Jump to content

Requesting Your Support of the Twelfth National Black Writers Conference


Recommended Posts

Requesting Your Support of the Twelfth National Black Writers Conference and Tenth Anniversary Celebration of the Center for Black Literature

 

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

 

As you are aware, we are actively promoting the Twelfth National Black Writers Conference: Reconstructing the Master Narrative.  This year marks a significant year for the Conference for we are also celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Center for Black Literature at the Conference and we are hosting a special program that pays tribute to and celebrates the writer and Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott. I am writing with the hope that you will support our Conference by attending and by strongly encouraging your students to attend.  You may Register Now for the Conference

 

Our conference honorees include Maryse Condé whose historical novels represent the experiences of  people throughout the African diaspora; Walter Mosley who has produced texts across many genres including crime fiction, speculative fiction, mystery and politics; poet, journalist, and biographer, Quincy Troupe whose expansive body of poems, essays and biographies vividly capture the American experience ; Nobel prize laureate  poet and playwright Derek Walcott whose powerful poetry reflects the complexity of the Caribbean experience and  poet, artist and institution builder  Margaret Burroughs, co-founder of  theDuSable Museum in Chicago, an institution developed to preserve and interpret the experiences and achievements of people of African descent.  We will acknowledge their accomplishments and contributions at our Awards Program which is free and open to the public on Saturday evening, March 29, 2014 at 6:00 pm.

 

We pride ourselves on the fact that our conference is a public gathering of writers, artists, students, professors and the general public.  CSPAN will be covering most of the programming on Saturday and Sunday and we encourage you to attend the panels on   “Race, Power and Politics,” “Maintaining Cultural Legacies,” “Shifting Identities in Africa and the African Diaspora,” “Reconstructing Historical Narratives,” “Saving Ourselves, Saving Our Communities,” and “The State of Publishing.  You can also network with writers and lovers of literature and participate in our “talkshops” on the craft of writing.  Our Poetry Café, which is free, will be at the Central Brooklyn Public Library from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm and will feature Jessica Care Moore, Tony Medina, Edward Mabrey and emerging writers.  You can also view the literary films sponsored by African Voices/Reel Sisters; and attend the concert on Friday night featuring pianist Onaje Allan Gumbs and recording artists and poets Dasan Ahanu, Tai Allen, and Abiodun Oyewole of The Last Poets.

 

We are also very excited to host a special evening on Friday, March 28 with Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott.  For this historic program, poet and playwright Derek Walcott will be joined by the Trinidad-born poet Mervyn Taylor and St. Lucian poet and producer Adrian Augier to participate in a program titled “The Search for Self in Caribbean Literature: Past, Present, and Future.” The conversation will focus on Walcott’s writing life and explore the themes of identity, memory, belonging and spirituality in his work and in Caribbean literature.  The program will take place at 6:30 p.m., on the campus of Medgar Evers College, 1650 Bedford Ave.; the donation for this program is $10.00.  You may register here.

 

I would also like you to support the Tenth Anniversary Celebration of the Center for Black Literature which will be held at 7:00 pm on Saturday evening, March 29, 2014.  This is a fundraiser for the Center and if you cannot attend, please make a contribution.  Tickets for the fundraiser are $100.  You may make reservations online. This will be a festive evening for writers and supporters of the Center. We will also honor former Councilman Al Vann and pay tribute to the late Congressman Major Owens and to the late writer, activist and poet Amiri Baraka.

 

Thank you for supporting our Conference and Center and for participating in this historic event at Medgar Evers College. I have also attached a press release for the Conference.

 

Sincerely,

 

Brenda M. Greene, Ph.D.

NBWC Director, 2014

 

brenda-m-greene.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...