Read our June 2020 statement of Commitment to the Black Community

The Black Literature Matters Event Series

This original series of live online events brings to life the voices of Black writers through history, re-examined to inspire understanding of race in our country today, with dramatic readings, historical context, and images. As New York City's oldest cultural institution, we are honored to do our part to highlight the thousands of stories by African American writers contained within our building and acquired since the eighteenth century.

From left: Authors Olaudah Equiano, Frances E.W. Harper, Zora Neale Hurston, and Octavia Butler

Black Literature Matters: The 1700s
live event November 19, 2020

Black Literature Matters celebrates Black writers in four extraordinary evenings, beginning with works from the 1700s. The writers include Olaudah Equiano (above left), Venture Smith, and Phillis Wheatley. Head Librarian Carolyn Waters and Columbia University's Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin introduce the writers, their worlds, and the impact they had on readers of their time, with dramatic readings by actors Shontelle Thrash and Geoffrey D. Williams.

• Full details about this event and a list of the authors included
• View the slide deck
• Learn more about Black writers of the 1700s

Event Video

Black Literature Matters: the 1800s
live event January 28, 2021

This second event of the series features writers from the 1800s including William Wells Brown, Frederick Douglass, Frances E.W. Harper (above, second from left), Harriet Jacobs, David Walker, and Ida B. Wells. Head Librarian Carolyn Waters and Columbia University's Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin introduce the writers, their worlds, and the impact they had on readers of their time, with dramatic readings by actors Shontelle Thrash and Geoffrey D. Williams.

• Full details about this event and a list of the authors included
• View the slide deck
• Read more Black writers of the 1800s

Event Video

From left: presenters Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin, Carolyn Waters, Shontelle Thrash, Geoffrey D. Williams

Black Literature Matters: 1900-1959
live event March 25, 2021

This third event of the series features writers from 1900 through 1959 including James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, Anna Julia Cooper, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ralph Ellison, Lorraine Hansberry, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston (above, third from left), LeRoi Jones, Paule Marshall, and Richard Wright. Head Librarian Carolyn Waters and Columbia University's Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin introduce the writers, their worlds, and the impact they had on readers of their time, with samples of their own speech and dramatic readings by actors Shontelle Thrash and Geoffrey D. Williams.

• Full details about this event and a list of the authors included
• View the slide deck

Event Video

Black Literature Matters: 1960-Now
live event May 20, 2021

In this original series of live online events, Black writers from the 1700s to the present are re-examined to inspire understanding of race in our country today. Black Literature Matters celebrates Black writers in four extraordinary evenings. This final event of the series showcases brief excerpts from the work of writers from 1960 to the present including Maya Angelou, Toni Cade Bambara, Octavia Butler (on right above), Ta-Nehisi Coates, Angela Davis, Ernest Gaines, Alex Haley, bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Haki Madhubuti, Terry McMillan, Toni Morrison, Malcolm X, Sonia Sanchez, Gil Scott-Heron, Ntozake Shange, Danez Smith, Derek Walcott, and Alice Walker.

• Full details about this event

Event Video

Black Literature Matters Exhibition

April 28, 2021 - May 22, 2022

An exhibition of the Library's remarkable collection of books by African American, Caribbean, and African writers, dating from the late eighteenth century to the present day

Exhibition Trailer

Lectures, Panels, and Performances

Farah Jasmine Griffin, Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature

This live event took place September 30, 2021, celebrating the publication of the new book Read Until You Understand. The brilliant scholar who served as guest curator for the Library's Black Literature Matters exhibition imparts the lessons bequeathed by the Black community and its remarkable artists and thinkers.

• Full details and event video

Gene Andrew Jarrett, Paul Laurence Dunbar: The Life and Times of a Caged Bird

This live event took place November 22, 2022. On the 150th anniversary of his birth, a definitive new biography of a pivotal figure in American literary history.

• Full details and event video

Relive the Harlem Renaissance with the Library and the Harlem Writers Guild

This live event took place December 1, 2022. Relive the Harlem Renaissance and Roaring Twenties at a festive tribute to Harlem literary artists and the work they created or inspired - hosted by the Library and the Harlem Writers Guild.

• Full details and event video