National Black Writers Conference

The National Black Writers Conference (NBWC) is a biennial symposium dedicated to an exploration of “emerging themes, trends and issues in black literature.” The event is hosted by the Center for Black Literature [1] at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York (CUNY). Bestselling author Walter Mosley hailed the Conference as "the most significant gathering of black writers in the country."

The National Black Writers Conference was initially conceived of in 1986 by the late author John Oliver Killens. The event has attracted an array of renowned writers and scholars including Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, Alice Walker, amongst others. The Conference has explored themes such as Stereotypes and Images in Black Literature (1996) and the Impact of Black Literature on Society (2000). The event has previously been held in 1986, 1988, 1991, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2006.

The Ninth National Black Writers Conference, titled Black Writers: Reading and Writing to Transform Their Lives and the World, is set to take place on Friday, March 28, 2008 through Sunday, March 30, 2008. The three -day event shall feature programs ranging from a roundtable on the impact of Hurricane Katrina and 911 on black literature; to a Poetry Café showcasing slam artists and co-founders of the louderARTS Project, Roger Bonair-Agard and Lynne Procope, student poets and an open mic session; to talkshops on publishing, poetry, fiction and non-fiction writing; on to book signings; youth workshops; author readings and more. An array of vendors will be on display at the NBWC marketplace.

The list of confirmed participants includes scholars, poets, and publishers: Sonia Sanchez, Amiri Baraka, John Edgar Wideman, Jerry Ward, Brenda Marie Osbey, Asha Bandele, Thulani Davis, Quincy Troupe, Kevin Powell, David Durham, Terry McMillan, Nathan McCall, Nancy Rawles, Jabari Asim, Valerie Kinloch, Eisa Ulen, Thomas Bradshaw, Valerie Boyd, Fred Beauford, Regina Brooks, Martha Southgate, Tayari Jones, Thomas Glave, William Jelani Cobb, Angela Dodson, Jaira Placide, Kassahun Checole, Quraysh Ali Lansana, and Thomas Ellis Sayers.

Meditations and Ascensions: Black Writers on Writing is the bound proceedings of the Eighth National Black Writers Conference of 2006 ^[1]. Published by Third World Press, contributors to the tome include Marita Golden, Walter Mosley, Ishmael Reed, Herb Boyd, Haki R. Madhubuti, Valerie Boyd, Elizabeth Nunez, Samuel 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 slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers. The book is set for release in early May 2008.