for the 2020 Great Lakes African American Writers Conference (GLAAWC pronounced “Glossy”), which is going virtual this year! This year’s conference will take place on Oct. 2 – 4 as part of Cleveland Book Week sponsored by the Cleveland Foundation’s Anisfield-Wolf Book Fund per usual.

Please bear with us as the site develops. We are still in the planning phase. While I made the decision to go virtual in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic it took a while to adjust to our “new normal.” The decision was easy to make as I thought about our community and the demographics of GLAAWC in the past two years. There was no way I could put our audience ranging from ages thirteen (13) to ninety-three (93) at risk with live events. Two very exciting proposed in-person events have been postponed to 2021.

So, we have pivoted to a virtual platform. I believe my team, my “brain trust” as I call them, and I have selected a high-quality A/V company to execute the event for us. Consequently, you will have an opportunity to access GLAAWC 2020 on various platforms. More to come on this note.

We will open registration soon. We will announce our keynote speakers soon too. We are thrilled to announce a partnership with our sister Great Lakes regional sister city, Pittsburgh. As a result, we have some exciting things in store.

Complete the informational contact form to receive notifications on new developments and look for us on social media. Be sure to like, follow, and share our posts.

Going virtual will offer many opportunities and blessings. Even so, we look forward to returning to our home at the beautiful East Cleveland Public Library on Euclid Avenue in the years to come. Thank you and I look forward to seeing you in early October.