The Schomburg Center Hosts 6th Annual Literary Festival with All-Day Celebration of Black Culture and Writers

For photos of previous festivals here (Photo Credit: William Farrington) 

Media Contact: Leah Drayton | leahdrayton@nypl.org

June 6, 2024 - The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture will host its 6th Annual Literary Festival on Saturday, June 15. Traditionally held near Juneteenth weekend, the Schomburg Center Literary Festival is held both outdoors and throughout the historic research library in Harlem and features discussions, workshops, and book signings with established and emerging writers across the Black Diaspora.

This year’s schedule will feature a keynote conversation with award-winning author and journalist Donovan X. Ramsey—along with book talks and workshops featuring Harlem Writers Guild’s Diane Richardson, Elizabeth Acevedo, B Michael, Jonell Joshua and more. The 2024 Schomburg Center Literary Festival will include a personal storytelling workshop presented by The Moth, the NYPL Countee Cullen Mobile Library and a PUMA's We Are Legends activation with Alex Toussaint. 

The Literary Festival annual outdoor marketplace will return with the new addition of the Black Zine Fair presented by Sojourners for Social Justice Press among local authors, publishers and the Schomburg Pop-Up Shop. Children can engage with the power of storytelling during the outdoor Woke Baby! Festival for book readings, live music, and crafts. 

The festival takes place on Juneteenth weekend in honor of the holiday that commemorates the day news of emancipation reached enslaved Black people in Texas on June 19, 1865—two years after the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.

This year’s artwork for the Schomburg Center Literary Festival is by Jonell Joshua.

Programs will be held from 11:30 AM – 6 PM on four stages inside the Schomburg Center and outdoors on 135th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Malcolm X Boulevard. Author readings, panel discussions, and workshops will range from prose to poetry, comic books to young adult novels, fiction, and nonfiction. The festival is free, public, and open to all ages. See the full schedule at schomburgcenterlitfest.org. 

The 2024 Schomburg Center Literary Festival is powered by Puma. Major support is provided by Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation.

The Schomburg Center Literary Festival is part of The New York Public Library’s “Summer at the Library'' initiative which offers kids, teens, and their families a series of free programs at its 92 locations to spark a lifelong love of reading and learning, and help students combat “summer slide”—when they forget what they learned in the summer months while outside the classroom. Plus, use your library card to book free passes at 90+ museums, gardens, and more across NYC. A full list of free programs and offerings can be found at nypl.org/summer. 

Major support for Summer at the Library is provided by the New York Life Foundation, the 2024 city-wide sponsor for the Summer Reading and Learning Programs. Additional support is provided by Jane Lauder; The Rona Jaffe Foundation; New York Yankees Foundation; Montblanc; HarperCollins Publisher; anonymous donors; and the continuing major support of the Andreas C. Dracopoulos Family Endowment for Young Audiences. These programs and initiatives are part of the Library’s overall commitment to our branch patrons and education programs, led by the Merryl and James Tisch Director of Branch Libraries and Education. Major support for educational programming is provided by Merryl H. and James S. Tisch.

About the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

Founded in 1925 and named a National Historic Landmark in 2017, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is one of the world’s leading cultural institutions devoted to the preservation, research, interpretation, and exhibition of materials focused on African American, African Diasporan, and African experiences. As a research division of The New York Public Library, the Schomburg Center features diverse programming and collections totaling over 11 million items that illuminate the richness of global black history, arts, and culture. Learn more at schomburgcenter.org.

About The New York Public Library

For over 125 years, The New York Public Library has been a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With 92 locations—including research and branch libraries—throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming, and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars, and has seen record numbers of attendance and circulation in recent years. The New York Public Library receives approximately 16 million visits through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org. To offer this wide array of free programming, The New York Public Library relies on both public and private funding. Learn more about how to support the Library at nypl.org/support.