VIRTUAL

2024 KWELI INTERNATIONAL LITERARY FESTIVAL
PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Can't make it to 2024 Kweli International Literary Festival in-person Opening Weekend in NYC? Join us for our full slate of virtual programming featuring panel discussions, craft talks, and master classes through September 13th. REGISTER at the bottom of this page.

Panel Discussions

“In Conversation”
COMMUNITY & CULTURE
SATURDAY, JULY 13, 2024, 10:30am - 11:30am
Featuring: Mikael Awake (author of WHERE IS AFRICA, VOLUME 1) and Samuel Kolawole (author of THE ROAD TO THE SALT SEA); moderated by Hannah Giorgis Yohannes

”What Are Agents Looking For?”
PUBLISHING PANEL
SATURDAY, JULY 13, 2024, 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Three agents will discuss their manuscript wish lists, as well as the writer-agent relationship. We'll discuss querying, signing with an agent, and how an agent's role evolves throughout the submission and publication processes.
Featuring: Renee Jarvis (Triangle House Literary) & Roma Panganiban (Janklow & Nesbit); moderated by Iwalani Kim (Sanford J. Greenburger & Associates)

”Collaborations | Agent and Debut Author”
PUBLISHING PANEL
THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2024, 1:00pm - 2:00pm
From providing thoughtful feedback on drafts, to serving as a steady presence on important phone calls, the role of the literary agent in guiding a writer's career is certainly wide ranging. Join literary agent, Meredith Simonoff for an insightful conversation with her client, Alejandro Heredia.
Featuring: Meredith Simonoff (The Gernert Company) and Alejandro Heredia (author, LOCA)

Craft Talks & Master Classes

Kenzie Allen (author, CLOUD MISSIVES)
MASTER CLASS
SATURDAY, JULY 27, 2024
The Art of Excavation: Writing the Artifacts of Memory and Self
How do we investigate, make sense of, and creatively draw upon our personal and collective histories? In this virtual creative writing master class, we’ll apply concepts from archaeology, forensic anthropology, documentary poetics, and Indigenous ways of knowing, to uncover and reclaim the artifacts of memory and self. Together, we will survey the site, honor the bones, and carefully document their mysteries and revelations. In doing so, and in holding accountable our own observations, we can rewrite our stories toward a deeper and more complex truth.

While geared primarily toward poetry, exercises and ideas can be broadly applied across genres and artforms. Participants are encouraged to bring “field notes” for their ongoing projects, photographs and ephemera of powerful memories and experiences, and/or their favorite tools of their craft!

Hannah Bae (contributing author, OUR RED BOOK)
CRAFT TALK
SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 2024
The Art of Noticing
The best creative writing comes from fine-tuning the art of noticing: having a keen perception of your life, both in the past and in the present, and honing the ability to shape a narrative from what you notice and remember. We’ll examine passages from published books, such as "Dear Memory" by Victoria Chang and "The Man Who Could Move Clouds" by Ingrid Rojas Contreras, where authors incorporate a close study of materials in their work and discuss their techniques. If time allows, writers are invited to bring photographs, correspondence or documents for exercises devoted to closely studying these items and generating writing about them.

Crystal Hana Kim (author, THE STONE HOME)
MASTER CLASS
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2024
Creating Momentum Through Destabilization
In this master class, we will consider how stabilization and destabilization creates friction and momentum in fiction. We will look at various openings of short stories and novels to examine how the writer simultaneously steadies and disrupts the narrative. We will interrogate how this duality propels the reader forward. We will also practice creating these moments of dual-tensions in our own writing through generative exercises.

Hannah Giorgis Yohannes: (contributing author, A MIND TO SILENCE AND OTHER STORIES: THE CAINE PRIZE FOR AFRICAN WRITING)
MASTER CLASS
TBD

Multimedia Events
Livestreamed

FRIDAY, JULY 12, 2024
7:00pm - 8:30pm
Ballet Hispanico, 167 West 89th Street, NYC
LESSONS FOR SURVIVAL: MOTHERING AGAINST “THE APOCALYPSE” by Emily Raboteau
Moderator: Susan Muaddi Darraj
FREE
Register: events@kwelijournal.org

Monday, July 29, 2024
7:00 - 8:30pm
Akwaaba, 347 MacDonough Street, Brooklyn, NY
HUDDUD’S HOUSE BY Fadi Azzam, with translator, Dr. Ghada Alatrash
Moderator: Thayer Hastings
FREE
Register: events@kwelijournal.org

Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Friday, July 26, 2024
7:00 - 8:30pm
Akwaaba, 347 MacDonough Street, Brooklyn, NY
MY PARENTS’ MARRIAGE by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond
Moderator: Kim Coleman Foote
FREE
Register: events@kwelijournal.org

Friday, September 13, 2024
7:00pm - 8:30pm
Akwaaba, 347 MacDonough Street, Brooklyn, NY
CLOUD MISSIVES by Kenzie Allen
Moderator: J.P. Infante
FREE
Register: events@kwelijournal.org

Wednesday, September 25, 2024
7:00 - 8:30pm
Akwaaba, 347 MacDonough Street, Brooklyn, NY
THE STONE HOME by Crystal Hana Kim
Moderator: Gina Chung
FREE
Register: events@kwelijournal.org

Monday, September 30, 2024
7:00 - 8:30pm
Akwaaba, 347 MacDonough Street, Brooklyn, NY
WE’RE ALONE: ESSAYS by Edwidge Danticat
Moderator: Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin
FREE
Register: events@kwelijournal.org