A Celebration of Books,
Writers & LIterary Excellence

Save the Date


Gaithersburg
Book Festival

May 16, 2026

10am – 6pm

Bohrer Park


Ayana Gray

Featured Title: I, Medusa
I, Medusa

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “captivating villain origin story” (People Book of the Week) reimagining one of the most iconic monsters in Greek mythology as a provocative and powerful young heroine

This hardcover edition features a premium dust jacket with foil and a gorgeous custom-stamped case!

“Ayana Gray brings her fresh, dynamic storytelling to one of the most monstered, maligned, and misunderstood women of Greek myth, imagining all the girls that Medusa was and could have been.”—Jennifer Saint, bestselling author of Ariadne

AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Meddy has spent her whole life as a footnote in someone else’s story. Out of place next to her beautiful, immortal sisters and her parents—both gods, albeit minor ones—she dreams of leaving her family’s island for a life of adventure. So when she catches the eye of the goddess Athena, who invites her to train as an esteemed priestess in her temple, Meddy leaps at the chance to see the world beyond her home.

In the colorful market streets of Athens and the clandestine chambers of the temple, Meddy flourishes in her role as Athena’s favored acolyte, getting her first tastes of purpose and power. But when she is noticed by another Olympian, Poseidon, the course of Meddy’s promising future is suddenly and irrevocably altered.

When her locs are transformed into snakes as punishment for a crime she did not commit, Medusa must embrace a new identity—not as a victim, but as a vigilante—and with it, the chance to write her own story as mortal, martyr, and myth.

Exploding with rage, heartbreak, and love, I, Medusa portrays a young woman caught in the crosscurrents between her heart’s deepest desires and the cruel, careless games the Olympian gods play.

About Ayana Gray

Ayana Gray is a New York Times, USA Today, and Indie best-selling author. Her works have been translated into a dozen languages across five continents, and have received critical recognition at the state and national level. She has been featured on Good Morning America, Tamron Hall, People Magazine, and Oprah Daily among others. Ayana also serves as a guest lecturer at writing workshops across the country. Originally from Atlanta, she now lives and writes in Arkansas.

Ayana will be presenting “I, Medusa.”

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Instagram: @ayanagray_