A Celebration of Books,
Writers & LIterary Excellence

Save the Date


Gaithersburg
Book Festival

May 17, 2025

10am – 6pm

Bohrer Park


A Poetry Secret Society?

OK. Maybe not a secret society. After all, if it was secret, we wouldn’t be posting here. But as we celebrate National Poetry Month, Gaithersburg Book Festival Committee member and author Paul Stankus let us in on a little secret. He has an alter-ego. A poetry superhero, so to speak, the DreadPoet Roberts.

The DreadPoet Roberts has written close to 200 poems during the last 4-5 years.  He also leads an online poetry jam every Monday night called the DreadPoet’s Story Time that has close to 100 attendees and 5 poets performing nightly. During the event, he and the other poets have to compose poems on the spot… you could call it a poetic version of “Whose Line is it Anyway?”

You can find the DreadPoets’ favorite poems online. The DreadPoet also has a Facebook page… yes, making him even less secret.

We encourage you to visit his FB page and learn more about him, then go participate in his Story Time. Post below if you’d like to see DreadPoet Roberts make an appearance at the festival… perhaps in the Children’s Village. We just might be able to convince him to do so!