How Geoffrey Himes Became a Writer

Geoffrey Himes, the longtime music critic for the Washington Post
and Baltimore City Paper, will talk about his career and how he became a writer, read selections from his recent books of poetry and music criticism, and sign copies of his books.

Though best known as a music critic for the Washington Post, Baltimore-based Geoffrey Himes is also an author and a longtime singer-songwriter. He has published five books in the past two years. These include two books of music history and criticism: Willie Nelson: All the Albums—The Stories Behind the Songs (Quarto Books, 2025) and In-Law Country: How Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash and Their Circle Fashioned a New Kind of Country Music (Country Music Hall of Fame, 2024). His recent books also include two volumes of collaborative poems with Maryland Poet Laureate Grace Cavalieri: Fables from Italy and Beyond (Bordighera Press, 2025) and The Third Voice (Blue Light, 2025). His latest book is Geoffrey Himes: The Shorter Poems (Bunny and Crocodile, 2026). He has received honors for Music Feature Writing by the Deems Taylor/ASCAP Awards (2003, 2005, 2014 and 2015), the New Orleans Press Awards, the Abell Foundation Awards and the Music Journalism Awards. In-Law Country was named the Best Book of 2025 by the Americana U.K. magazine.