The Center for Black Literature
at Medgar Evers College, CUNY
Presents
The Tenth National Black Writers’ Conference
Program and Activities
And Then We Heard the Thunder:
Black Writers Reconstructing Memories and Lighting the Way
The Conference will be held at Medgar Evers College, CUNY, unless otherwise indicated
Toni Morrison
Nobel Prize-Winning Author
Honorary Chair
Thursday, March 25, 2010
?Re-Envisioning Our Lives Through Literature?
Writing and Literature Workshops for Elementary, Middle-School and
High-School Students
9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Elementary School Program
Cheryl and Wade Hudson, Zetta Elliot, and Tony Medina
Sponsored by Just Us Books
1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Middle-School Writing Workshop
Tonya Hegamin
High-School Program
Tara Betts, John Murillo, and Abiodun Oyewole, Featured Poets
High-School Writing Works
Sponsored by PEN American Center
4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Elders Workshop Presentation (Medgar Evers College)
Donna Hill, Moderator
4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Off-Site Event:
Spoken Word Poetry Café
Staceyann Chin and Willie Perdomo, Featured Poets
Location:
Brooklyn Public Library
Central Library
10 Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, NY 11238
718-230-2100
Conference Papers on Toni Morrison, Amiri Baraka, Kamau Brathwaite,
and John Oliver Killens
Medgar Evers College
Student Support Services Building
1637 Bedford Avenue
Mary Pinkett Lecture Hall, Rm. S122
9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
?The Resurrection of Memory in the Works of Toni Morrison?
Robin Ford, Moderator
12:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.
?Music as Language in African American Texts?
Emmanuela Maurice, Moderator
2:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
?The Legacy of John Oliver Killens?
TBA, Moderator
3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.
?The Politics of Language?
Bakar Wilson, Moderator
5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Presentation of Student Play Fanon, Founders Auditorium
Featuring Students at Medgar Evers College, Written by Prof. Delridge Hunter
5:00 p.m.
VIP Opening Reception, at Medgar Evers College
President?s Conference Center, Rm. 1008
Sponsored by the Caribbean Chamber of Commerce and Industry Incorporated
7:00 p.m.
Official Conference Opening:
A Conversation with Kamau Brathwaite and
Welcome to South End Press
Supported by Black Brooklyn Renaissance in Partnership with the Brooklyn Arts Council and the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation
Terrie M. Williams, Mistress of Ceremonies
Thomas Sayers Ellis, Introduction of Kamau Brathwaite
Founders Auditorium, Medgar Evers College, CUNY
Friday, March 26, 2010
Leroy Baylor, Master of Ceremonies
10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
?The Black Writer as Literary Activist?
Patrick Oliver, Kalamu Ya Salaam, Dorothea Smartt, and Frank Wilderson III Louis Reyes Rivera, Moderator
12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
?Politics and Satire in the Literature of Black Writers?
Herb Boyd, Thomas Bradshaw, Charles D. Ellison, and Major Owens
Obery M. Hendricks, Moderator
2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
?Shifting Identities: The Black Writer in the African Diaspora?
Edwidge Danticat, Courttia Newland, Colin Channer, and Carole Boyce Davies Jacqueline Brice-Finch, Moderator
4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
?Black Writers Reconstructing the Master Narrative?
Catherine Acholonu, John F. Baker Jr., Breena Clarke, and Betty DeRamus
Pamela Newkirk, Moderator
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
?Tribute to Toni Cade Bambara?
Malaika Adero, Hattie Gossett, Farah Jasmine Griffin, Louis Massiah, Eugene Redmond, Eleanor Traylor, Cheryl Wall, Kalamu Ya Salaam, Sonia Sanchez
Linda J. Holmes, Moderator
Sponsored by The Links, Incorporated
8:30 p.m.
Off-Site Event:
The National Black Writers? Conference Concert
Presents Talib Kweli, Gary Bartz,
and Very Special Guest Gil Scott-Heron
Produced by Jill Newman Productions
Location:
Littlefield
622 Degraw Street (between 3rd and 4th Avenues)
Brooklyn, New York
Doors Open: 8:30 p.m.; Concert: 9:30 p.m.
Tickets $25 in advance, $30 at the door
For Tickets, visit http://www.littlefieldnyc.com
Jill Newman Productions 917-561-6056, http://www.jillnewmanproductions.com
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Kyra Gaunt, Mistress of Ceremonies
10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
?The Impact of Hip-Hop and Popular Culture in the Literature of Black Writers?
Steven C. Fullwood, Felicia Pride, Touré, and James Peterson
Karen Hunter, Moderator
12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
?The Impact of the Internet: Blogging, Publishing and Writing?
Grace Ali, Nick Charles, Troy Johnson, and April Silver
Esther Armah, Moderator
2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
?Literary Encounters: East Meets West?A Dialogue?
Meena Alexander, Marina Budhos, Shelley Eversley, and M G Vassinji
Margaret Cox, Moderator
4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
*?The Impact of War & Natural Disasters in Literature by Black Writers?
Chris Abani, Phyllis Montana LeBlanc, James McBride, and Maaza Mengiste
Richard Green, Moderator
5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Kevin Powell ? Featured Speaker
?Black Writers Creating Memories and Lighting the Way?
Readings
The National Black Writers? Conference Reading Series Is Sponsored by the African American Literature Book Club, the Brooklyn Literary Council,
and the National Black Writers? Conference
Medgar Evers College
Student Support Services Building
1637 Bedford Avenue
Mary Pinkett Lecture Hall, Rm. S122
11:00 to 11:30 a.m.
Donna Hill
Sponsored by the Center for Black Literature
12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Colson Whitehead
Sponsored by the National Black Writers? Conference
12:45 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Joy James
Sponsored by South End Press
1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Bernice McFadden, Rakesh Satyal, and Tiphanie Yanique
Sponsored by the Brooklyn Literary Council
3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Allen B. Ballard, Victor LaValle, and Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Sponsored by the African American Literature Book Club
6:30 p.m.
Off-Site Event:
Awards Presentation and VIP Reception
Susan L. Taylor, Emcee
Honorees:
Toni Morrison, Noble Prize-Winning Author and Honorary Chair, NBWC;
Amiri Baraka, Poet, Essayist; Kamau Brathwaite, Poet, Cultural Historian and Professor, New York University; and Dr. Edison O. Jackson, Former President, Medgar Evers College, CUNY
Location
ARTCURIAN Gallery at Arthur Bennett Hall
22 Chapel Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
www.artcurian.org
Tickets $75
To Purchase Tickets, visit www.AALBC.COM
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Eisa Ulen, Mistress of Ceremonies
Talkshops
10:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
Fiction: Tayari Jones
**Poetry: Sonia Sanchez
Book Reviews: Clarence V. Reynolds
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Dramatic Writing: Thulani Davis
Creative Nonfiction: TBA
Book Proposals: Krishan Trotman
Panel Discussions
12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
?Speculative Fiction: Fantasy, Horror, and the Supernatural in the
Fiction of Black Writers?
L.A. Banks, Michael Boatman, Jewell Parker Rhodes, and Cheo Tyehimba
Dale Allender, Moderator
2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
?Restoring Community: Black Writers Respond to the Environmental Crises? Alixa and Naima (Climbing PoeTree), and Omar Freilla
Nina Mercer, Moderator
4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
?Editors, Agents, Writers, and Publishers on the Literature of Black Writers?
Regina Brooks, Linda Duggins, Chris Jackson, and Johnny Temple
Fred Beauford, Moderator
*Sponsored by Con Edison
**Poetry Talkshop is Sponsored by The Links, Incorporated
Sponsored by Con Edison
Brenda M. Greene, Ph.D.
Conference Director; Executive Director, The Center for Black Literature
Program Is Subject to Change.