Kweli Journal

⏰ Writers of Color, there’s still time to join us!!

REGISTER NOW for Kweli International Literary Festival, featuring workshops, panels, and MORE with award-winning authors of color and top industry editors and agents!

REGISTER on our website at the link 👇🏿

https://www.kwelijournal.org/2025-international-literary-festival-main-page


Registration grants you full access to weekend-long opening program Sat, OCT 18 – Sun, OCT 19 at New York Law School, featuring master classes, craft talks, keynotes and conversations, and more, exclusively for Black, Indigenous, People of Color ( ) writers, led by the most celebrated authors of color working today, including:

🌟 Edwidge Danticat (MacArthur Fellow)
🌟 Nicole Dennis-Benn (National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize Finalist)
🌟 Xochitl Gonzalez (Pulitzer Prize Finalist)
🌟 Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (National Book Critics Circle Award)
🌟 Martha S. Jones (Guggenheim Fellow)
🌟 Dinaw Mengestu (MacArthur Fellow)

The weekend’s programming covers novels, essays, memoir, and short stories, as well as the business of publishing with senior editors from Simon & Schuster and MORE.

Registration also grants you access to in-person and virtual festival events, including craft talks, multimedia readings and more through November 18!

Our 2025 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS are bestselling authors
🌟 Aaliyah Bilal (National Book Award Finalist)
🌟 Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (National Book Foundation “5 Under 35” honoree)
🌟 Megha Majumdar (National Book Award Finalist, Oprah Book Club Pick)

See full faculty roster and schedule on our website at the link 👇🏿

https://www.kwelijournal.org/2025-international-literary-festival-main-page


Please SHARE and TAG writers of color in your community, particularly new and emerging BIPOC writers who may be seeking a safer space to learn and connect!

REGISTRATION MUST CLOSE Thurs, October 16!

🎉 Writers of color, get ready! is coming up October 18-28!

By us, for us: Kweli International Literary Festival 2025 is exclusively for emerging writers of adult literature, led by some of the most celebrated writers of color working today.

The festival opens with a weekend-long program, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18 through SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19 nylawschool featuring master classes, craft talks, and more, and closes on TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28 with a multimedia event at Akwaaba Bed & Breakfast Inns (NY, NJ, DC) Brooklyn!

Opening weekend FEATURED WRITERS incl. Sarah Aziza (sarahazizawrites), Edwidge Danticat, Xochitl Gonzalez (xochitltheg), Nicole Dennis-Benn (ndennisbenn), Dinaw Mengestu (Dinaw Mengestu) & more 🤩

It’s our pleasure to introduce this year’s KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

🌟 Aaliyah Bilal (theliyahwan), author of groundbreaking debut collection TEMPLE FOLK (simonandschuster), portraying the lived experiences of Black Muslims grappling w/ faith, family & freedom in America, which was a 2023 National Book Award for Fiction. Her debut memoir CLOUD COUNTRY, a graphic novel in progress depicting the ups & downs of being Black in contemporary East Asia, is forthcoming

🌟 Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (king_nk), is a National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 honoree whose widely acclaimed debut collection FRIDAY BLACK (Mariner Books), was an NYT bestseller, won the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award & was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Award. His first novel CHAIN-GANG ALL-STARS (Pantheon Books), was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction & an NYT Top Ten Books of the Year, among a long list of honors

🌟 Megha Majumdar (megha.maj) is the widely acclaimed debut author of NYT bestselling novel A BURNING, which was nominated for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize & the Carnegie Medal, among many honors. Her highly anticipated second novel A GUARDIAN AND A THIEF is forthcoming from Alfred A. Knopf!

Watch this space for REGISTRATION COMING UP 👀

Please SHARE & TAG an emerging writer of color who needs a safer space to learn and connect 💓