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Griot & Grey Owl Black Southern Writers Conference 2026📍 Durham + RTP, North Carolina
📅 November 13–15, 2026
We Were Never Meant to Survive: Rest, Resilience & Radical Joy
The Griot & Grey Owl Black Southern Writers Conference returns for three days of Black storytelling, community, craft, publishing, music, culture, and joy.
Created for Black Southern writers, readers, artists, educators, and storytellers, Griot & Grey Owl is more than a literary conference. It is a gathering place. A place to find your people, strengthen your work, celebrate our stories, and imagine what becomes possible when Black writers are given room to breathe, create, connect, and be seen.
**2026 speakers and featured guests include:**
✨ **Danez Smith**, Keynote
✨ **Tyree Daye**
✨ **Ericka Hart**
✨ **Tara Pringle Jefferson**
✨ **Kwame Mbalia**
✨ **Dasan Ahanu**
✨ **Halle Hill**
✨ **Samara B. Davis**
✨ **Tamela Julia Gordon**
✨ **Neal Lester**
Plus more writers, editors, agents, artists, and literary professionals joining us throughout the weekend.
The conference will also feature:
📚 Writing workshops, panels & craft conversations
🖋️ Editors, agents & publishing professionals
📖 An expanded Black literary arts + book fair
🎤 Readings, performances & cultural programming
🤠 Black Southern music, movement & joy
🤝 Opportunities to connect with writers from across the South and beyond
Whether you're working on your first page or your fifth book, looking for publishing connections, searching for creative community, or simply want to spend a weekend surrounded by Black stories and Black joy, there is a place for you here.
**November 13–15, 2026 | Durham + RTP, NC**
🎟️ **Tickets are on sale now:**
https://griotandgreyowl.org/tickets-2026/
Discounted tickets and group rates are available. We are also accepting **vendors, volunteers, partners, and sponsors.**
Come write with us. Come rest with us. Come celebrate what we have carried, what we have survived, and everything we are still creating.
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Event venue
Boxyard RTP, 900 Park Office Dr, Durham, NC 27709-1001, United States
Tickets
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