Black Ink: A Charleston African American Book Festival has announced the keynote speaker for the free virtual festival, which will take place January 13th to 15th, 2022, is award-winning and best-selling romance author Beverly Jenkins. This free virtual festival, celebrating Lowcountry Black authors and beyond, will feature Jenkins’s keynote address along with programs, panels, and workshops.
Jenkins is the recipient of the 2017 Romance Writers of America Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as the 2016 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award for historical romance. She has been nominated for the NAACP Image Award in Literature, was featured both in the documentary “Love Between the Covers” and on CBS Sunday Morning. Since her debut publication of Night Song in 1994, she has been leading the charge for multicultural romance and has been a constant darling of reviewers, fans, and her peers alike, garnering accolades for her work from the likes of The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, and NPR.
In its sixth year, the annual event will feature dozens of African American authors, most from the Lowcountry and surrounding areas. It will also host workshops for authors and programs for readers throughout the three-day virtual event, which is free for the public.
“I’m so excited that the romance genre is the focus for the 2022 festival,” said Djuanna Brockington, Black Ink Committee Chair. “After seeing the popularity of Bridgerton on Netflix (among women and men), the planning committee felt like our event would be a great place to have a conversation about romance and Black readers.”
Kicking off the festival season, Black Ink is hosting a virtual Fall into Romance event on Thursday, October 14th, at 7 pm. The virtual chat will be a conversation between Black women romance authors Rochelle Alers, Vanessa Riley, and Jacquelin Thomas discussing their experiences in the publishing industry, how challenges and triumphs have shaped and continue to shape their careers, and themes and takeaways they would like both authors and readers to know. The event will be streamed from Black Ink Book Festival's Facebook and YouTube pages.
For more information, visit www.blackinkcharleston.org.
