Saturday, July 12, 2008

Harlem Book Fair --updated information

On Saturday, July 20 at 1:15 p.m. at the Thurgood Marshall Academy on 135th in Harlem, I will be facilitating a panel discuss titled: Heroes and Heroines: The Impact of the Romance Genre on Commercial Black Fiction.

Panelists include: Gwynne Forster, Sandra Kitt, Leslie Esdaile (L.A. Banks) & Nathasha Brooks Harris.

Sandra Kitt
a long-time veteran of the genre will give the audience a perspective of the history of the genre and the reasons for its longevity.

Gwynne Forster trained in sociology and demography will discuss the human condition and how even book characters are products of their environment.

Nathasha Brooks-Harris a romance author and editor will discuss the mechanics of a romance, what makes it successful and the difference between a romance and a relationship novel

Leslie Esdaile who has garnered enormous success in several genres began in romance and will discuss how that foundation and the depiction of hero and heroine translates into all of the genres in which she writes.


This discussion will provide insight into the genre's longevity and popularity and how its basic structure has provided an "acceptable" medium to mass produce stories about African Americans, build an audience and a marketplace thus providing the platform for the current surge in black fiction. Find out why the genre has remained unshakable, how it has retained and developed its fan base and how black romances, street fiction and commercial black fiction all tell of the black experience by reflecting the environment from which their heroes and protagonists emerge.

We do hope that you will join us for what is sure to be an engaging, challenging and insightful discussion.

Please forward to your reading friends.

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