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Well-Read Black Girl

A conversation with Alex Elle and Denene Millner

A special kick-off conversation for the Well-Read Black Girl Festival

Join the Library for the kickoff celebration of the 6th Annual Well-Read Black Girl Festival featuring authors Alex Elle and Denene Millner - a beautiful prelude to the weekend celebration of books with heartfelt conversations, wellness panels, poetry readings and more!

The annual Well-Read Black Girl literary festival unites avid readers and writers for two days of storytelling, community building and groundbreaking conversation. This October we begin a new chapter in Washington D.C.; gathering to discuss the power of collective activism and physical rest as resistance.

Attend in person or virtually. Together we will celebrate creative expression, and share an array of literary experiences from writers across genres.

PARTICIPANTS

Alex Elle is an author, certified breathwork coach, and Restorative Writing teacher living in Maryland with her family. Writing came into her life by way of therapy and the exploration of healing through journaling and mindfulness. The intention behind Alex’s work is to build community & self-care practices through literature & language. Alex teaches workshops, courses, and retreats to assist others in finding their voices and create clarity in their lives & relationships. She is currently a teacher in residence at CIVANA Resort in Carefree, AZ, where she teaches quarterly.

Denene Millner is a six-time New York Times best-selling author, Emmy Award-nominated TV show host and award-winning journalist and book publisher who has written 31 books, among them: Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, co-written with Steve Harvey; Around the Way Girl, a memoir with actress Taraji P. Henson; the Fresh Princess picture books, with Will Smith; and, The Vow, the novel on which the hit Lifetime movie, “With This Ring,” was based. The writer and editor is also the editorial director and publisher of Denene Millner Books, an award-winning imprint that publishes stories featuring Black children and families, by Black authors and illustrators. The DMB list includes two Caldecott Honor books, a Kirkus Prize for Children’s Literature, two Society for Illustrator honors, a Southern Book Award, an instant New York Times bestseller and three NAACP nominations.

Denene also co-hosts the nationally syndicated PBS show, A Seat at the Table, and is the host of “Speakeasy with Denene,” a podcast exploring Black culture. Denene’s upcoming novel, One Blood, a multi-generational epic about motherhood, adoption and race, is slated to be published in eight countries when it debuts in 2023. She lives in Atlanta with her two daughters and their goldendoodle, Franklin.

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