2024 KWELI INTERNATIONAL LITERARY FESTIVAL
PROGRAM SCHEDULE

REGISTER NOW

Friday, July 12, 2024
Pre-Festival Event

7:00pm - 8:30pm
LESSONS FOR SURVIVAL: MOTHERING AGAINST “THE APOCALYPSE” by Emily Raboteau
Moderator: Susan Muaddi Darraj
Ballet Hispánico

Saturday, July 13, 2024

8:30am - 8:45am

WELCOME by Laura Pegram

9:00am - 10:30am

A. Publishing, Community, & Culture Track
What Are Editors Looking For?
Toni Morrison wrote “Good editors are really the third eye. Cool. Dispassionate.” What does the process of revising a manuscript for publication look like? How does it differ from the kind of revision that an agent does with a writer ahead of the submission process? Two editors will discuss what training a 'third eye' on a manuscript entails.
Featuring: Amina Iro (Legacy Lit) and Delia Selina Taylor (Riverhead Books); moderated by Iwalani Kim (Sanford J. Greenburger Associates)

B. Novel Track
MASTER CLASS: Part I of II
The Sparkle Effect: Finding and Enhancing Your Voice Led by Susan Muaddi Darraj (author of BEHIND YOU IS THE SEA and A CURIOUS LAND)
Powerful nonfiction and fiction requires not only a good story, but impeccable storytelling— storytelling that sparkles. In this masterclass, we will hone your ability to deliver powerful prose through a focus on sentence structure, voice, and style. Class includes analyses of published works, discussions of voice, and generative exercises.
NOTE: MASTER CLASS Part II of II on Sunday, July 14th

C. Short Fiction/Nonfiction Track
MASTER CLASS: Part I of II
Seven Ways of Looking at Perspective in Fiction Led by Yohanca Delgado (contributing author, THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES and THE BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY)
Perspective is one of the most powerful and complex tools at our disposal as writers. In its most expansive definition, perspective is the narrative intelligence of a story, the reader’s host and guide into new, and wondrous terrain. In this session, we’ll define and discuss the benefits of different perspective strategies and look together at brilliant contemporary examples from writers of color. We’ll also try out some of these concepts ourselves with generative exercises.
NOTE: MASTER CLASS Part II of II on Sunday, July 14th

10:30am - 11:30am

A. Publishing, Community, & Culture Track
In Conversation
Featuring: Mikael Awake (author of WHERE IS AFRICA, VOLUME 1) and Samuel Kolawole (author of THE ROAD TO THE SALT SEA); moderated by Hannah Giorgis Yohannes

B. Novel Track
CRAFT TALK
Approaches to Plot Led by Megha Majumdar (author of A BURNING)
What is plot, and how can we plot our fiction to invite our reader in? In this hourlong craft class, we will discuss several approaches to plot, with accompanying writing exercises (40 minutes), followed by time for Q&A (20 minutes).

C. Short Fiction/Nonfiction Track
CRAFT TALK
Writing Memoir Led by Jaquira Diaz (author of ORDINARY GIRLS)
In this craft talk, we'll discuss how memoir can speak to something larger, more expansive. How can a personal narrative be connected to the larger world? How does memoir engage with history, culture, and language? How can a memoir be rooted in place? We’ll discuss the architecture of the memoir and different approaches to structure. We’ll explore other aspects of writing, including character development, setting, theme, and finally, how to build a memoir-in-essays.

11:30am - 12:00pm
KEYNOTE by DéLana R.A. Dameron

12:00pm - 12:45pm
LUNCH

1:00pm - 1:30pm
KEYNOTE by Susan Muaddi Darraj

1:45pm - 2:45pm

A. Publishing, Community, & Culture Track
In Conversation: SKIN & BONES
Featuring: Renée Watson (author of SKIN & BONES) with Rio Cortez

B. Novel Track
In Conversation: WE ARE A HAUNTING
Featuring: Tyriek White (author of WE ARE A HAUNTING) with JP Infante

C. Short Fiction/Nonfiction Track
MASTER CLASS: Part I of II
Writing the Neighborhood Led by Alejandro Heredia (author, LOCA)
In this workshop, participants will learn how to draw from their respective neighborhoods to create original work. We will explore questions like: How can a character's relationship to their community heighten the stakes of a story's plot? How can a writer wield literary tools like points of view and diction to create a textured neighborhood on the page? And what can the neighborhood teach writers about scope, setting, and structure? Participants will study literary representations of neighborhoods, and write short stories inspired by their own local communities.
MASTER CLASS: Part II of II on Sunday, July 14th

3:00pm - 4:00pm

A. Publishing, Community, & Culture Track
”What Are Agents Looking For?”
Three agents will discuss their manuscript wish lists, as well as the writer-agent relationship. We'll discuss querying, signing with an agent, and how an agent's role evolves throughout the submission and publication processes.
Featuring: Renee Jarvis (Triangle House Literary) & Roma Panganiban (Janklow & Nesbit); moderated by Iwalani Kim (Sanford J. Greenburger & Associates)

B. Novel Track
CRAFT TALK
Writing fiction: Your First Line, Page, and Chapter Led by Samuel Kolawole (author of THE ROAD TO THE SALT SEA)
The secret to writing a story that can be published is to know how to start it so that readers are drawn in from the very first paragraph or page. In this masterclass, we will examine examples of great first paragraphs, and chapters to see what we can learn from them. We will look at craft elements that help keep a story moving from beginning to end while also providing an excellent start.

C. Short Fiction/Nonfiction Track
CRAFT TALK
The Art of Compression in Short Story Led by Laura Pegram (Editor of Kweli 15th Anniversary Collection of Short Stories with foreword by Edwidge Danticat)

4:15pm - 5:15pm

KEYNOTE CONVERSATION
FIRESIDE CHAT with Kaitlyn Greenidge and Crystal Wilkinson (author, PRAISESONG FOR THE KITCHEN GHOSTS: STORIES AND RECIPES FROM FIVE GENERATIONS OF BLACK COUNTRY COOKS)

5:30pm - 6:30pm

Author Signing

Sunday, July 14, 2024

8:45 am - 8:55am

Welcome with Laura Pegram

9:00am - 10:30am

A. Craft Track
MASTER CLASS: Part II of II
Writing the Neighborhood Led by Alejandro Heredia (author, LOCA)
In this workshop, participants will learn how to draw from their respective neighborhoods to create original work. We will explore questions like: How can a character's relationship to their community heighten the stakes of a story's plot? How can a writer wield literary tools like points of view and diction to create a textured neighborhood on the page? And what can the neighborhood teach writers about scope, setting, and structure? Participants will study literary representations of neighborhoods, and write short stories inspired by their own local communities.

B. Craft Track
MASTER CLASS: Part II of II
The Sparkle Effect: Finding and Enhancing Your Voice Led by Susan Muaddi Darraj (author of BEHIND YOU IS THE SEA and A CURIOUS LAND)
Powerful nonfiction and fiction requires not only a good story, but impeccable storytelling— storytelling that sparkles. In this masterclass, we will hone your ability to deliver powerful prose through a focus on sentence structure, voice, and style. Class includes analyses of published works, discussions of voice, and generative exercises.

C. Craft Track
MASTER CLASS: Part II of II
Seven Ways of Looking at Perspective in Fiction Led by Yohanca Delgado (contributing author, THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES and THE BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY)
Perspective is one of the most powerful and complex tools at our disposal as writers. In its most expansive definition, perspective is the narrative intelligence of a story, the reader’s host and guide into new, and wondrous terrain. In this session, we’ll define and discuss the benefits of different perspective strategies and look together at brilliant contemporary examples from writers of color. We’ll also try out some of these concepts ourselves with generative exercises.

10:45pm - 11:45pm
Fireside Chat with Brea Baker (author, ROOTED) and Jaha Nailah Avery

12:00pm - 1:00pm

Fireside Chat with Ayana Mathis (author, THE UNSETTLED) and Kima Jones

1:00pm - 2:00pm
Author Signing

Virtual Classes
July - September 2024

Kenzie Allen (author, CLOUD MISSIVES)
MASTER CLASS
Saturday, July 27, 2024
1:00pm - 3:00pm
The Art of Excavation: Writing the Artifacts of Memory and Self
How do we investigate, make sense of, and creatively draw upon our personal and collective histories? In this virtual creative writing master class, we’ll apply concepts from archaeology, forensic anthropology, documentary poetics, and Indigenous ways of knowing, to uncover and reclaim the artifacts of memory and self. Together, we will survey the site, honor the bones, and carefully document their mysteries and revelations. In doing so, and in holding accountable our own observations, we can rewrite our stories toward a deeper and more complex truth.

While geared primarily toward poetry, exercises and ideas can be broadly applied across genres and artforms. Participants are encouraged to bring “field notes” for their ongoing projects, photographs and ephemera of powerful memories and experiences, and/or their favorite tools of their craft!

Hannah Bae (contributing author, OUR RED BOOK)
CRAFT TALK
Saturday, August 17, 2024
11am - 12:30pm
The Art of Noticing
The best creative writing comes from fine-tuning the art of noticing: having a keen perception of your life, both in the past and in the present, and honing the ability to shape a narrative from what you notice and remember. We’ll examine passages from published books, such as "Dear Memory" by Victoria Chang and "The Man Who Could Move Clouds" by Ingrid Rojas Contreras, where authors incorporate a close study of materials in their work and discuss their techniques. If time allows, writers are invited to bring photographs, correspondence or documents for exercises devoted to closely studying these items and generating writing about them.

Hannah Giorgis Yohannes: (contributing author, A MIND TO SILENCE AND OTHER STORIES: THE CAINE PRIZE FOR AFRICAN WRITING)
MASTER CLASS
TBD

Crystal Hana Kim (author, THE STONE HOME)
MASTER CLASS
Saturday, September 14, 2024
1:00pm - 4:00pm
Creating Momentum Through Destabilization
In this master class, we will consider how stabilization and destabilization creates friction and momentum in fiction. We will look at various openings of short stories and novels to examine how the writer simultaneously steadies and disrupts the narrative. We will interrogate how this duality propels the reader forward. We will also practice creating these moments of dual-tensions in our own writing through generative exercises.