LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Some local Black writers and published authors have a hard time finding space and visibility for their work – but a book fair at Iroquois Park Saturday sought to change that.
The the inaugural Black Paperback Book Fair gave Black authors a place to show off their work.
Event Organizer Shajuanda Caprice is a Louisville author, and she released a book during COVID.
“I have a fiction book. It’s called Books and Boys, and it kind of just highlights a young woman’s growth trying to merge two different worlds,” Caprice said “College world and more of an urban community that she grew up in.”
Caprice found there weren’t really many spaces to get her work out there. She realized there was a robust community of Black authors in the city, and she wanted to give them a space to promote their books.
“It’s really important to share those perspectives in the communities we all share with others who might not look like you,” Caprice said.
So Caprice created the Black Paperback Book Fair, a place where local Black authors are featured and people can learn about their books.
One of those authors is Timothy Smith.
“I was putting a lot of my thoughts on Facebook and my older brother said, ‘why are you giving your stuff away, write a book.’ So I did,” Smith said.
Smith’s book is full of “yo mama” jokes, bad pick up lines and plays on words. He found out about the fair and wanted to be a part of it, bringing local Black authors work to light and into mainstream literary circles.
“It just shows that we have contributions also, and this book, as well as every book here, anyone could read it, it’s not just for black readers,” Smith said. “It’s for any reader.”
You can check out the authors here.
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