clothing items that I love wearing while writing! Some of these items include my Morgan State University Sweatshirt, my favorite pair of sweatpants, and my DewMore Baltimore shirt.

Ronald: I have to go through all my emails first, and then look at a few news sites, and then I get to work.

Who always gets a first read?

Hannah: The person who gets the first read is often the person I think about the most while writing. My last novel was largely inspired by my days as a youth slam poet, so the first person to read the manuscript was my former slam coach, Kenneth Something.

Ronald: My editor.

What is a book you’ve read more than twice (and would read again)?

Hannah: House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.

Ronald: The Lord of the Rings.

What is the most memorable reading you have attended?

Hannah: This differs slightly from a traditional reading but I recently attended Charm City Slam in Baltimore and absolutely loved it!

Ronald: Philip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials books.

• Hannah V. Sawyerr was recognized as the Youth Poet Laureate of Baltimore in 2016. Her debut novel in verse All the Fighting Parts was recognized as a Morris Debut Award finalist, a Walter Dean Myers Award Honoree, a Rise Feminist Book Project Top Ten Title, and a Kirkus Best Book of the Year. Truth Is is her sophomore novel.

You can find out more about Hannah at hannahsawyerr.com, and on Instagram @hannsawyerr.

• Ronald L. Smith is an award-winning author of middle-grade novels including Black Panther: The Young Prince Trilogy, Hoodoo, Gloomtown, Where the Black Flowers Bloom, Project Mercury and more. He has also contributed to the anthologies The Hero Next Door, Hope Wins, and RECOGNIZE: An Anthology Honoring and Amplifying Black Life. A former advertising writer, he lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland.

Ronald’s home page is strangeblackflowers.com and he can be found on Instagram @ronsmithwriter.