Atlanta’s first Black Romance Book Festival to celebrate diverse narratives in 2025

The first-ever Black Romance Book Festival is coming to Atlanta in 2025. From May 30 to June 1, romance lovers across the country will celebrate the literature and voices of the Black romance authors who have been making their hearts pump, overworking their tear ducts and creating rich and diverse narratives.

The event is the brainchild of Atlanta-based author Lauren Lacey . From best friends to lovers to second-chance romances and unexpectedly discovering healing and love on an island, Lacey has been weaving Black love stories together since 2023. When she recently attended a large-scale book festival, Lacey shared that she was excited to see a few Black authors in attendance. However, her excitement didn’t reflect the interest of the other festival-goers.

“What was disheartening was, I didn’t see them getting a lot of traffic. And it was because it wasn’t our space,” Lacey said. “It wasn’t our target audience. It wasn’t the people who love and enjoy reading our books.”

As a new author herself, Lacey knew she wanted to create a space where emerging and established Black authors could come together and connect with their readers. But even more so, where the authors could be appreciated for their works, and that invisibility she saw at that festival could turn into a shining light.

Over 105 indie and traditional authors have been announced for the festival, an achievement that has come from sheer hope and dedication. As a first-of-its-kind event, Lacey revealed that she and her team reached out to over 100 authors, and after a few nos, those rejections soon turned into yeses. The buzz for the event reached a high when they confirmed New York Times bestselling author Kennedy Ryan as an author.

“She just applied as if she was just an author. And we were just like, wouldn’t it be amazing if we could get Kennedy Ryan? When we saw the signup form, we were like, ‘Oh my gosh.’

“Her support behind this has just been a Godsend. It has just been the most overwhelming emotion. And not only that, but just the authors — they are as excited as the readers are.”

The event will feature panel sessions, all-day book signings, vendor booths, a group reading lounge and fun events such as a historical fiction decades dance party and rom-comedian night. Book influencers/content creators and book clubs who have been instrumental in promoting Black authors will also be in attendance to host these events.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. in 2020, reports have shown that U.S. consumers spent more on recreational reading than ever before . For many, it renewed an interest that had been dormant for years; for others, it began a new journey into discovering new literature they could read for fun. From the birth of BookTok to recommendations from avid readers on other social media pages, a new light has been shone, especially on Black authors.

“A lot of times, publishing companies don’t really give us that opportunity to showcase our works. And our works are so beautiful. Our works are so great. They’re emotional. They’re raw, and they’re relatable. And so, the impact of social media has been so great because it has really amplified a lot of authors’ voices. We won’t be silenced because that’s how we were able to create the Black romance book festival.”

It’s not uncommon for Black authors to get pigeonholed into genres that are perceived as only an avenue to rehash trauma. But with the festival, Lacey said she wants to dispel those stereotypes and showcase that Black stories and authors don’t only live in a monolith but are making names for themselves across the infinite amount of narratives that can be told within the romance realm. The festival will showcase every sub-genre of Black romance, including paranormal, young adult, sports, fantasy, queer/LGBTQIA+, street literature, suspense, contemporary, erotica, inspirational and many more.

Lacey said the response has been overwhelmingly good. But amidst the sponsorship and partnership opportunities that have been coming their way, she wants to ensure that the event stays true to its goal of creating an inclusive space that benefits Black authors and readers.

“It’s not just a me thing. This is an US thing. It’s a community. And I think that’s what’s so beautiful about it.

“We want to remember why we’re doing this, and we don’t want our space to be convoluted or tainted in any way because of opportunities that we may not have received before. We want to make sure that we respect our readers, and we want to make sure we respect our authors, too. And so, I think it really does help our authors, too, because we’ve been rejected so many times. We’ve been rejected and neglected and dismissed but not anymore.”

While planning the festival, Lauren said she’s working on her next series, a small-town romance reminiscent of an HBCU in the early 2000s titled “The World Around Us.”

For a full list of confirmed authors, visit the website. Limited tickets are still available at Blackromancebookfestival.com

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