Black Writers Weekend offers a platform for more Black storytelling 

If you’re a Black writer, musician, podcaster or artist and don’t feel like you’re being heard, Tamika Jamison’s got you. 

The Atlanta-based author and entrepreneur will host the 2025 Black Writers Weekend later this month at the Auburn Avenue Research Library and the Loudermilk Conference Center in downtown Atlanta.

The three-day gathering is a celebration of literature, filmmaking, publishing and social media that offers Black creatives networking opportunities, access to publishers and a short films festival. 

“I wanted to create an innovative way for people to discover writers that they’ve never heard of and gain an interest in reading their books,” said Jamison. The event also includes panels on the business side of the arts, a book fair and nightly mixers.

Black Writers Weekend comes along right as Black writers face an uphill battle to get their work seen by many of the major publishing houses. White editors, who make up about 72.5% of staff, according to a 2023 diversity study by publisher Lee & Low Books, often don’t know authors of color or seek them out if there is a best-selling Black writer already on their roster.

“It’s now more important than ever that we start putting down our experiences, whether it’s in fiction, non-fiction or memoir form,” said Jamison, who believes the move to de-emphasize Black history in education and in the public sphere by some state and federal leaders is an attempt to erase the achievements of the African American community. 

“We have to create footprints because we want people to know that we are here,” said Jamison. “We existed.”

Creatives attending the event include authors Apostle Dwight K. Buckner Jr., Kimberly Williams, K.C. Mills and Alvin Gray; film producer Tamra Simmons; singer-songwriter Melanie Fiona; and psychologist and food relationship strategist Ebony Butler.

Jamison said the weekend includes filmmaking, podcasting and other areas of content creation because storytelling is more than what’s found in books. 

“A lot of conversations are now happening behind the mic or in visuals like movies or in stories people are creating via their phones or social media like TikTok,” she said. “I wanted to include those types of creatives who are telling stories through innovative ways.”

Jae Coley, a first-time author out of Stockbridge, said it’s critical that Black authors find a way to tell their stories, but that doesn’t always require a big publishing deal. 

She self-published her own book, On the Wrong Side of Love, last November and has been marketing it through word of mouth and at book festivals such as Black Writers Weekend.

“I never sent my manuscript out,” she said. “I had it in my head that I wanted to be independent.”

She has sold more than 300 copies of the book by meeting people face-to-face and talking about her writing and the joy of telling Black stories. Many who buy a hard copy often tell their friends, who later purchase the book online.

“I’m winning,” she said. “Not enough to quit my bank job, but it’s about building up an audience.”

Atlanta native Brandon White, who goes by the pen name Positive B White, said writing for him is about leaving a legacy. With a focus on mental health and well-being, the motivational speaker and host of “Positive Mind Saturdays” on 101TKO radio has written four self-published books and has a new one coming out soon titled Level Up Your Mind. 

As a speaker at Black Writers Weekend, his goal will be to encourage attendees to express their creativity and offer tips on how to do that. 

“So many people have a creative spirit, and they don’t know how to get started, or they work a full-time job and think they can’t do it,” he said. “But that full-time job isn’t you. It’s what you do to provide for yourself.”

Black Writers Weekend is free for activities such as the book fair, panels and conversations on the main stage. Those who want to dive deeper through workshops, master classes and one-on-one sessions to pitch their books to agents and publishers must have a ticket, which can be purchased for between $65 and $170.  

Where & When

Black Writers Weekend 2025 is July 31 through August 2 at Auburn Avenue Research Library (101 Auburn Ave. NE.) and Loudermilk Conference Center (40 Courtland St. NE.). Ticket prices vary; some events are free.

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Leon Stafford is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years experience at various newspapers, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Knoxville News-Sentinel. He has covered municipal government, business, education, hospitality and the arts during his career.