Dedicated to the Centennial of Richard Wright
The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY
MARCH 28th – MARCH 30th, 2008
Registration ends March 15, 2008
Phone: 718.270.4811
Website: www.mec.cuny.edu/nbwc
Email address: nbwc@mec.cuny.edu
Medgar Evers College
1650 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11225
Panels ? Readings ? Talkshops
Black Writers: Reading & Writing to Transform Their Lives & The World
The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY will host the Ninth National Black Writers Conference (NBWC) Black Writers: Reading and Writing to Transform Their Lives and the World on Friday, March 28, 2008 through Sunday, March 30, 2008 on the Medgar Evers College campus in Brooklyn, NY. The Conference, dedicated to the centennial of Richard Wright?s birth, will feature Randall Robinson, Cornel West, Julia Wright and the notable Susan L. Taylor as the Honorary Conference Chair.
Described by bestseller author Walter Mosley as ?the most significant gathering of black writers in the country,? the National Black Writers Conference is the largest gathering of its kind in North America and has been described ?as a glorious opportunity to meet fellow writers and scholars and a fertile environment for creativity!? Conferences participants will be able to attend panels, roundtable discussions, talkshops, and author readings. The Conference theme focuses on the ways in which black writers use literature to transform their lives and the larger global community. It examines this concept of literature as transformative from historical, cultural, and political perspectives.
As part of its tribute and recognition to black writers, there will be a special Awards Program and VIP Reception on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 6:30 pm. Conference attendees must register for this program. Sonia Sanchez will receive the lifetime literary award. Other honorees for the Conference include Susan L. Taylor, Randall Robinson, Cornel West and Cheryl and Wade Hudson of Just Us Books.
Meditations and Ascensions:Black Writers on Writing
An added feature of the NBWC will be the release of the proceedings of the 2006 Eighth National Black Writers Conference, Meditations and Ascensions: Black Writers on Writing, published by Third World
Press. Contributors to Meditations and Ascensions: Black Writers on Writing include Marita Golden, Walter Mosley, Ishmael Reed, Herb Boyd, Haki R. Madhubuti, Valerie Boyd, Elizabeth Nunez, Sam Delany, Tananarive Due, Valerie Wilson Wesley and many more. The book was edited by Dr. Brenda M. Greene and Fred Beauford and includes a foreword by Myrlie Evers, activist and widow to the late Medgar Wiley Evers.
This year?s Conference has received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, Brooklyn Assemblyman Karim Camara, the Big Read, Con Edison, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the New York Historical Society, Target and the Washington Mutual Savings Bank. The Center for Black Literature is also partnering with AALBC (African American Literature Book Club), the Brooklyn Public Library, the PEN American Center, the Brooklyn Literary Council, The BIG READ, The Links Incorporated and the Caribbean Research Center.
NBWC?08
Letter From the Director
Dr. Brenda Greene
Conference Schedule
Friday, March 28, 2008
9:00 am ? 12:00 pm
High School & College Students
Sponsored by Big Read, African Voices
Zora Neale Hurston Program for High School Students
Film and Discussion
Lindamichelle Baron, Valerie Boyd, Ruby Dee
and Tayari Jones.
Film on Zora Neale Hurston
Panel Discussion on Zora Neale Hurston
9:00 am ? 11:00 am
Middle & Elementary School Workshops
Sponsored by The Links Incorporated and Target.
Middle School Workshop ?
Medgar Evers Preparatory School
Gregory Walker
Memnon Series? Reading, Writing, Talk
Location: Lecture Hall S122
Workshops Sponsored by PEN American Center
Session I -Fiction, Memoir, Poetry ? High School Students
Locations: TBD
12:30 pm ? 2:30 pm
Middle School Workshop – Fifth Grade
Omari Jerimah and Jaira Placide
Location: N. B. Johnson Lecture Hall
Elementary School Workshop ? Third to Fifth Grade
Tonya Bolden
Location: Classroom
Workshops Sponsored by PEN American Center
Session II-Fiction, Memoir, Poetry ? High School Students
Locations: TBD
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Poetry Café
Sponsored by Urban Word & College Now Office of Collaborative Programs
Poets ? Roger Bonair, Lynne Procope and Student Poets
Location: Founder?s Auditorium
Elder?s Writing Presentation
Sponsored by Poets and Writers
Location: N. B. Johnson Lecture Hall
5:00 pm ? 6:30 pm
Opening Reception & Award Program
for Randall Robinson and Susan L. Taylor
Sponsored by Caribbean American Chamber of Congress, Center for Nu Leadership, Center for Law and Social Justice, and DuBois Bunch Center for Public Policy
Location: President?s Conference Center
6:30 pm ? 7:45 pm ? Official Conference Opening
A Talk with Randall Robinson
8:00 pm ? 9:30 pm
Panel: Representations of Male Images in Literature
by Black Writers
William Jelani Cobb, Thomas Glave, Nathan McCall
and Kevin Powell
Moderated by Patrik Henry Bass
9:30 pm ? 10:00 pm
Book Signings
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Emcees: Herb Boyd and Gloria Browne Marshall
11:00 am ? 5:00 pm –
NBWC Reading Series
AKILA WORKSONGS & the Fatherhood Project
Caribbean Research Center
MEC English Department
Sponsored by Brooklyn Literary Council
Tinhouse Magazine
All Programs are in the FOUNDERS AUDITORIUM unless otherwise indicated.
Some Locations subject to change.
Panel Discussions
10:00 am ? 11:30 am
Roundtable: Impact of Katrina and 911
on Literature by Black Writers
Thulani Davis, Brenda Marie Osbey, Kevin Powell,
and Jerry Ward Jr.
Moderated by Ron Daniels
11:45 am ? 12:45 pm
Panel: Poetry Reading and Discussion
Thomas Sayers Ellis, Erica Hunt, and Quincy Troupe.
Moderated by Patricia Spears Jones
2:00 pm ? 3:15 pm
Panel: Historical Representations of Resistance and Transformation in Black Literature
David Durham, Lawrence Jackson, Valerie Kinloch,
and Nancy Rawles.
Moderated by Jacqueline Brice-Finch
3:30 pm ? 4:45 pm
Panel: Resistance and Reconciliation:
Transforming Our Lives through Narrative
Honoree Jeffers, Tayari Jones, Martha Southgate,
and Eisa Ulen.
Moderated by Farah Jasmine Griffith
5:00 pm ? 6:00 pm
Cornel West: Transforming Our Lives,
Transforming the World
Cornel West
6:30 pm ? 9:00 pm
VIP Reception and Awards Program
Sponsored by the Office of the President, Medgar Evers College, Edison O. Jackson
Sonia Sanchez, Cornel West, and Cheryl and Wade Hudson as Honorees
Location: Charles Evans Inniss Library
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Emcee: Kyra Gaunt
Talkshops
Selections run concurrently for each session.
Session I
10:00 am ? 11:15 am
Dramatic Writing:? Thomas Bradshaw
Poetry:? Quraysh Ali Lansana
Publishing in Literary Magazines:? Fred Beauford
Session II
12:00 pm ? 1:30 pm
Book Proposals:? Regina Brooks
Creative Non Fiction (Memoirs):? Asha Bandele
Fiction:? Donna Hill
1:00 pm ? 2:15 pm
Panel: Writers, Agents, Editors, and Publishers on Black Literature
Fred Beauford, Kassahun Checole, Dawn Davis,
and Tracy Sherrod.
Moderated by: Angela Dodson
2:30 pm ? 3:45 pm
Dedicated to the Memory of Richard Wright
Julia Wright and Amiri Baraka.
Moderated by: Robert Reid – Pharr
4:00 pm ? 5:00 pm
Publishing and Selling Black Literature
Conversation: Terry McMillan & Jabari Asim.
5:00 pm ? 5:30 pm –
Conference Wrap Up and Closing
Comment(s)
Man, I wish I could be there!! But I’m going to be at the VA Book Fest instead.
Comment(s)
I wish you could make it, too, Carleen. Can’t wait to hear all about Virginia, though. 🙂
Comment(s)
Professor –
Very excited about the conference, but as usual, a touch confused about the logistics.
Do we need to register for the conference and then register AGAIN IN ADDITION for the Saturday evening reception?
(I haven’t been able to go down in person to inquire, as I’m living/working in that “other” borough. 😉 I’ve called the Center, and of course the line is continually busy.)
Comment(s)
Hi, Imb –
Here’s a response to your question from Dr. Brenda Greene.
Hope to see you at the conference!
*****
The VIP Reception is separate. At this point, the person would have to register
for all programs, talk shops and reception on site. Registration begins on
Friday, March 28.
Brenda
Brenda M. Greene, Ph.D., Professor of English
Executive Director, Center for Black Literature
Medgar Evers College, CUNY
1650 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11225