AJAX, ONTARIO – In just 15 days, some of the most accomplished and compelling voices in Black Canadian literature will converge in Ajax for the inaugural Canadian Black Literary Festival (#CBLF2026), a full day of literary performance, conversation, creation and community taking place on Saturday, August 29, 2026.

Built around the theme Voices of Freedom, the first-ever festival will unfold across two Ajax venues, beginning at McLean Community Centre and culminating that evening at the St. Francis Centre for Community, Arts & Culture. The day includes two major performance showcases, three interactive literary workshops, and the free BlackLit Emancipation Book Fair, bringing writers, publishers, booksellers, literary organizations and readers together in one marketplace devoted to Black Canadian books and storytelling.
 
“Black Canadian literature does not need permission to make an impact, and it is not waiting to be discovered,” says Greg Frankson, #CBLF2026 Festival Director and Executive Director of the Canadian Black Literature Institute. “For generations, our writers have documented, challenged, imagined and transformed this country. #CBLF2026 creates the kind of space their work deserves, where Black stories are not a sidebar, they are the centre of the room. We are building that space in Ajax and inviting everyone to come experience what happens when the full range of Black Canadian literary creativity is given room to breathe.”

The festival opens from 10:30 a.m. to noon at McLean Community Centre with “The Voice” Kevin Carrington hosting a showcase featuring Spoken Soul Collective, an all-star trio consisting of Ontario’s first Poet Laureate Randell Adjei, award-winning writer and performer Paulina O’Kieffe, and Order of Ontario appointee and two-time Canadian national poetry slam champion Dwayne Morgan.

From noon to 5 p.m., admission is free to the BlackLit Emancipation Book Fair, a curated marketplace spotlighting Black Canadian writers, bookstores, publishers and literary organizations. The Book Fair will be emceed by Elle de Lyon, with music throughout the afternoon from DJ Love Jones, giving festivalgoers an opportunity to discover books, meet creators, shop, connect and celebrate Black literary culture.

Three concurrent interactive literary workshops will give participants opportunities to move from audience to creator. Durham Region-based artists Ramon Carty, Kesha Christie and Lalaa Comrie will respectively lead sessions exploring poetry and liberation, the power of storytelling, and the role books can play in intentionally designing a life. Workshops run between 12:30 and 4:45 p.m. and require advance registration.

The festival then moves to the St. Francis Centre from 7 to 10 p.m. for its Main Event Showcase, hosted by award-winning author, musician and CBC Radio The Next Chapter host Antonio Michael Downing.

The evening features three nationally andinternationally acclaimed literary artists: celebrated poet, historian and author Dr. Afua Cooper; Ontario Poet Laureate Testament; and internationally celebrated dub poet, theatre-maker and three-time Dora Award recipient dr.d’bi.young anitafrika.

For Frankson, both the scope of the program and its location are intentional.

“Four years ago, BlackLit Durham started in Pickering Village because people in this region wanted to experience exceptional Black Canadian writers without having to leave Durham to find them,” says Frankson. “Now we are taking the next step. Ajax has the largest Black population by percentage of any large municipality in Canada. If we are going to build something with national ambitions for Black Canadian literature, there is something powerful about beginning right here.”

The festival grows directly from BlackLit Durham, the bimonthly literary series launched in Ajax in 2022. Over four years, the series has showcased Black Canadian writers across genres while building a growing regional audience for Black literary arts. #CBLF2026 transforms that momentum into an annual festival designed to connect audiences with the breadth, history and continuing evolution of Black Canadian literary expression.

The timing is deliberate. The Canadian Black Literary Festival takes place each year near the end of August, between Emancipation Day on August 1 and the International Day for People of African Descent on August 31, during a month officially recognized in Ontario as Emancipation Month. The inaugural festival's Voices of Freedom theme places Black writing within that continuing story of memory, resistance, imagination, possibility and freedom.

#CBLF2026 AT A GLANCE

Saturday, August 29, 2026

McLean Community Centre
98 Magill Drive, Ajax

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Opening Ceremonies & Showcase
Hosted by Kevin Carrington
Featuring Spoken Soul Collective: Randell Adjei, Paulina O’Kieffe and Dwayne Morgan

12:00 – 5:00 p.m.
BlackLit Emancipation Book Fair
FREE ADMISSION
Emceed by Elle de Lyon
Music by DJ Love Jones

12:30 – 4:45 p.m.
Interactive Literary Workshops
Featuring Ramon Carty, Kesha Christie and Lalaa Comrie
Advance registration required

St. Francis Centre for Community, Arts & Culture
78 Church Street South, Ajax

7:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Main Event Showcase
Hosted by Antonio Michael Downing
Featuring Dr. Afua Cooper, Testament and dr.d’bi.young anitafrika

Get tickets on CultureTix and complete festival details, including workshop information, at www.blacklitdurham.com/festival.

FESTIVAL PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS

The Canadian Black Literary Festival gratefully acknowledges the organizations helping make #CBLF2026 possible, including the Town of Ajax, Region of Durham, Ajax Partnerships Fund, Ifarada: Centre for Excellence, Ajax Public Library, ACBN Canada Foundation, Hachette Book Group Canada, Voice Share Inc., What’s Your Story Author Services, and
ByBlacks.com.

ABOUT THE CANADIAN BLACK LITERARY FESTIVAL

The Canadian Black Literary Festival is a Black-led, Black-serving, literature-only, multi-genre annual festival dedicated to showcasing, amplifying and celebrating Afrodescendent literary voices in Canada. Born from the success of the BlackLit Durham literary series, CBLF creates space for writers and readers across literary forms and generations to gather around the extraordinary range of Black Canadian storytelling. The festival is an initiative of the Canadian Black Literature Institute (formerly AfriCANthology Canada).

Follow @cdnblacklitfest on Instagram and Facebook or visit our festival website at www.blacklitdurham.com/festival.

MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES
Advance interviews are available with Festival Director Greg Frankson and select #CBLF2026 featured artists. Media representatives interested in attending or covering the festival on August 29 may also request media accreditation.

Media inquiries:
Greg Frankson
#CBLF2026 Festival Director
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(416) 732-3625