Photos from the 2012 National Black Writers Conference



The Eleventh National Black Writers Conference


The Impact of Migration, Popular Culture, and the Natural Environment in the Literature of Black Writers


Thursday, March 29, 2012 – Sunday, April 1, 2012




Did you miss attending the Conference in March?
Watch segments of the
Eleventh National Black Writers Conference
on Book TV!

C-SPAN Book TV schedule-
http://www.booktv.org/Schedule.aspx


Selected panels and conversations
will be aired this weekend,
Saturday, April 28, and Sunday, April 29.
Check your local listings!



THE CENTER FOR BLACK LITERATURE @ MEDGAR EVERS
PRESENTS WRITERS ON WRITING ON WNYE, 91.5 FM
SUNDAYS, 7:00 P.M. to 7:30 P.M.
Hosted by Dr. Brenda M. Greene, Executive Director
Center for Black Literature
SUNDAY, APRIL 15, 2012
CORNEL WEST
FEATURED GUEST
CO-AUTHOR WITH TAVIS SMILEY

The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto
Smiley and West argue that there are nearly 150 million poor and near poor people in America who are not responsible for the damage done by the Great Recession. Yet these people pay the price.


They challenge us to re-examine our assumptions about poverty in America, what it really is and how to eliminate it now. In the introduction to their book, they state: “This manifesto, backed by stubborn facts and damning statistics, will erase any doubt that we are experiencing a crisis in our country; we are dangerously close to cementing a permanent American catastrophe.”



Post-NBWC Event

flyer cornel west & travis smiley

To RSVP and/or purchase your copy of “The Rich and the Rest of Us” in advance, please click here.

OR Having problems with the link?:  
To purchase tickets in advance, go to www.CLSJ.org 
and click "Donate." PLEASE PUT IN THE DESIRED AMOUNT FOR DONATION WITH A BOOK, OR WITHOUT A BOOK.




Overview


As our society becomes increasingly globalized, the themes in the literary texts and literature created by black writers throughout the African diasporic communities of the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe are shifting and expanding in varying ways. There is recognition of the importance and value of preserving cultural memory and identity and of cultivating and nurturing cultural and geographical spaces. At the same time, there is also a recognition that politics and popular culture shape what we respond to, what we read, what gets published, what we teach, and what conversations we have in our literary communities, in the media, in our educational institutions, in our work environments, and in our homes.


Through novels, stories, poems, plays, memoirs, and essays, black writers have explored the importance of memory on our concepts of self and family. They have examined the impact of popular culture on our personal lives, belief systems, values, and traditions. And they have chronicled what happens when we neglect and do not nurture our natural environment. In essence, they have used the power of words and the literary arts to stir our imagination and to motivate us to affirm, critique, and reflect on our responses to personal, societal, and environmental issues in our lives. The Eleventh National Black Writers Conference will provide writers, scholars, literary professionals, students, and the general public with a forum for engaging in dynamic and spirited conversations, panel discussions, readings, workshops, and performances on themes related to migration, cultural memory, popular culture, and the natural environment.


Major funding provided by: National Endowment for the Arts

Media support provided by: African American Literature Book Club, AKILA Worksongs, Inc.


2012 NBWC Honorees


Ishmael Reed – John Oliver Killens Lifetime Achievement Award


Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o – W. E. B. Du Bois Award


Nikki Giovanni - Gwendolyn Brooks Award


Dr. Howard Dodson – Ida B. Wells Institutional Leadership Award


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For information about the CBL contact:
Dr. Brenda M. Greene, Executive Director
Center for Black Literature
bgreene@mec.cuny.edu