National Black Writers Conference

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The National Black Writers Conference (NBWC) is presented by the Center for Black Literature (CBL) at Medgar Evers College of The City University of New York. Founded by Dr. Brenda M. Greene, the Center for Black Literature was officially approved by the College Council of Medgar Evers College and by the board of trustees in October 2002. Its mission is to expand, broaden, and enrich the public's knowledge and aesthetic appreciation of literature produced by people of the African diaspora.^[1] It accomplishes its mission through a variety of programs and partnerships and by serving as a forum for the discussion, reading, research, study, and critical analysis of Black literature. It is the only center devoted to this mission in the country.

Founded at Medgar Evers College in 1986, the National Black Writers Conference is the vision of the late John Oliver Killens and is a major program of the Center for Black Literature. It has been held at Medgar Evers College since 1986. The first National Black Writers Conference was presented by the Humanities Division at Medgar Evers College. Maya Angelou delivered the keynote address. The event, a public gathering, has consistently attracted an array of renowned writers and scholars, including Amiri Baraka, Gwendolyn Brooks, Edwidge Danticat, Michael Eric Dyson, Charles Johnson, Paule Marshall, Haki Madhubuti, Walter Mosley, David Levering Lewis, Toni Morrison, Ishmael Reed, Sonia Sanchez, Tracy K. Smith, Quincy Troupe, Alice Walker, Derek Walcott, John Edgar Wideman, John A. Williams, and Colson Whitehead among others.