The fight for Black liberation has always had its writers. James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Zora Neale Hurston and Octavia Butler are among the authors who have used literature to document, interrogate and reimagine Black life. 

On Saturday, bookstores, publishers and authors that are carrying that work forward will head to North Minneapolis. 

Here’s what to know about the inaugural Midwest Black Book Fair, Somali storytelling, Afro-diasporic art and Indian dance happening across the Twin Cities this weekend. 

A fair for Black stories

Hosted by Black Garnet Books, the Midwest Black Book Fair coincides with Black August, an annual month-long tribute to the revolutionaries and activists who challenged racial injustice in the United States. 

Among the vendors is the Rochester-based bookstore and arts gallery Griot Arts, which is bringing a selection of books that reflect Black August’s history, along with adult fiction, nonfiction and poetry. 

Cameroonian and Afro-Costa Rican writer Nicole Asong Nfonoyim-Hara, who founded Griot Arts in 2024, remembers being drawn to stories that imagined other worlds after reading authors Octavia Butler and Nalo Hopkinson. 

“I come from a Black immigrant family, and so I grew up with a lot of stories that were always bordering on the strange and the speculative and the magical,” Nfonoyim-Hara  said. “They really inspired me, and continue to inspire me, in my fiction work.”

For Black August, she recommends readers pick up “Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson.” Jackson was an author, activist and co-founder of The Black Guerilla Family, an organization formed in response to racial violence Black inmates faced. While incarcerated in a California prison for armed robbery, Jackson’s writing became influential in the Black liberation movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. 

“It’s a book that folks don’t typically read but it’s really foundational to understanding Black August,” she said. 

Nfonoyim-Hara opened Griot Arts  after she performed in Rochester Repertory Theatre’s 2023 production of “A Raisin in the Sun.” She saw a thriving Black arts community in the city but felt its presence wasn’t reflected in Rochester’s cultural infrastructure. 

“For many weeks, I was in a room full of Black creatives and most of them were from Rochester,” Nfonoyim-Hara said. “It gave me some insight into the fact that we’re out here but we don’t have the spaces and the opportunities.” 

Since opening, Griot Arts has hosted poetry open mics, children’s storytimes, art exhibits and theater productions. Nfonoyim-Hara also leaves the space open to artists and community members who want to organize their own events. 

“I always hope that people come and they feel held,” she said. “Particularly for Black and brown folks, I hope they feel seen and like this is a place of sanctuary.” 

Another vendor at the fair is LeShay Andrewin, founder of the Black literary magazine, “Homies.”

Andrewin said the idea for the magazine came partly from seeing the stack of magazines her mother received in the mail. 

“I just got inspired to make my own,” Andrewin said.

At the fair, visitors can pick up a mini 16-page version of a “Homies” issue featuring artwork, fashion, new music recommendations and writing from contributors in Nigeria, Los Angeles, New York and the Twin Cities. 

“For the next issue, I really want to have a gallery for people to come to,” she said. “I feel like we are all kind of just stuck in our own lives and don’t really know what other people have going on, so I really want people to experience someone else’s stories.” 

Visitors can also meet local writers, including Afro-Indigenous children’s author Marique Moss; St. Paul storyteller Mercedes Yarbrough; Duluth poet Salisa Grant; and speculative fiction author Tonja K. Johnson. Soul food vendors will also take part in the fair. 

A mic for Somali stories

The Minnesota-based Somali arts organization The Qalanjo Project will spotlight two emerging storytellers this weekend. 

On Friday at Mixed Blood Theatre, Minneapolis writer and filmmaker Wanaago Geedi will present a table reading of her play-in-progress, “Bonobos,” which follows a young Somali woman who leaves her isolated community to enter a futuristic world where most people are connected to a global digital network from birth. 

On Saturday at Open Book, University of Minnesota biology student Ayan Mahamed will share “Generations of Storytelling By and For Somali Women,” an interview-based project exploring the history of the local Somali community. 

A gallery for Afro-diasporic art

At St. Paul’s African Museum, four artists explore what freedom looks like across Afro-diasporic, immigrant and refugee communities in “Voices of Freedom.”

In three poems, Zakaria Abdullahi explores what happens when the roles we take on to survive begin to conflict with who we are. 

Through lippan, a traditional mud-and-mirror art form from Gujarat, India, Mounisha Gorle reflects on the creative freedom to carry forward her cultural heritage. 

A collection of photographs by Bianca Rhodes and Maya Washington offers an intimate look into the lives of Black Minnesotans. 

A stage for an Indian journey

How do you find your way back to a place you’ve never truly known? 

A new production by The South Asian Arts and Theater House, follows an Indian-born transracial adoptee’s lifelong journey to reclaim her roots. Through theater, dance and puppetry, “Made in India” brings to life the complicated path toward understanding where you come from. 

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