In fall of 1974, Lucille Clifton joined Carolyn Kizer to headline HoCoPoLitSo’s first-ever event, reading from their work and discussing their lives as writers to adult and student audiences in Wilde Lake. Lucille would go on to serve as Poet Laureate of Maryland, 1978–1985, and as artistic advisor to HoCoPoLitSo. Since her passing in 2010, HoCoPoLitSo has honored its dearly departed friend at the annual Lucille Clifton Reading, each year highlighting poets, topics, and partners we feel Lucille would have been proud to champion.

We cordially invite you to join us for our 2026 Lucille Clifton Reading, presented in partnership with Backwater Books at the second annual Patapsco Literary Festival, an all-day celebration of literature to be held Saturday, September 26th in and around Main Street, Ellicott City. The fun begins at 10 a.m. and concludes with live music at 8 p.m., and in between features dozens of author talks, panel discussions, and featured readings. We hope you will visit us at our booth upstairs at Sweet Elizabeth Jane during the festival to meet and make friends and receive free prizes— and, at 4 p.m. on the main stage inside Backwater Books, to hear a reading from Maryland State Poet Laureate Lady Brion and Howard County Poet Laureate Truth Thomas.

📅 Saturday, September 26
🕜 Poets Laureate Reading— 4:00 p.m. (Festival runs 10 a.m.–5 p.m.)
📍 Backwater Books & Bibliopub
8156 Main Street, Ellicott City, MD

Attendance is FREE and open to the public! As we expect hundreds to come, immediate parking on Main Street will likely be difficult, and we recommend the use of the Old Ellicott City Trolley, which provides free circulation service from Parking Lot F located off Ellicott Mills Drive to Parking Lot A off Oella Avenue across the Patapsco River. For questions or issues regarding the broader Festival, please contact Backwater Books at info@backwaterbooks.com or by phone call to (410) 696-2482.

Lady Brion is an international spoken word artist, activist, organizer and educator. Lady Brion currently serves as the Executive Director of the Black Arts District. In 2024 she was appointed by Governor Wes Moore as the Poet Laureate of Maryland, making her the youngest Poet Laureate in Maryland’s history and the only spoken word artist to ever hold this position. She received her B.A. in Communication and Culture from Howard University and her MFA in Creative Writing & Publishing Design from the University of Baltimore.

During her slam career she has won the 2016 and 2021 National Poetry Slams, the 2017 and 2019 Southern Fried Regional Slams, and the 2019 Rustbelt Regional Slam. In 2021 she became the Women of the World Poetry Slam Champion making her the number 1 ranked woman slam poet in the world.

Truth Thomas is a singer-songwriter, poet, and photographer born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and raised in Washington, DC. He previously recorded as Glenn Edward Thomas for Capitol Records. He is the founder of Cherry Castle Publishing and studied creative writing at Howard University under Dr. Tony Medina. Thomas earned his MFA in poetry from New England College. His poetry collections include Party of Black, A Day of Presence, Bottle of Life, and Speak Water, which won the 2013 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry. He is also the author of the children’s book My TV Is Not the Boss of Me, illustrated by Cory Thomas.

A 2025 Outstanding Artist Howie Award recipient, Thomas has served as Bauder Writer-in-Residence for Howard County Poetry and Literature Society (HoCoPoLitSo) and is the Inaugural Poet Laureate of Howard County, Maryland. His poems have appeared in more than 150 publications, including The 100 Best African American Poems (ed. Nikki Giovanni) and This Is the Honey (ed. Kwame Alexander). Thomas is the creator of the Skinny poetry form and serves as Editor-in-Chief of The Skinny Poetry Journal.

HoCoPoLitSo is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (FEIN 52-1146948) registered in the state of Maryland, donations to which are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. A copy of our current financial statement is available upon request. Documents and information submitted to the State of Maryland under the Maryland Charitable Solicitations Act are available from the Office of the Secretary of State for the cost of fees and postage.

HoCoPoLitSo is supported in part by funds gratefully received from the Maryland State and Howard County Arts Councils; Howard County Government; Community Foundation of Howard County; Dr. Lillian Bauder; and from numerous other, generous individual and corporate contributors. Event proceeds support the live and recorded literary programs offered by HoCoPoLitSo for student and general audiences. The artistic contents and opinions expressed at HoCoPoLitSo events do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of HoCoPoLitSo’s grantors, donors, or individual Board or staff members.

The Howard County Poet Laureate and Youth Poet Laureate Programs are a partnership of HoCoPoLitSo, Howard County Arts Council, and the Office of the Howard County Executive.