NYBALF 2025: Radical Solidarities - Festival Retrospective

September 5–7, 2025 | Harlem, New York

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The inaugural New York Black and African Literature Festival (NYBALF) unfolded across Harlem from September 5–7, 2025, under the theme Radical Solidarity, an attempt to reimagine connection and creative cooperation across the Black world.

Held at The Africa Center and venues across the city, the three-day gathering brought together writers, poets, thinkers, artists, and cultural organizers from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Americas for dialogues at the intersection of literature, culture, and social change.

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A Space for Connection and Imagination

Rooted in the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement, the 2025 festival was a living archive of Black intellectual and creative traditions.

Over three days, audiences came together for readings, performances, and conversations, bridging continents and affirming literature’s power to hold our shared histories and imagine freer futures.

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Panels examined the language of movement building, the ethics of storytelling, and the ways literature mediates identity, belonging, struggle, and hope. Workshops centered emerging voices and collective care, while late-night performances celebrated rhythm, poetry, and sound as acts of resistance and joy.

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Looking Forward

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The New York Black & African Literature Festival was founded to foreground African and Black diasporic voices, expand networks of literary and cultural exchange, and build lasting solidarity between communities separated by geography but united by history and vision.

As we look to future editions, the festival will grow into a year-round platform of public programs, workshops, and residencies, continuing to connect writers, readers, and audiences across the globe.

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Thank you to all who helped bring this beginning to life: our partners, sponsors, speakers, volunteers, and audiences.
Together, we have laid the foundation for a new cultural home in New York City, one built on imagination, collaboration, and care.