IslandMix - Soca, Reggae, Zouk and Caribbean Entertainment

FOR RELEASE: Immediately
SOURCE: Medgar Evers College, CUNY
CONTACT: For Press Information:
Christopher Hundley, 718-270-6926
For Program Information, 718 270-6983

The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College Celebrates The
Eighth National Black Writers Conference:
Black Literature-Expanding Conversations
on Race, Identity, History and Genre

The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College will host The
Eighth National Black Writers Conference on Thursday, March 30, 2006
through Sunday, April 2, 2006. Confirmed authors include Marita Golden
who
will deliver the address on the Conference theme, Haki Madhubuti,
Valerie
Wilson Wesley, Walter Mosley, Samuel Delany, Walter Dean Myers, Quincy
Troupe, Ishmael Reed, Elizabeth Nunez, Willie Perdomo, and Camille
Yarborough, among others. Dr. Myrlie Evers-Williams, wife of the late
civil rights activist, Medgar Wiley Evers, is the Honorary Conference
Chair.

Described by Walter Mosley as "the most significant gathering of black
writers in the country," the National Black Writers Conference is the
largest gathering of its kind in North America. Initially conceived in
1986 by the late author John Oliver Killens, the Conference has
consistently attracted a stellar array of writers and scholars
including
Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, Alice Walker, and others.

"We are very excited to be able to bring together writers, readers,
agents, editors, publishers, and the general public to hear black
writers
read from a range of genres," said Dr. Brenda Greene, Director of the
National Black Writers Conference and Executive Director of the Center
for
Black Literature. "We hope to raise awareness and consciousness about
black literary writers, and examine the ways in which the themes and
issues in black literature encourage us to expand our conversations on
race, identity, history, and genre."

Other writers in this year's Conference include: Jewell Parker Rhodes,
Valerie Boyd, Staceyann Chinn, Tananarive Due, Steven Barnes, Herb
Boyd,
Christopher John Farley, Sheree Rene Thomas, Abiodun, Jacqueline
Woodson,
Toni Blackman, Lindamichelle Baron, Obery Hendricks, Carl Hancock Rux,
Javaka Steptoe, and Ellease Southerland.

This year's Conference has received funding from the National Endowment
for the Arts, Independence Community Foundation, the Gladys Krieble
Delmas
Foundation, Barnes and Noble, the New York Times, the Ford Foundation,
Con
Edison, Personalized Skincare by Marcia, and the College Now program of
the CUNY Office of Academic Affairs. The Center for Black Literature is
also partnering with the AALBC.com (African American Literature Book
Club)
and Black Issues Book Review.

For further information about this historic literary event and for
conference updates, please call 718 270-4811 or visit the conference
website at www.mec.cuny.edu/nbwc.