Michigan authors showcase books at Detroit Festival of Books
Hundreds of people brought out their favorite tote bags with geeky sayings like "I love books" for a Sunday of searching through new and used books to read or vintage records at the Detroit's Eastern Market.
The 5th Annual Detroit Festival of Books, featured more than 60 vendors and a variety of genres, ranging from horror, poetry and comic books. Among other vendors in Shed 5 were Eastern Market regulars selling body butters, Detroit inspired graphic tees and jewelry.
Detroit's renowned used book seller, John K. King Books, one of the sponsors of the event, was in the house, showcasing a variety of books. Shoppers could buy from vendors who specialized in Stephen King's paperback and hardcover novels.
Customers got a chance to meet authors of all walks of life. Former Detroit police officer turned author Antoinette M. James showcased her first book called "Behind the Badge: Her Story."
More: Chalk art brightens streets of downtown Berkley as vendors sell products with a cause
The book follows the Ypsilanti native's career as a Detroit cop while also juggling her personal life. James graduated from the Detroit Police Academy in spring of 2002 at the age of 31. After graduation she was recruited as a undercover prostitution decoy then her career expanded into other fields of duty.
"I dreamed of it as a kid that I wanted to be a mortician, or homicide detective for Detroit. I was like10 or 12 years old," James said. " I moved to Detroit with my three daughters, who at that time were 5, 9, and 11. Instead of becoming a mortician, I was an autopsy technician for the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office."
Fifteen years ago, James had the idea for the book 15 years ago but it wasn't released until June 2021. Now at 53 years old, t she has been on a mission through pop up events and book signings to get her story out to the masses.
"I also do workshops with women, because I realized in 'Her Story' is that there are other women who either die not telling their story, who are struggling or suffering from being silent," she said. "I want to give women their voice back to tell their story so they can find me on social media, ask me to come to an event or do things like that."
Her paperback book is available on Amazon for $20.
Brittany Hannah, 32 of Detroit found out about the event from Facebook and her sister who is a frequent shopper at the Eastern Market.
"I'm just I'm really into history," Hannah said. "I found a book about Black Americans in France like during the beginning of this century ... the 1900s."
Her next score was going to be searching through the vinyl records sections, she recently purchased a record player and was seeking R&B jams from the 70s era.
"They look like they're authentic from that time," she said. " I'll probably end up spending a lot of money."
Meagan Rupert, a school teacher from Airport Community Schools in Carleton, plus a few other colleagues, came out to not only find some personal faves but to find books for the classrooms as well.
"We got some used books and some music kind of stuff," Rupert said.
More: Motown cover-song contest gives musicians a shot at $25K grand prize, Detroit concert spot
It was their first time in attendance and Rupert says she enjoyed it.
Kids were able to create their own book for free thanks to Arts and Scraps, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating art from recycled material.
The first Detroit Bookfest took place on July 16, 2017, by founder Ryan M. Place at the Eastern Market.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 5th Annual Detroit Festival of Book brings large crowd to Eastern Market
