About BlackLit Durham
Witness exceptional Black literary arts talent in Ajax's historic Pickering Village!
BlackLit Durham is a bimonthly literary arts event produced by the Canadian Black Literature Institute and generously supported by our partners at Ajax Public Library, What’s Your Story Author Services, and the Ajax Centre for the Arts. The Durham Region-based series is designed to showcase, highlight, amplify, and celebrate Black Canadian literary voices of all genres in their full splendour and diversity.
Event History
An event featuring contributors to the book AfriCANthology, hosted at Ajax's St. Francis Centre (now the Ajax Centre for the Arts) in June 2022, was such a rousing success that audience members called for a recurring series based on similar themes to showcase Black Canadian artists. The idea for BlackLit Durham was born.
Now into its fifth full season in the heart of Pickering Village, BlackLit Durham is the only recurring literary arts focused series of its kind in the eastern GTA, drawing audience members from across Durham Region and beyond.
Our Community
Durham Region (pop. 697,000 in 2021) is the easternmost regional municipality of the Greater Toronto Area. Most people do not realize that there are large Black populations in the Region's communities, such as Whitby, Pickering, and Oshawa. In fact, the Town of Ajax, where BlackLit Durham takes place, has the largest Black population (by percentage) of any large municipality in Canada.
Our Partners
Upcoming events
LEARN MORE ABOUT BLACKLIT DURHAM
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Our Next Event
Details about the next BlackLit Durham showcase that you don't want to miss!
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Contact
Reach out to us with comments, suggestions, feedback, and to join our team.