LANGSTON HUGHES STAGE
SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 2026
11 AM - 7 PM
515 Malcolm X Boulevard | 135th Street between Malcolm X Blvd and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd
Langston Hughes Auditorium
FESTIVAL OPENING
11:00 AM | Welcome & Remarks
11:30 AM | KEYNOTE CONVERSATION
FREEDOM TO READ
Reginald Dwayne Betts
Poet, a lawyer, and the founder and CEO of Freedom Reads
Moderator:
Brittany Luse,
NPR Host, It's Been A Minute
Langston Hughes Auditorium
1:00 PM | The History and Future of Afro-Indigenous Solidarity
Kyle Mays, When We Are Kin: The History and Future of Afro-Indigenous Solidarity
Moderator: Cori Murray, EVP Editorial, EBONY
2:00 PM | Mothers, Daughters, Sisters
Sasha Bonét, The Waterbearers
Moderator: Nicole R. Fleetwood, Writer, Curator, and Art Critic
3:00 PM | Personal Storytelling Before and After the White House
Karinne Jean-Pierre, Political Advisor and 35th White House press secretary
Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines Moving Forward: A Story of Hope, Hard Work, and the Promise of America
Moderator: Danielle Belton, award-winning editor and journalist
4:00 PM | SPOTLIGHT: Toni Cade Bambara | Film Screening & Talkback
An intergenerational glance at Bambara’s legacy, capturing the afterlife of the writer’s influence onBlack feminist literature and experimental visual culture then and now.
TCB: The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing (2025, 105 minutes)
A biography of the influential writer, filmmaker and cultural worker, who with humor and deep insight, inspired a generation of artists to dedicate themselves to community empowerment. The film is structured as a series of lessons on cultural organizing, gleaned from Bambara's life and shared by her friends, colleagues and students.
The film will be followed by talkback with filmmaker Louis Massiah who will be joined by poets and artists Nikky Finney, and sadé powell, moderated by feminist writer and scholar, Naomi Extra.
James Baldwin Stage Outdoors
1:00 PM | WORLD CUP AND HISTORICAL FICTION
Dimitry Elias Léger, Death of the Soccer God
Moderator: Leslie-Ann Murray, Brown Girl Book Lover
2:00 PM | HARLEM, ALWAYS ON OUR MIND
ReShonda Tate, With Love From Harlem God
A new novel inspired by beloved Harlem jazz performer Hazel Scott and the equal parts exhilarating and tumultuous relationship that changed the course of her life.
3:00 PM | BLACK LOVE IS BLACK WEALTH
Walter Mosley, Ghalen: A Romance in Black
4:00 PM | LOVE AND BELONGING IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH
Carrie R. Moore, Make Your Way Home: Stories
OCTAVIA E. BUTLER STAGE
1:00 PM | SCI-FI MYSTERY
Andrea Hairston, The Redemption Center Is Closed On Sundays
2:00 PM | Rooted: Black Imagination, Regional Voices and the Black Speculative Tradition
Where you are from shapes what you imagine. The South, the Midwest, the West Coast, the Tri-state — each region carries its own memory, mythology, and survival language. Black speculative storytelling has always been rooted in place, drawing from the rich and unique textures of community, migration, and resistance that define each geography. From the Great Migration to the digital archive, from the blues back to the block, these are the stories that could only come from where they came from.
Ytasha L. Womack, Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture
Shyheim Williams, Humanities PhD Candidate (CAU) and Digital Humanities Program Manager at Clark Atlanta University Art Museum
Julia Mallory, Loveliest Review
Moderators:
Erika Hardison, Fabulize Magazine
Isis Assare, Sistah SciFi
3:00 PM | VERY BLACK COSPLAY
A fan favorite from our Black Comic Book Festival, the Very Black Cosplay Showcase brings characters to life! Join the fun on the outdoor 135th Street stage or enjoy the show from the crowd.
BLOCK PARTY
5PM LIVE MUSIC
Come for the books, stay for the community old-school block party blending the best of classic hip-hop and R&B on our Octavia E. Butler Stage! This year we will feature live performances and an exciting DJ set.
Zora Neale Hurston Stage Outdoors
12:00 PM | IN CONVERSATION: RACHEL ELIZA GRIFFITH
Rachel Eliza Griffith, The Flower Bearers, A Memoir
In The Flower Bearers, Griffiths inscribes the trajectories of two transformational relationships with grace and honesty, chronicling the beauty and pain that comes with opening oneself fully to love.
1:00 PM - 3:45 PM | POETRY FOR OUR TIME
Live poetry readings featuring voices that celebrate, question, and explore the experiences that shape our lives right now.
AARON DOUGLAS READING ROOM
12:30 PM | PAPERBACK BOOK LAUNCH
Raquel Willis, The Risk it Takes to Bloom
Moderator: C. Riley Snorton, Cultural theorist and Author
2:00 PM | DEBUT NOVEL
Rob Franklin, Great Black Hope
Moderator: Emil Wilbekin, Founder, Native Son
3:00 PM | REIMAGINING SINGLE MOTHERHOOD
Jamilah Lemieux, Black. Single. Mother.
Moderator: Joy L. Bivins, Director, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
All book signings from this stage will take place in the Langston Hughes Lobby following each conversation.
AMERICAN NEGRO THEATER
11:45 AM - 1:45 PM | WORKSHOP: INTRO TO PERSONAL STORYTELLING
Presented by The Moth
As a participant in a Moth workshop, you can shape a life experience of your choosing into a well-crafted story! You will be guided by experienced Moth instructors who will help you recognize the elements of a compelling story, explore a true personal story, and connect more deeply with others in the room. Walk-ins welcome!
2:00 PM | WORKSHOP: How to Draw Black Comics
with Tim Fielder
Tim Fielder is an Illustrator, concept designer, cartoonist, and animator born in Tupelo, Mississippi. Tim has worked over the years in the storyboarding, film visual development, gaming, comics, and animation industries for clients as varied as Marvel Comics (‘Dr Dre: Man With A Cold Cold Heart’), The Village Voice, Tri-Star Pictures (‘The Mothership Connection’), to Ubisoft Entertainment (‘Batman: Vengeance).
KIDS CLUBHOUSE Outdoors
11:00 AM | Woke Baby
Presented by Mahongany L. Browne
A family-friendly celebration of justice-oriented children’s books curated by Mahogany L. Browne. The day’s events include storytelling, baby yoga & music! With back-to-back book readings and signings by your favorite children's author, guest poets, games, crafts, and more!
Join guest readers Winsome Bingham, Traci N. Todd, Joel Léon, B. Sharise Moore, Fred T. Joseph, Ayana Walker, Jive Poetic and BABY YOGA BREAKS with BKWellness.
Roots of Reading Storytime
Hosted by Malika Lee Whitney
1:30 PM
Nadia Fisher, At the Cookout; Daddy Dressed Me,
R.J. Owens, Walk the Walk
2:00 PM
Jaylene Clark Owens, A Black Girl and Her Braids,
Featuring The Braid Parade - Come and walk the parade celebrating your braids - all are welcomed!
2:45 PM
Marcia Withers and Kori Withers, Grandma’s Hands By Bill Withers
3:15 PM
Candice Iloh, Emeka, Eat Egusi!
Harold Green III, Hugged by the Night
4:15 PM OPEN CRAFTS
Coloring, crafting, bookmark making, and stickers galore! (Self-Guided - bring your grown-up!)