"I hid out in a big pink notebook, one that would hold a whole ream of paper. I made myself a universe in it. There I could be a magic horse, a Martian, a telepath..." Octavia Butler, Positive Obsession (essay)


The journey begins in the mind.

The story idea, the words that ultimately end up on the page, the worlds that are built that eventually become the escape readers get lost in, it all starts in the imagination of an writer. Once those ideas are set in ink and brought to the world, the imagination of the reader is now set in motion. Pages offered from worthy and capable writers, placed now in the safe keeping of readers who have been waiting to visualize this world built with words.  Just like Octavia Butler and her pink notebook, black writers have made universes of complex characters, fantasy worlds, and supernatural realities. They have made themselves universes on the page in spite of a publishing industry that doesn't always see black people through a lens of infinite possibility. 

This brings us to Lit Legends Weekend. A weekend to celebrate black books, black authors, and black readers. Each year we will celebrate and highlight, a different genre of books with a theme that reflects the focus and conversation of the times.
   

While historicallyWhether it's folktales, magical lands, and prophecies foretold or werewolves, aliens, ghosts, and beyond, we want to shine a light on the melanated minds that created these valuable stories and the melanated minds that read them.