Upcoming Langston Hughes Festival to Celebrate Zadie Smith

November 8, 2017

Zadie SmithOn November 16, 2017, the Langston Hughes Festival will begin with a symposium on the work of Zadie Smith, the essayist, novelist, and winner of the Langston Hughes Medal.

“Smith writes about identity, race, class, the life of the city and of relationships that intersect on all of these levels. She is also a prolific critic and essayist with a passion for music so her work intersects with just about every form Hughes wrote in,” said Festival director Retha Powers in a report by Electric Lit. The Festival is comprised of a day of salons, scholarly conferences, and symposia in celebration of Hughes, the “Poet Laureate of Harlem.” The Festival is hosted by the City College of New York.

The Langston Hughes Medal is awarded to highly distinguished writers from throughout the African American diaspora for impressive works of poetry, fiction, drama, autobiography, and critical essays that seek to celebrate the memory and tradition of Langston Hughes. Smith’s accomplishment places her among the likes of other Medal winners such as James Baldwin, Lucille Clifton, Ralph Ellison, and Octavia Butler.

Zadie Smith was born in London and is the author of multiple national bestsellers, including Swing Time, White Teeth, On Beauty, NW, and others. Smith has also been awarded the Orange Prize, the James Tait Memorial Prize, the Betty Trask Award, and other accolades.

 

Photo Credit: Dominique Nabokov

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