Fort Greene Literary Festival Brings Diverse Women Authors Together

Writers of diverse backgrounds will take the stage this weekend in Fort Greene to read their stories of history, race, class and personal challenges in celebration of creative writing.

This year’s 12th annual Fort Greene Summer Literary Festival at BRIC (647 Fulton Street) will take place on Saturday, August 20 at 2 p.m., and will feature writers as young a six, reading alongside an electrifying lineup of Black women writers whose debut novels are shaking up the literary world.

The festival brings together three of this year’s most talked about women authors with the next generation of literary stars. The featured readers are Nicole Dennis-Benn (Here Comes the Sun — a novel about women battling for independence in a Jamaican village experiencing change), Kaitlyn Greenidge (We Love You, Charlie Freeman — about a family selected to participate in a research experiment to teach a young abandoned chimp named Charlie), and Yaa Gyasi (Homegoing — about two sisters with different destinies. One sold into slavery, and one becomes a slave trader’s wife.)

The young writers come from the New York Writers Coalition’s summer-long series of outdoor creative writing workshops in Fort Greene Park.

The lineup reflects the recognition of diverse books by Black women authors. “I think I needed to read a book like this to remember what is possible. I think I needed to remember what happens when you pair a gifted literary mind to an epic task. Homegoing is an inspiration,” said Atlantic correspondent Nehisi Coates about Yaa Gyasi’s debut.

“Lit Fest and NY Writers Coalition have always been about highlighting the voices that have historically gone unheard, especially here in our city of rich diversity and stunning inequality,” said Jessica Stockton-Bagnulo, co-owner of Greenlight Bookstore. “At last, it seems like the literary world is finally starting to catch up.”