Check out how the staff of Busboys and Poets Books anticipate spending 2018 (hint: it involves a lot of reading).

  • Kris, Book Events Manager: “Last year my literary resolution was to read one book a week, for 52 books. I met that goal earlier this month (ending the year with 58!) so for 2018, I’m going to challenge myself to both transition more fully from poetry to creative nonfiction and to write more. To put a number on it, I’d like to have at least four finished/publishable pieces by the year end – one per season feels doable!”
  • Taren, Sidelines Buyer: “I’d like to catch up on some classic fiction from authors of color. I’ve been so buried into YA I️’m almost embarrassed to let y’all know who I️ haven’t read!! So for 2018 I’m doing a monthly challenge of a classic and a brand new title from any genre of choice that catches my interest.”
  • Fran, 14th and V Supervisor: “2018 is the year I finally read Ulysses.”
  • Kenlynn, Shirlington Supervisor: “In 2018 I will attend a literary event at each of the Busboys and Poets locations, and I will venture into the science fiction genre – exciting!”
  • Laura, Brookland Supervisor: “I’m going to finally read the Divine Comedy—actually pretty pumped since I bought a gorgeous edition of it!!”
  • Tsahai, Bookseller at Hyattsville: “I really want to read books on class and race in regards to legal policy. Oh, and I need to finish reading ‘Color of Law,’ ‘Age of Anger,’ ‘Failed,’ ‘White Trash: History of Class in America’ and so many more!

What are your resolutions?

PHOTO 2024 02 01 07 10 14

For Langston Hughes on His 123 Birthday

Speech given on February 1, 2024 in Havana, Cuba In 1927 Langston Hughes walked into a Cuba amid an emerging community of artists, intellectuals, and radicals.  He saw a “sunrise in a new land [– a day – in his words]sic – full of brownskin surprises, and hitherto unknown contacts in a world of color.”  … Continued

PALESTINE WEEK 1920 x 1080 px 2

Palestine Week 2024

January 18, 2024 – January 25, 2024 In keeping with our ongoing mission of uplifting racial and cultural connections, Busboys and Poets is hosting Palestine Week (January 18 through January 25, 2024). This week-long series of events will offer a diverse range of programming featuring Palestinian food, music, dance, poetry, discussions, and other enriching events. … Continued

6. Langston Hughes in Cuba

Follow along for the Busboys and Poets Travel Tribe’s Cultural Exchange trip to Cuba (July 6-13, 2022) By Andy Shallal (@andyshallal CEO/Founder, Busboys and Poets) The Union of Writers and Artists is one of the oldest institutions formed after the Cuban revolution. The year was 1961. Its first president was Nicolas Guillen. Cuba’s national poet. Named … Continued

Ramadan and the Games

Ramadan and the Games

Olympic games callously scheduled during the holiest of months for Muslims – Ramadan

art image

Busboys and Poets Book Review: Set the World on Fire

In this substantial entry into the history of Black radical politics, Keisha N. Blain uncovers the legion of Black women that made waves in the growing Black nationalist and Garveyite movements of the early Twentieth Century. Black nationalism, which promotes the establishment of a Black nation state as the answer to racial oppression, first gained … Continued