Kweli Journal

03/04/2022

KWELI / Truth From the Diaspora's Boldest Voices

🚨 We had a flurry of #Kweli22Virtual registrations last night & we don't want anyone to miss out so we're EXTENDING THE REGISTRATION DEADLINE THROUGH THE WEEKEND!

Many of the new signups are *not* traditional #KidLit creators! This has us thinking about Edwidge Danticat’s incredible keynote presentation at Kweli Conference 2016.

Like Toni Morrison and Ntozake Shange, Danticat talks about seeing the "sky as her ceiling" and refusing to limit herself to writing for one audience. She asked, "Does your face light up when you think about writing for young people? Does your face light up when you think how much your work might make a young person feel appreciated or validated or less traumatized or less alone?”

If these beautiful questions resonate with you, consider joining us at this year’s Conference! Tell a friend who has a book for young people in their heart. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/2p96pr78

An online journal by and for writers of color.

03/01/2022

Happy March, all! You know what we’re looking forward to this month 🤩Registration for #Kweli22VIRTUAL closes THIS FRIDAY! 📣 Sign up now if you haven’t already and help us spread the word! We can’t wait to see y’all there. REGISTER: https://tinyurl.com/2p96pr78

03/01/2022

Taint Taint Taint Magazine - TTT Magazine - James Baldwin Literary Prize

James Baldwin Literary Prize at Taint Taint Taint Magazine. Deadline: April 11, 2022

DEADLINE: APRIL 11, 2022TAINT TAINT TAINT Magazine's 2022 James Baldwin Literary Prize is now open for submissions. We are excited to announce Deesha Philyaw as the Fiction judge and Randall Horton as the Non Fiction judge for this year. One winner for the $500 prize will be selected from each genre...

02/28/2022

TOMORROW NIGHT!

02/08/2022

Kweli Color of Children's Literature Conference

REGISTER NOW for Kweli Color of Children's Literature Conference 2022! This is the nation's premier opportunity for BIPOC kid lit writers and illustrators to learn, get inspired, and connect with top editors and agents, and award-winning writers and illustrators: https://tinyurl.com/2p96pr78

Featuring expert panels and the invaluable opportunity to have your work considered by some of the best editors and agents in children's book publishing. Keynotes by NYT bestselling authors Renee Watson, Daniel José Older, Nnedi Okorafor & more!

P.S. Sign up NOW for a special price! Tell your people and JOIN US here: https://tinyurl.com/2p96pr78

#Kweli22Virtual #BIPOCAuthors #KidLit

Join us on March 25th-27th for an incredible weekend with top editors, agents, authors & illustrators in the children's/YA publishing world. Our spring conference is an excellent opportunity for BIPOC writers & illustrators to learn, get inspired and network with others in the industry.

02/07/2022

Are you ready? Registration for Kweli Color of Children's Literature Conference 2022 (March 25-27th) opens TOMORROW!

We're proud to say this will be our ✨10-year conference anniversary✨ and we'll be celebrating all March long with special pre-conference events and an INCREDIBLE conference weekend featuring the leading lights of kid lit, including Renee Watson, Daniel José Older & Nnedi Okorafor. Stay tuned for our full program & line-up of top editors, agents, authors, and illustrators when registration opens tomorrow!

And YES for folks asking: this year's conference will be all-virtual to keep us all safe! We hope to see Black, Indigenous, and people of color from around the world at #Kweli22VIRTUAL 🤩

12/22/2021

A Special Blackshop Honoring Kamilah Aisha Moon

Remembering Kamilah Aisha Moon, our sweet sister.

On September 24, 2021, our dear friend Kamilah Aisha Moon got the call to join the ancestors and went on up home.

12/22/2021

Announcing our #Kweli22 morning keynote speakers for Saturday, March 26th.

COZBI A. CABRERA
Coretta Scott King Honor
Caldecott Honor

MICHAELA GOADE
Caldecott

JOANNA HO
NYT Bestselling Author

REGISTRATION OPENING SOON.

11/10/2021

On Saturday, November 13th, 12PM EST celebrate RECOGNIZE, AN ANTHOLOGY HONORING AND AMPLIFYING BLACK LIFE and DEFIANT, GROWING UP IN THE JIM CROW SOUTH with their brilliant creators, CHERYL and WADE HUDSON.

Mark your calendars.

On Sat., Nov. 13, 12 noon Eastern - our founders are celebrating Black literature with We Are Lit.

The event will be hosted on Facebook. Hope to see you there!

https://m.facebook.com/wearehereliteracy/

11/03/2021

NMAI is open again. Looking forward to the new exhibition NATIVE NEW YORK, "introducing visitors to the Native nations that call the region home."

MONDAY - FRIDAY
One Bowling Green
10am - 5pm

What makes New York a Native place? Our new exhibition, Native New York, journeys through city and state to explore this question. The exhibition encompasses 12 places in present-day New York, introducing visitors to the Native nations that call the region home.

Stretching from Long Island through New York City and on toward Niagara Falls, it covers pre–Revolutionary War exchanges through contemporary events. From Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) ironworkers who helped build Manhattan’s iconic skyscrapers to Lenape (Delaware) teens visiting their ancestral home, stories of Native New Yorkers provide an expanded understanding of the region’s history and reveal that New York is—and always has been—a Native place. Open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. One Bowling Green. Free Admission

#NDNsEverywhere #NativeNewYork #ThisIsNativeNewYork

Image courtesy @cgpartners, exhibit designers

10/28/2021

Join us online FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29 at 7PM EST for an exclusive reading of THE 1619 PROJECT: BORN ON THE WATER, a lyrical picture book chronicling Black resistance to slavery by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES and Newbery honor-winning author RENEE WATSON. The evening features a reading and conversation by Renée and acclaimed illustrator NIKKOLAS SMITH. Moderated by renowned author HONOREE FANONNE JEFFERS, with special musical guest, vocalist LIZZ WRIGHT.

RSVP: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/renee-watson-and

We couldn't be more excited to host this star-studded evening of art, music, and conversation---we can't wait to see you there!

10/27/2021

FINDING ME by VIOLA DAVIS is set for April 26, 2022 release. Pre-order TODAY!

My Life. My story. My words. I’m so excited to share the cover of my book, FINDING ME! Thank you Oprah Daily for sharing this milestone with me. I can’t wait to share with all of you! Available to preorder now and in bookstores 04.26.2022. #FindingMe
www.harpercollins.com/products/finding-me-viola-davis

10/26/2021

It's now easier to send Kweli Journal a message.

It's now easier to send Kweli Journal a message.

09/20/2021

She Changed Black Literature Forever. Then She Disappeared.

IMANI PERRY: "And like most readers, I wanted a healing to her wounds. But “Corregidora” denies that. At 19, I’d been socialized as a child of the civil rights movement to hope for freedom. Gayl Jones answered back: Hope won’t get us out of the funk of history that we live with today. I learned from her that the terror of now is as important a subject for the Black imagination as a speculatively beautiful tomorrow."

In search of Gayl Jones, whose new novel breaks 22 years of silence.

07/20/2021

✨Join us for tomorrow’s #KweliLitFest21 conversation between Dantiel W. Moniz and Novuyo Rosa Tshuma celebrating #MilkBloodHeat at 7pm on Crowdcast! 🎉

Register via the link in our bio!

Image 1: Cover art for MILK BLOOD HEAT.

Image 2: Photo of Dantiel W. Moniz

Image 3: Photo of Novuyo Rosa Tshuma

#dantielwmoniz #novuyorosatshuma #onlineevents #intergenerational #Floridians #womanhood #storytelling

07/14/2021

Kaitlyn Greenidge Opening Keynote - Crowdcast

TOMORROW, JULY 15TH: #KweliLitFest21 begins an amazing 10 weeks of readings, workshops and conversations as #KaitlynGreenidge opens this literary arts festival with a keynote address. RSVP to join us here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/kaitlyn-greenidge

Register now for Kweli Journal's event on Crowdcast, scheduled to go live on Thursday July 15, 2021 at 7:00 pm EDT.

07/14/2021

🎉#KweliLitFest21 starts tomorrow!

Pictured are some of the lovely literary artists who will be featured in the upcoming #KweliLitFest21 readings and conversations available to EVERYONE for FREE! ✨✨✨

Photos (in order): Zakiya Dalila Harris, Graham Akhurst, Mateo Askaripour, Dantiel Moniz, Novuyo Rosa Tshuma, Brian Young, Nadia Owusu, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Danielle Evans and Asali Solomon.

Dates and times of all sessions are available at http://www.kwelijournal.org/international-literary-festival-2021, as well as registration information.

See you online! ✨✨✨

#kwelijournal #readings #conversations #bipocwriters #authors #literaryfestival #literaryarts #conferences #onlineevents #virtualevents #kidlit #adultlit #freeevents #freetopublic #literarycommunity #asalisolomon #grahamakhurst #literarycommunityofinstagram

07/12/2021

Happy Monday @kweli.journal family! #KweliLitFest21 starts this week and we couldn’t be more excited!

Xochitl Gonzalez will be joining us to lead “Building Meaning From The Ground Up: A Craft Class in Fiction” on July 31 from 11 AM - 2 PM.

About this workshop:

As BIPOC writers, we understand that the personal is always deeply political. Yet, the task of creating literary art with larger social implications can so easily stray into the realm of “Polemic Fiction”. How can we, as artists, explore the pressing issues of the day that weigh on our hearts without flattening our experiences into “a message”. In this craft class, we will focus on critically examining gaze, as well as the roles that detailed world-building and 360-degree character development play in creating believable universes on the page where plots, and their larger implications, feel organic, urgent and inevitable.

This workshop is exclusively for BIPOC writers.

Register here: http://www.kwelijournal.org/events/2021/7/31/kwelilitfest21-building-meaning-from-the-ground-up-a-craft-class-in-fiction-led-by-xochitl-gonzalez

Graphic by @bustle

#fiction #conference #onlineevents #Bipocwriters #peopleofcolor #masterclass #olgadiesdreaming #literaryart #xochitlgonzez

07/08/2021

Celeste Mohammed will be teaching a #MasterClass on subtext titled “What Lies Beneath” for #KweliLitFest21 on July 31st from 2pm-5pm.✨

“Show don't tell”, is the classic rule for writing fiction. However, what the writer chooses to show and to omit is crucial because, it has been suggested that the dignity of a short story is due to only one-eighth of it being above the surface. By a close reading of the texts, we will examine this statement and its limits, if any, for the diverse writer whose work is outside of mainstream Western culture.

This workshop is exclusively for BIPOC writers.

✨✨Register at http://www.kwelijournal.org/events/2021/7/31/kwelilitfest21-what-lies-beneath-a-master-class-on-subtext-led-by-celeste-mohammed ✨✨

#fiction #celestemohammed #BIPOCwriters #storytelling #subtext #writersofcolor #authors #indieauthors #trinidadandtobago #onlineevents

07/07/2021

You are invited to join us for “Ekphrasis and the Fragment”, a craft talk led by Larissa Pham on Saturday, July 24 from 12:00pm - 1:30pm EST.

In this craft talk, Larissa will share a variety of approaches to writing from images and visual art, and through fragment, weave essayistic creative nonfiction from stellateing points of observation and relationality. Participants are encouraged to arrive at the workshop with an image (like a personal snapshot, family or archival photograph) or piece of art (like a drawing, painting, sculpture, or piece of architecture) to work from.

This workshop is exclusively for BIPOC writers.

You can register here: http://www.kwelijournal.org/events/2021/7/24/kwelilitfest21-ekphrasis-and-the-fragment-craft-talk-led-by-larissa-pham

#KweliLitFest21 #crafttalk #LarissaPham #KweliJournal #onlineevent #visualart #nonfiction #fragment #writersofcolor #BIPOCwriters