Rafael Alvarez returns to East Baltimore's "Holy Land," first charted in his debut collection, The Fountain of Highlandtown, twenty years ago. In a mix of stories about a junk man and his Greek lover, duck blood soup, flying John Lennon dolls, and a hot-air balloon shaped like the head of Elvis Presley, Alvarez has created his alter-ego Basilio, an artist who brings canvases to life at night while painting the side of seafood trucks by day to make ends meet.

A lifelong Baltimorean, Rafael Alvarez graduated from Loyola University of Maryland and worked for 20 years as a City Desk reporter for the Baltimore Sun. Since 2009, he has concentrated on writing books and screenplays for independent films. Basilio Boullosa is his 11th book.

Sponsored by the Friends of the Govans Library.  Copies of the author's books will be on sale following the program.