Annual BookFest draws a national audience

‘‘I wanted to come out here and support this event,” Gill said. ‘‘It’s a wonderful, wonderful activity and a very enriching environment.”

Gill and his wife were just two of the well over 2,500 people who browsed the literary offerings of nearly 100 local authors, sat in on a succession of writing and publishing workshops and listened to poetry readings from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday.

The festival took place inside the bookstore and in two tents in the parking lot directly behind the store.

Authors such as Victoria Rowell, Roscoe Orman, Tina McElroy Ansa, Marie Arana and Jan Spivey Gilchrist were all on hand to sign their books.

‘‘It’s a great feeling when you see thousands of people with books in their hand,” Festival Producer Kwame Alexander said. ‘‘It’s been like literary euphoria for me.”

Alexander said that for the first time in the event’s three-year history a book of poetry was published exclusively for the festival this year.

The book was produced by 30 students from Crossland High School in Temple Hills. As part of a Book-in-a-Day program at the festival, the students were coached through the publishing process from writing and editing to cover design and dealing with printers.

Their book of poetry, ‘‘Invisible,” was on sale at the festival throughout the day.

Crossland High School senior Jasmine Taylor, 17, read her piece of poetry at the festival.

‘‘I didn’t want to read [my poem] at first, but after I heard the reaction to other people’s [poems], it made me relax,” Taylor said. ‘‘I’ve been so excited all day. It’s crazy to be able to hold the [finished] book and know I was a part of it.”

Many at the festival said they came because they wanted to find out about recently published works by local authors.

‘‘I’m a book lover and I wanted to come out here and see if I could find something new to read,” Hyattsville resident Gary Gray said.

Fort Washington resident Val Campbell said she was looking forward to presentations given by Jabari Asim and former NBA player John Amaechi, both on hand to discuss their new books ‘‘The N Word: Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn’t and Why” and ‘‘Man in the Middle.”

One of the local authors present was Terren Grimble, a Mitchellville resident who self-published her first novel, ‘‘Love Lessons,” last year.

‘‘This is a great venue for self-published authors,” Grimble said. ‘‘I like coming to these type of events because you can get a large number of people exposed to your book. Sometimes it can be hard getting into some of the larger events.”

Upper Marlboro author Sandra L. Frazier was also on hand to talk about her recently published how-to guide ‘‘Private School — It’s Not Just for the Wealthy Anymore: A Parent’s Guide to Getting Your Child into Private School.”

‘‘I heard about [the festival] and I thought it would be a great idea to come out here and share my knowledge with other people face-to-face,” Frazier said.