AWP recognizes and honors Juneteenth as a time for celebration, reflection, and growth.

We’ve assembled a collection of online readings, book clubs, poetry open mics, and other valuable resources to commemorate Juneteenth and provide further education on its value and importance. Check out the links to preregister and don’t forget to share with friends!

Aside from attending these events, you can support Black authors directly by checking out our Black History Month bookshop.org list or buying directly from Black writers, artists, and business owners.

All events below are listed in EDT.

From The Writer’s Chronicle

Middle Passage at 25: Charles Johnson Reflects on His National Book Award-Winning Novel and More by Robin Lindley, February 2017

In Our Way: Racism in Creative Writing by Claudia Rankine, October/November 2016

Whole Sight: Notes on New Black Fiction by Charles Johnson, February 1985

Rewatch Online Events

Virtual AWP in Conversation: Celebrating Black Poetry with Cave Canem

Virtual AWP Pedagogy: Reclaiming Genre Fiction for the Creative Writing Classroom

#AWP22 Honoring the Endeavor with Cornelius Eady & Toi Derricotte

#AWP21 Event Tribute to June Jordan, Sponsored by Copper Canyon Press

NBCC Award Winners Edwidge Danticat and Sarah M. Broom on Finding Home

Legacy Conversations with C.S Giscombe and Nathaniel Mackey, Sponsored by Cave Canem

AWP Virtual Book Club featuring Horsepower by Joy Priest

Virtual AWP: Conversations with Writers featuring Maurice Carlos Ruffin & Regina Brooks

Video Resources

On Juneteenth

Juneteenth Porch Stories

Juneteenth: Connecting the Historic to the Now

Juneteenth and Culinary History—A Conversation between Adrian Miller and Kevin Young

Further Resources

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection of Learning Series

NMAAHC Digital Resource Guide

Juneteenth Events

Tuesday, June 14

7 p.m.— Community Class Series: NC Revolutionaries and Freedom Seekers

Wednesday, June 15

7—7:30 p.m.— Showcasing Philadelphia Black Museums

Thursday, June 16

4—5 p.m.— Juneteenth and the Transformative Power of Time

6—7 p.m.— Another Black Book Club

8—9 p.m.— What is Juneteenth: An Online Learning Experience

7—8 p.m.— Why We Must Change the Narrator: An Evening with In Black Ink

Sunday, June 19

2—3:30 p.m.— A Black Gay Hero of the Civil Rights Movement:  The Life of Bayard Rustin

7—8:30 p.m.— MetroWest READ: Reading for Equity, Accountability, and Diversity

Monday, June 20

8—9 p.m.— What is Juneteenth: An Online Learning Experience

Tuesday, June 21

6—7 p.m.— Another Black Book Club

7—8:30 p.m.— June Anti-Racism Discussion: The Legacy of Stonewall

Wednesday, June 22

6:30 p.m.— The Families’ Civil War: Black Soldiers and the Fight for Racial Justice

Thursday, June 23

6—7:30 p.m.— Words of Color with Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Keisha Bush, and Ravi Howard

Saturday, June 25

12—1 p.m.— Black LGTBQ+ Space

Monday, June 27

1—2 p.m.— The History of Historically Black Colleges & Universities Lunch & Learn

6—7 p.m.— YWCA Virtual Racial Justice Book Club— “On Juneteenth”

Thursday, June 30

1—3 p.m.— Oral History in Dialogues— Black Cultural Archives

7—9 p.m.— Black Open Mic