The Department of English and Modern Languages at Clark Atlanta University will hold its 51st annual Writer’s Workshop Conference next week on the campus.
The event, which runs April 16 – 18, 2024, will take place in Davage Auditorium, according to a press release.
The conference’s theme is “Black Boy Joy: Black Men Telling Their Stories and Truths” and will bring another year of fascinating and much-needed conversation from notable and critically acclaimed authors who explore similar and diverse genres.
“Most often, we see the inequities that Black men encounter daily, whether it’s in their careers, social status, or dealings with the police,” said Dr. Georgene Montgomery, Chair of the Department of English and Modern Languages at Clark Atlanta University. “So, because of that, there’s never been a better time than now to celebrate our brothers and revel in ‘black boy joy.’ This year’s writer’s workshop will feature and highlight authors whose works are currently taught in both undergraduate and graduate classes at CAU and who exemplify and encourage great writing.”
The conference will kick off on April 16 with a poetry slam featuring internationally known and two-time Grammy-nominated spoken word artist and CAU professor Queen Sheba serving as mistress of ceremonies.
The Writer’s Workshop Conference will pair featured writers with kindred scholars to engage in significant conversations about their works and ‘black boy joy.’ Featured writers and scholars include:
- Jericho Brown, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and author of The Tradition (Copper Canyon 2019). He is a professor and director of Creative Writing at Emory University. Professor Brown will confer with Dr. Brittny Crowell, Clark Atlanta University assistant professor of Poetry.
- Arthur Flowers, a novelist, essayist, and performance poet, is the author of several works, including Another Good Loving Blues and De Mojo Blues. A founding member/director of the New Renaissance Writers Guild, NYC, The Griot Shop, Memphis, and the Pan African Literary Forum, Flowers’ work is known for his focus on the African American experience. Flowers will discourse with Dr. Kameelah Martin, Dean of Graduate School at the College of Charleston and author of Conjuring Moments in African American Literature: Women, Spirit Work, and Other Such Hoodoo.
- Kiese Laymon, a Libbie Shearn Moody professor of English and Creative Writing at Rice University, whose bestselling memoir, Heavy: An American Memoir, won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. He will converse with Dr. Daniel Black, Clark Atlanta University professor and author of seven novels, including They Tell Me of a Home, The Coming, Perfect Peace, and The Sacred Place.
- Dr. Michael Datcher, author of the Ferguson-area historical novel AMERICUS: A Novel (Third World Press) and the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller Raising Fences: A Black Man’s Love Story (Penguin Putnam/Riverhead), a Today Show Book Club book of the month pick. His latest work, Harlem at Four, illustrated by famed artist Frank Morrison, is a New York Times bestseller. Dr. Datcher will have a discussion with Clark Atlanta University instructor Dr. Terry Bozeman.
Additionally, the conference will include two panels, So You Got Stories to Tell: Here’s How to Write Them, featuring Michael Datcher, Ph.D., and Arthur Flowers, and How to Get Your Stories Published, with Paul Coates, an Atlanta University alumnus and founder/publisher of the Black Classic Press and Malaika Adero, a Clark College alumna who is an author and founder of the Adero’s Literary Tribe LLC literary agency.