The Canadian Black Literary Festival
On Saturday, August 29, Black Canadian literature takes centre stage in Canada’s Blackest town, Ajax.
If Black stories, books, performance and culture hold meaning for you, this is one of those days you’ll want to be able to say you were there.
The inaugural Canadian Black Literary Festival brings writers, readers, poets, publishers, storytellers and book lovers together for a full day celebrating Black Canadian literary culture.
Our 2026 theme is Voices of Freedom, fitting for a festival taking place during Emancipation Month in Ontario. But don’t expect a quiet day of authors sitting behind tables.
We open at McLean Community Centre with “The Voice” Kevin Carrington hosting the Spoken Soul Collective: Randell Adjei, Paulina O’Kieffe and Dwayne Morgan. Then the FREE BlackLit Emancipation Book Fair fills the hall with Black Canadian books, creators and community, emceed by Elle de Lyon with DJ Love Jones providing the soundtrack.
Three interactive workshops invite you into the work yourself: poet Ramon Carty explores writing and liberation; storyteller Kesha Christie helps participants find and share their voices; and Lalaa Comrie of This Black Girl Reads explores how books can help us design the lives we want.
Then, at 7 p.m., we take over the St. Francis Centre. CBC Radio’s Antonio Michael Downing hosts the Main Event Showcase featuring Dr. Afua Cooper, Ontario Poet Laureate Testament, and internationally celebrated dub poet and theatre-maker dr.d’bi.young anitafrika.
BlackLit Durham has spent four years creating space for Black Canadian literary voices. CBLF is the next step: bigger, bolder, and built to become an annual gathering for Black literature in this country.
But there will only ever be one first Canadian Black Literary Festival.
Years from now, people may talk about what CBLF became.
On August 29, you can say you were there when it began.
Come for the books. Come for the performances. Come find your people.
Be part of the first chapter.
