2026 Midwest Black Book Fair Celebrates Black Storytelling for Black August
Digital Editor Aaliyah Demry previews the 2026 Midwest Black Book Fair, a family-friendly Black August event at the University of Minnesota's UROC featuring author panels, book signings, a publishing workshop and food vendors. Sessions include a Reflect Black Author Panel moderated by Black Garnet Books owner Dr. Terresa Hardaway, a conversation on Black literary history in Minnesota, and a panel on Black poetry as a site of imagination and resistance, running noon to 5 p.m. on August 22.
Literature has been a key foundation of storytelling in Black culture. It preserves the narratives Black communities have experienced through generations.
The 2026 Midwest Black Book Fair is honoring stories of resistance and uplifting intersectional narratives of Blackness, Black history and Black futurity during Black August, a month commemorating Black freedom fighters and political prisoners.
The family-friendly event features Black authors, book signings, a publishing workshop, and food vendors.
Event Details:
- When: Saturday, Aug. 22. | noon – 5 p.m.
- Where: University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC), 2001 Plymouth Ave. N. Minneapolis
Literature has been a key foundation of storytelling in Black culture. It preserves the narratives Black communities have experienced through generations.
The 2026 Midwest Black Book Fair is honoring stories of resistance and uplifting intersectional narratives of Blackness, Black history and Black futurity during Black August, a month commemorating Black freedom fighters and political prisoners.
The family-friendly event features Black authors, book signings, a publishing workshop, and food vendors.
Event Details
When: Saturday, Aug. 22 | noon to 5 p.m.
Where: University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC), 2001 Plymouth Ave. N., Minneapolis
Agenda
Noon: Book Fair Begins
12:50 to 1 p.m.: First Raffle
1 to 1:45 p.m. — Two concurrent sessions:
Reflect Black Author Panel — Junauda Petrus, Destyn Land, Rita Woods and Donyae Coles. Moderated by Black Garnet Books owner Dr. Terresa Hardaway, this panel hosts authors from various genres in conversation about Black storytelling, their craft and process, and navigating authorship.
Black Literary History of Minnesota — Davu Seru and Debra Stone. This conversation centers on the importance of organizing Black stories and narratives to keep our history safe and accessible. The Archie Givens Sr. Collection of African American Literature and Life features more than 8,000 books including novels, poetry, plays, short stories, essays, literary criticism, periodicals, and biographies spanning 253 years of American culture. Debra J. Stone writes essays, poetry, and fiction. She received a 2023 to 2025 Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship in Literature and the 2023 Loft Mirrors and Windows Fellowship for writing books for BIPOC children and young adults.
1:50 to 2 p.m.: Second Raffle
2 to 2:45 p.m. — Two concurrent sessions:
How Does the Midwest Shape Its Black Writers? — Catherine Squires, Erin Sharkey, Shannon Gibney and Tish Jones. Members of More Than A Single Story’s mid-career writers cohort, Sweeter the Juice, will discuss how their work as writers and artists has been inspired by the Midwestern landscape, history, and artistic precedents set by Black authors who hail from the middle of the nation, including Gwendolyn Brooks, Toni Morrison and Hanif Abdurraqib.
Writing Real Without Forfeiting Care — Lyndsey Ellis. This session prioritizes crafting dignity-centered narratives that offer accurate character portrayals by recognizing differences, adversity, or trauma without reducing Black people represented in literature to caricatures, victims, or otherness. Attendees will receive instruction on ethical storytelling practices that honor Black community experiences without reinforcing wounds, along with in-class writing exercises.
2:50 to 3 p.m.: Third Raffle
3 to 3:45 p.m. — Two concurrent sessions:
Black Poetry as a Site of Imagination and Possibility — Marlin M. Jenkins, Danez Smith, LM Brimmer and Isha Camara. Grounded in bell hooks’ statement on the function of art — to do more than tell it like it is, but to imagine what is possible — panelists will read poems on the topic, followed by a Q&A on the role of poetry in Black life, community, storytelling, and resistance.
The Real on Publishing — Rekhet Si-Asar of In Black Ink, Mary Taris of Strive Publishing and Alyssa Miller of Amistad HarperCollins. A candid session on the realities of the publishing industry.
3:50 to 4 p.m.: Fourth Raffle
4:45 to 4:55 p.m.: Fifth Raffle
5 p.m.: Book Fair Ends
View a full list of event details for more information