National Black Writers' Conference

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Welcome

TheCenter for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY

Presents

TheTenth National Black Writers' Conference

Programand Activities

TheConference will be held at Medgar Evers College, CUNY, unless otherwiseindicated

Toni Morrison

Nobel Prize-Winning Author

Honorary Chair

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Re-Envisioning Our Lives ThroughLiterature

Writing & Literature Workshops forElementary, Middle-School and High-School Students

9:00 a.m. to 11:30a.m.

Elementary School Program

Cheryl and Wade Hudson, Zetta Elliot,and Tony Medina

Sponsored by Just Us Books

1:00 p.m. to 3:00p.m.

Middle-School Writing Workshop
TonyaHegamin

High-School Program

Tara Betts, John Murillo, and AbiodunOyewole, Featured Poets

High-School Writing Workshop
Sponsoredby PEN American Center

4:00 p.m. to 5:00p.m.

Elders Workshop Presentation(Medgar Evers College)

Donna Hill, Moderator

4:00 p.m. to 6:00p.m.

Off-Site Event:

Spoken Word PoetryCafé

Staceyann Chin and Willie Perdomo,Featured Poets

Location:

BrooklynPublic Library

CentralLibrary

10 Grand ArmyPlaza

Brooklyn, NY11238

718-230-2100

Conference Papers on Toni Morrison,Amiri Baraka, Kamau Brathwaite,

and John Oliver Killens

Medgar Evers College

Mary Pinkett Lecture Hall,

Student Services Building, S122

9:30 a.m. to 10:45a.m.

“The Resurrection of Memory in theWorks of Toni Morrison”

RobinFord, Moderator

12:30 p.m. to 1:45p.m.

“Music as Language in African AmericanTexts”

EmmanuelaMaurice, Moderator

2:00 p.m. to 3:15p.m.

“The Legacy of John Oliver Killens”

TBA,Moderator

3:30 p.m. to 4:45p.m.

“The Politics of Language”

BakarWilson, Moderator

5:00 p.m. to 6:00p.m.

Presentation of Student Play Fanon,Founders Auditorium

Featuring Students at Medgar EversCollege, Written by Prof. Delridge Hunter

5:00 p.m.

VIP OpeningReception

President’sConference Center (Medgar Evers College, Rm. 1008)

Sponsoredby the Caribbean Chamber of Commerce and Industry Incorporated

7:00 p.m.

OfficialConference Opening:

AConversation with Kamau Brathwaite and

Welcome to South End Press

Supported by Black BrooklynRenaissance in Partnership with the BrooklynArts Council and the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation

TerrieM. Williams, Mistress of Ceremonies

Thomas Sayers Ellis, Introduction ofKamau Brathwaite

Founders Auditorium, Medgar EversCollege, CUNY

Friday, March 26, 2010

LeroyBaylor, Master of Ceremonies

10:00 a.m. to 11:30a.m.

“The Black Writer as LiteraryActivist”

Patrick Oliver, Kalamu Ya Salaam,Dorothea Smartt, and Frank Wilderson III Louis Reyes Rivera, Moderator

12:00 p.m. to 1:30p.m.

“Politics and Satire in the Literatureof Black Writers”

Herb Boyd, Thomas Bradshaw, Charles D.Ellison, and Major Owens

Obery M. Hendricks, Moderator

2:00 p.m. to 3:30p.m.

“Shifting Identities: The Black Writerin the African Diaspora”

Edwidge Danticat, Courttia Newland,Colin Channer, and Carole Boyce Davies Jacqueline Brice-Finch, Moderator

4:00 p.m. to 5:30p.m.

“Black Writers Reconstructing theMaster Narrative”

Catherine Acholonu, John F. Baker Jr.,Breena Clarke, and Betty DeRamus


Pamela Newkirk, Moderator

6:30 p.m. to 8:30p.m.

Tribute to Toni Cade Bambara

Malaika Adero, Hattie Gossett, FarahJasmine Griffin, Linda Holmes, Louis Massiah, Eugene Redmond, Eleanor Traylor,Cheryl Wall, Kalamu Ya Salaam, Sonia Sanchez

Sponsored by The Links, Incorporated

8:30 p.m.

Off-Site Event:

TheNational Black Writers’ Conference Concert

PresentsTalib Kweli, Gary Bartz,

anda Very Special Surprise Guest

Producedby Jill Newman Productions

Location:

Littlefield, Brooklyn, NYC

Doors Open: 8:30 p.m.; Concert: 9:30p.m.

Tickets $25 in advance, $30 at thedoor

For Tickets, visit

http://www.littlefieldnyc.com

Jill Newman Productions 917-561-6056,

http://www.jillnewmanproductions.com

Saturday, March 27, 2010

KyraGaunt, Mistress of Ceremonies

10:00 a.m. to 11:30a.m.

“The Impact of Hip-Hop and PopularCulture in the Literature of Black Writers”

Steven C. Fullwood, Felicia Pride, andTouré

Karen Hunter, Moderator

12:00 p.m. to 1:30p.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 3:30p.m.


“Literary Encounters: East MeetsWest—A Dialogue”


Meena Alexander, Marina Budhos,Shelley Eversley, and M G Vassinji

Margaret Cox, Moderator

4:00 p.m. to 5:30p.m.


*“The Impact of War & NaturalDisasters in Literature by Black Writers”

Chris Abani,
Phyllis Montana LeBlanc,James McBride, and Maaza Mengiste

5:30 p.m. to 6:00p.m.

Kevin Powell – Featured Speaker

“Black Writers Creating Memories andLighting the Way”

Readings

TheNational Black Writers’ Conference Reading Series Is Sponsored by the AfricanAmerican Literature Book Club, the Brooklyn Literary Council

andthe National Black Writers’ Conference

12:30 p.m.

Colson Whitehead

Sponsored by the National BlackWriters’ Conference

1:30 p.m. to 2:30p.m.

Bernice McFadden, Rakesh Satyal, andTiphanie Yanique

Sponsored by the Brooklyn LiteraryCouncil

3:00 p.m. to 4:00p.m.

Allen B. Ballard, Victor LaValle, andDolen Perkins-Valdez

Sponsored by the African AmericanLiterary Book Club

6:30 p.m.

Off-Site Event:

AwardsReception and VIP Reception

Susan L.Taylor, Reception Emcee

Honorees:

ToniMorrison,Noble Prize-Winning Author and Honorary Chair, NBWC;

AmiriBaraka,Poet, Essayist; Kamau Brathwaite, Poet, Cultural Historian andProfessor, New York University; and Dr. Edison O. Jackson, FormerPresident, Medgar Evers College, CUNY

Location

ARTCURIAN Gallery at Arthur BennettHall

22 Chapel Street

Brooklyn, New York 11201

www.artcurian.org

Tickets $75

To Purchase Tickets, visit AALBC.COM

Sunday, March 28, 2010

GloriaJ. Browne-Marshall, Mistress of Ceremonies

Talkshops

10:00 a.m. to 11:15a.m.

Fiction: Tayari Jones

**Poetry: Sonia Sanchez

Book Reviews: Clarence V. Reynolds

11:30 a.m. to 12:30p.m.

Dramatic Writing: Thulani Davis

Creative Nonfiction: TK

Book Proposals: Krishan Trotman

PanelDiscussions

12:30 p.m. to 2:00p.m.

“Speculative Fiction: Fantasy, Horror,and the Supernatural in the

Fiction of Black Writers”

L.A. Banks, Michael Boatman, JewellParker Rhodes, and Cheo Tyehimba

DaleAllender, Moderator

2:30 p.m. to 4:00p.m.

*** “Restoring Community: BlackWriters Respond to the Environmental Crises” Majora Carter, Alixa and Naima(Climbing PoeTree), and Omar Ferilla

4:30 p.m. to 6:00p.m.

“Editors, Agents, Writers, and Publisherson the Literature of Black Writers”

Regina Brooks, Linda Duggins, ChrisJackson, and Johnny Temple

Fred Beauford, Moderator

*Sponsored by Con Edison

**Poetry Talkshop is Sponsored by TheLinks, Incorporated

***Sponsored by Con Edison

Brenda M. Greene, Ph.D.

Conference Director; ExecutiveDirector, The Center for Black Literature

Program Is Subject to Change.

2010 National Black Writers'Conference