Now that the dust has settled, and smoke has cleared I can take some time to tell you about the Atlanta African American Authors Book Festival held on July 14, 2018. Incredible, inspiring, awesome, unmatched. Those are a few of the many, many complimentary adjectives I can use to describe this event. Held at Georgia State University, this first annual book festival was a unique conference for book lovers, aspiring authors, and avid readers.
Over 80 writers convened at GSU’s student center ballroom to meet bibliophiles and discuss their literary endeavors. There were workshops and panel discussions held throughout the day on a myriad of topics from navigating the publishing industry to the responsibility of writers of color in the 21st century.
I had the opportunity to not only serve as a vendor during the event, but I was a workshop presenter as well as a panelist. The day was amazing. The attendees asked such thought provoking questions, many of which gave me pause and caused me to consider the potentially global impact of my writing.
Bravo to Farai Caldwell, the organizer of this event. Remember his name, folks. He is doing incredible work.