To show our support for new voices in literature, Deesha Philyaw, Kiese Laymon, and I came together to create LIT 16, a celebration of sixteen debut authors and their works!
The inaugural cohort consists of:
Candice Marie Benbow (Red Lip Theology)
Destiny O. Birdsong (Nobody’s Magic)
M. Shelly Connor (Everyman)
David Dennis, Jr. (The Movement Made Us: A Father, a Son, and the Legacy of a Freedom Ride)
Camonghne Felix (Dyscalculia: A Love Story of Epic Miscalculation)
Aaron Foley (Boys Come First)
Xochitl Gonzalez (Olga Dies Dreaming)
Chantal James (None But the Righteous)
Chantal V. Johnson (Post-Traumatic)
Zain Khalid (Brother Alive)
Jamila Minnicks (Moonrise Over New Jessup)
Cleyvis Natera (Neruda on the Park)
Danté Stewart (Shoutin’ in the Fire: An American Epistle)
Tara M. Stringfellow (Memphis)
Steven W. Thrasher (The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide)
Alejandro Varela (The Town of Babylon)
We are collaborating with booksellers and Bookstagrammers alike (including: Bluebird Books, Books Are Pop Culture, Harriet’s Bookshop, Loyalty Bookstore, The Stacks, Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee and Books, and White Whale Bookstore) to give the LIT 16 virtual platforms to share their testimonies.
Over the next four quarters, starting in fall 2022, you will have the opportunity to hear from these wonderful talents about their art and their journeys.
Subscribe to this newsletter and follow the hashtag #Lit16 on social media for information on upcoming Lit 16 events and author spotlights. Thank you for your support.