Symposium presented by the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts in conjunction with the exhibition, Writing Across Genres: African American Women Writers in the Joanna Banks Collection, on display through April 10, 2020.

The 2020 Kislak Symposium looks at the flourishing of Black women writers as a cultural force in late twentieth century America. Combining panels, roundtables, talks, and readings, scholars and artists will examine topics ranging from activist writing and the emergence of Black Queer Studies to theorizing the archive and the role of bibliographies in the making of collections. The symposium seeks to inspire new work in the discipline while honoring the important work that has already been done on many of the authors in the collection. Among the confirmed speakers are Cheryl Clarke, Farah Jasmine Griffin (Columbia), and Cheryl Wall (Rutgers), along with the exhibition co-curators and Penn graduate students, Destiny Crockett and Kiana Murphy. The collector Joanna Banks will be joining the conversation.

Thursday, February 20, 2020

4:00-5:00pm | Tour of exhibition

5:30-6:30pm | Keynote: Cheryl Wall (Rutgers)

6:30-7:30pm | Reception

7:30-9:00pm | Screening of Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project (2019)

Friday, February 21, 2020

9:30-10:00am | Coffee

10:00-11:15am | TBA

11:00-11:15am | Break

11:15am-12:15pm | Cheryl Clarke (poet and essayist)

12:15-1:30pm | Lunch

1:30-2:00pm | TBA

2:00-3:00pm | Interview with collector Joanna Banks

3:00-3:15pm | Break

3:15-4:15pm | Graduate Student panel: Destiny Crockett (Penn), Imani Ford (Columbia), Kiana Murphy (Penn)

4:15-4:30pm | Break

4:30-5:30pm | Farah Jasmine Griffin (Columbia)

5:30-6:30pm | Reception