Last year, we launched our inaugural conference at the East Cleveland Public Library, which is free and open to the public. Participants learned about the craft of writing and publishing from thirteen published authors and scholars, and one industry professional. One scholar was our keynote speaker, Tayari Jones, professor of English at Emory University in Atlanta and author of An American Marriage, an Oprah Book Club selection and number four on President Barack Obama’s 2018 Summer Reading List. In partnership with Case Western Reserve University, we also honored former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove with the Alice Dunbar Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award on the Friday before our Conference. The conference was successful due to the fabulous support of the Anisfield-Wolf Fund of the Cleveland Foundation led by Karen Long. Gloria Ware, Arts Cleveland, Dominion Energy Foundation, ECDI, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Humanities Collaborative between Tri-C and CWRU, Phenomenal Woman Magazine, Miesha and Raymond Headen, Esq., and The Presidents’ Council—Cleveland’s African American Chamber of Commerce.