Family, family, family…
All good things must come to an end and here we are at the end of the inaugural year of the Lit 16.
Like a great rap verse in 16 bars, we gathered together 16 of the flyest emerging writers around to celebrate their work, sharing our platforms with them so that you, too, might enjoy their art as much as we have. Thank you for taking this journey with us.
And now, here are our Final Four:
Destiny O. Birdsong, author of Nobody’s Magic
Xochitl Gonzalez, author of Olga Dies Dreaming
Chantal James, author of None but the Righteous
Jamila Minnicks, author of Moonrise Over New Jessup
Stay tuned to this space and to social media under the hashtag #Lit16 to learn more about these wonderful writers and their works.
In the meantime, be sure to join us for the virtual Lit 16 Final Four event at:
Cindelle’s Bookstore
Thursday, July 13, 2023
7 p.m. ET
RSVP: HERE
You can purchase the books of Lit 16 authors from Cindelle’s Bookstore: HERE.
While this marks the end of the inaugural class, it is by no means the end of the Lit 16. We shall return. Keep your ear to the ground and eye on the word for future announcements.
And, as always: Buy Banned Books! Shout out to Illinois for knowing what time it is!
*Fist to the sky*
Blessings upon blessings,
Robert
In the spirit of community over competition, the Lit 16 is how Deesha Philyaw, Kiese Laymon, and I use our platforms to shine a light on emerging writers whose art has impacted, inspired, and moved us in ways that we wanted to honor and share with you.
We could have easily created a Lit 64; there are so many fantastic recent debuts that we adore. Unfortunately, for many reasons, we are unable to accommodate that large of a scope. However, we do encourage all of our artistic peers to advance toward the directive set forth by the iconic and legendary Ancestor Toni Morrison: “If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.”
Be sure to follow the #Lit16 hashtag on social media and subscribe to Witness to stay up-to-date on upcoming Lit 16 events. Thank you so very much for joining us in celebration.
The Lit 16: Honoring sixteen literary artists whose debuts are changing the game.