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Program
Information
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the Conference Program
Friday,
March 28, 2008
all programing is subject to change
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
High
School & College Students
Sponsored by Big Read, African
Voices
Zora Neale Hurston Program for
High School Students
Film and Discussion
Valerie Boyd, Tayari
Jones, Lindamichelle
Baron- Presenters
Film on Zora Neale Hurston
Panel Discussion on Zora Neale Hurston
9:00 am – 11:00 am
Middle
& Elementary School Workshops
Sponsored by The Links Incorporated
Middle School Workshop –
Medgar Evers Preparatory School
Gregory Walker
Memnon Series– Reading, Writing, Talk
Workshops in Fiction, Memoir, Poetry
Sponsored by PEN American Center
Session I: Fiction, Memoir, Poetry--High School Students
12:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Middle
School Workshop - Fifth Grade
Omari Jerimah and Jaira
Placide
Elementary School Workshop - Third
to Fifth Grade
Tonya Bolden
Writing Workshops
Sponsored by PEN American
Center
Session II - Fiction, Memoir, Poetry--High School Students
3:30 to 5:00 pm
Poetry
Café in Cafeteria Annex
Sponsored by Urban Word, College
Now Office of Collaborative Programs
Poets – Roger Bonair,
Lynne Procope and Student
Poets
Emcee, Tylibah Washington
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Opening
Reception & Awards Program for Randall Robinson
and Susan L. Taylor
Sponsored by the Carribean American
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Center for Law
and Social Justice, the Center for Nu Leadership, and
the DuBois Center for Public Policy
Emcee: Esmerelda Simmons
6:30 – 7:45 pm
Official
Conference Opening
Emcee, Terrie Williams
A Talk with Randall Robinson
8:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Panel
Discussion: Representations of Male Images in Literature
by Black Writers
Thomas Glave, William
Jelani Cobb, Nathan McCall,
Kevin Powell
Moderated by Patrik Henry
Bass
This panel poses challenges issues of
essentialism and stereotypical notions and raises
issues related to how males are depicted in literature
produced by black writers. It raises also questions
related to “an authentically black literature
and characters and the marginalization of gay and
lesbian black characters.” The panelists will
use their texts as a premise for identifying the defining
characteristics and themes present in the literature
of black writers and exploring the degree to which
literature that centers black males is marginalized.
9:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Book Signings
Saturday, March 29, 2008
10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Panels, Rountables and Featured Talk
Emcees: Herb Boyd and
Gloria Brown Marshall
11:00 am - 5:00 pm
NBWC Reading Series
Presented in Partnership with
the Brooklyn Book Festival, Akila WORKSONGS "BE
A FATHER ANTHOLOGY," Tin House Magazine, and the
Medgar Evers College Department of English
Coordinated by Augustine Okereke
10:00 am – 11:30 am
Roundtable:
Impact of Katrina and 911 on Literature by Black Writers
Jerry Ward, Brenda
Marie Osbey, Thulani Davis,
Kevin Powell
Moderated by Ron Daniels
This roundtable explores the relationship between
911, Katrina and related events and the literature
produced by black writers in response to these events.
Panelists explore issues such as the response of the
media, “failed democracies,” the effects
of the war, economic disparity, and racism. They discuss
how literature acts as a form of resistance to these
events.
11:45 am – 12:45 pm
Panel: Black
Poets Reading and Writing to Transform Their Lives and
the World
Erica Hunt, Thomas
Sayers Ellis, Quincy Troupe
Moderated by Patricia Spears
Jones
This panel builds on the theme of the poet using
literature as a form of transformation and resistance.
Poets discuss the evolving state of poetry produced
by black writers and discuss the impact of the spoken
word movement, race and culture on the poetry produced
by black writers. Poets will also read from their
works.
2:00 pm – 3:15 pm
Panel: Historical
Representations of Resistance and Transformation in
Black Literature
Valerie Kinloch, David
Durham, Lawrence Jackson,
Nancy Rawles
Moderated by Jacqueline Brice-Finch
This panel presents the historical significance of
the writer as storyteller and “griot.” Through
the use of story, writers present ways in which “their
real and imagined stories” are used to remember
and to depict the struggles, myths, legends and experiences
of those who have people of the African diaspora,
very often those who have been marginalized and disenfranchised.
The texts of these writers create history, transform
lives and represent a multiplicity of voices by black
writers.
3:30 pm – 4:45 pm
Panel: Resistance
and Reconciliation: Transforming Our Lives through Narrative
Martha Southgate, Tayari
Jones, Eisa Ulen,
Honoree Jeffers
Moderated by Farah Jasmine
Griffith
This panel builds examines the cultural significance
of narrative as a means to confront, resist, and address
life’s problems. Panelists will use their writing
as a context to discuss the concept of narratives
as forms of resistance and transformation and the
act of writing as courageous. They will discuss the
degree to which narratives as resistance and transformation
are liberation narratives and become a means of survival
and ensuring the triumph of the spirit.
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Cornel West
: Transforming Our Lives, Transforming the World
Cornell West
6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
VIP Reception
and Awards Program
Sponsored by the Office of the
President, Medgar Evers College
Dr. Edison O. Jackson, President
Honorees Sonia Sanchez, Cornel West, and Cheryl and
Wade Hudson
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Emcee: Kyra Grant
Talkshops
Session I
10:00 am – 11:15 am
Publishing in Literary Magazines: Fred
Beauford
Poetry: Quraysh Ali Lansana
Dramatic Writing: Thomas
Bradshaw
Session II
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Fiction: Donna Hill
Creative Fiction ( Memoirs) - Asha
Bandele
Book Proposals: Regina Brooks
Panels
1:00 pm-5:30 pm
Emcee, Kyra Grant
1:00 pm – 2:15 pm
Writers, Agents,
Editors, and Publishers on Black Literature
Angela Dodson, Moderator
Kassahun Checole, Dawn
Davis, Esther Armah,
Fred
Beauford, Tracey Sherrod
Panelists explore the nature of the publishing business.
They address issues such as the 21st century forecast
in terms of black literature, the impact of the internet
and digital publishing, the impact of hip hop culture,
the rise of urban street literature, and the role
of the critic, agent, and editor.
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Dedicated to
Memory of Richard Wright
Julia Wright and Amiri
Baraka
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Publishing and
Selling Black Literature
Conversation: Terry McMillan
& Jabari Asim
5:00 pm – 5:30 pm
Conference Wrap Up and Closing
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