The Department of English and Modern Languages at Clark Atlanta University will hold its 51st annual Writer’s Workshop Conference on April 16 – 18, 2024, in Davage Auditorium. The conference’s theme is “Black Boy Joy: Black Men Telling Their Stories and Truths” and will bring another year of fascinating and much-needed conversation from notable and critically acclaimed authors who explore similar and diverse genres.
“Most often, we see the inequities that Black men encounter daily, whether it’s in their careers, social status, or dealings with the police,” said Dr. Georgene Montgomery, Chair of the Department of English and Modern Languages at Clark Atlanta University. “So, because of that, there’s never been a better time than now to celebrate our brothers and revel in ‘black boy joy.’ This year’s writer’s workshop will feature and highlight authors whose works are currently taught in both undergraduate and graduate classes at CAU and who exemplify and encourage great writing.”
The conference will kick off on April 16 with a poetry slam featuring internationally known and two-time Grammy-nominated spoken word artist and CAU professor Queen Sheba serving as mistress of ceremonies.
The Writer’s Workshop Conference will pair featured writers with kindred scholars to engage in significant conversations about their works and ‘black boy joy.’ Featured writers and scholars include:
- Jericho Brown, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and author of The Tradition (Copper Canyon 2019). He is a professor and director of Creative Writing at Emory University. Professor Brown will confer with Dr. Brittny Crowell, Clark Atlanta University assistant professor of Poetry.
- Arthur Flowers, a novelist, essayist, and performance poet, is the author of several works, including Another Good Loving Blues and De Mojo Blues. A founding member/director of the New Renaissance Writers Guild, NYC, The Griot Shop, Memphis, and the Pan African Literary Forum, Flowers’ work is known for his focus on the African American experience. Flowers will discourse with Dr. Kameelah Martin, Dean of Graduate School at the College of Charleston and author of Conjuring Moments in African American Literature: Women, Spirit Work, and Other Such Hoodoo.
- Kiese Laymon, a Libbie Shearn Moody professor of English and Creative Writing at Rice University, whose bestselling memoir, Heavy: An American Memoir, won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. He will converse with Dr. Daniel Black, Clark Atlanta University professor and author of seven novels, including They Tell Me of a Home, The Coming, Perfect Peace, and The Sacred Place.
- Dr. Michael Datcher, author of the Ferguson-area historical novel AMERICUS: A Novel (Third World Press) and the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller Raising Fences: A Black Man’s Love Story (Penguin Putnam/Riverhead), a Today Show Book Club book of the month pick. His latest work, Harlem at Four, illustrated by famed artist Frank Morrison, is a New York Times bestseller. Dr. Datcher will have a discussion with Clark Atlanta University instructor Dr. Terry Bozeman.
Additionally, the conference will include two panels, So You Got Stories to Tell: Here’s How to Write Them, featuring Michael Datcher, Ph.D., and Arthur Flowers, and How to Get Your Stories Published, with Paul Coates, an Atlanta University alumnus and founder/publisher of the Black Classic Press and Malaika Adero, a Clark College alumna who is an author and founder of the Adero’s Literary Tribe LLC literary agency.
Media interested in attending should contact communications@cau.edu.
About Clark Atlanta University
Clark Atlanta University was formed with the consolidation of Atlanta University and Clark College, both of which hold unique places in the annals of African American history. Atlanta University, established in 1865 by the American Missionary Association, was the nation’s first institution to award graduate degrees to African Americans. Clark College, established four years later in 1869, was the nation’s first four-year liberal arts college to serve a primarily African American student population. Today, with nearly 4,000 students, CAU is the largest of the four institutions (CAU, Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Morehouse School of Medicine) that comprise the Atlanta University Center Consortium. It is also the largest of the 37-member UNCF institutions. Notable alumni include: James Weldon Johnson, American civil rights activist, poet, and songwriter (Lift Every Voice and Sing – “The Black National Anthem”; Ralph David Abernathy, Sr., American civil rights activist; Congressman Hank
Johnson, Georgia District 4; Kenya Barris, American award-winning television and movie producer; Kenny Leon, Tony Award-winning Broadway Director; Jacque Reid, Emmy Award-winning Television Personality and Journalist; Brandon Thompson, Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion for NASCAR; Valeisha Butterfield Jones, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at the Recording Academy. To learn more about Clark Atlanta University, visit www.cau.edu.
Paula Owens, Communications Manager
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