Derek Walcott is one of the honorees this year
The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY, is set to host the Twelfth National Black Writers Conference (NBWC) which will be held on the campus of Medgar Evers College (MEC) from Thursday, March 27 through Sunday, March 30, 2014.
Honorees of the 2014 NBWC include Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott; best-selling author Walter Mosley; author and poet Quincy Troupe; French-Caribbean writer Maryse Conde; and posthumously, Margaret Burroughs, co-founder of the DuSable Museum of African American History. The 2014 theme “Black Writers Reconstructing the Master Narrative” builds on previous NBWCs and takes into account the need to expose the general public to the vast range of texts that Black writers throughout the diaspora are producing. Honoree Walter Mosley described the NBWC as “the most significant gathering of Black writers in the country.”
Throughout the multiday celebration, there will be panel discussions, author readings, workshops, an awards program for the honorees, a poetry café, and a film series hosted by African Voices/Reel Sisters. The film presentation will include a screening of Gordon Park’s Solomon Northup’s Odyssey, which premiered in 1984 and was based on the same book as the award-winning movie 12 Years a Slave.
“The notion of what it means to write as a Black writer is complicated. Hence, there is still a need for ‘spaces’ in which to document the writing and work of Black writers, to study the craft of writing, and to expose a cross-generation of students and the general public to a range of writers throughout the African Diaspora,” notes Dr. Brenda Greene, Executive Director of the Center for Black Literature. “There is a rich history of the impact of the work by Black writers in Black culture as well as American culture. This conference offers writers, students, scholars, and professionals in the literary and publishing worlds, as well as the general public, opportunities to engage in meaningful dialogue on the ways Black literature impacts and influences their lives and the lives of people on a global scale.”
Confirmed participants include Tananarive Due, Nalo Hopkinson, Victor LaValle, Emily Raboteau, Askia Touré, David Henderson, Ishmael Reed, Steve Cannon, Ayana Mathis, Sonia Sanchez, Quincy Troupe, Jelani Cobb, Marc Lamont Hill, Michele Wallace, Komozi Woodard, Tony Medina, jessica Care moore, Gillian Royes, Raquel Cepeda, Zakes Mda, Leonard Pitts Jr., Jeffery Renard Allen, Dianne Glave, Tracye Lynn McQuirter, Lauret Savoy, Linda Duggins, Paul Coates, Latoya Smith, Troy Johnson, asha bandele, and many more.
For more information about the Twelfth National Black Writers Conference and a full list of events, visit our website at www.centerforblackliterature.org. For information and tickets regarding the Tenth Anniversary Celebration of the Center for Black Literature, call the Center at 718-804-8883, the NBWC hotline at 718-270-4811, or email [email protected]
Located in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Medgar Evers College is a growing institution offering both Associate and Baccalaureate degrees. The nearly 7,000-member student body is primarily comprised of those who are the first in their families to attend college.
A senior college within The City University of New York (CUNY) system, Medgar Evers College was established in 1970 with a mandate to meet the educational and social needs of the Central Brooklyn community.
For more information, visit www.mec.cuny.edu
