The third annual Black Authors Festival, whose theme this year is “The Power of Literacy,” will take place on Saturday, starting at 4 p.m., at the Breakwater Yacht Club in Sag Harbor. The festival’s mission is to champion youth development, literacy equity, and the fundamental right to free expression.
To that end, a portion of this year’s proceeds will benefit A Father’s Love Personal Development and Community Services, a nonprofit working to establish a charter school dedicated to supporting Black children growing up without fathers, providing them with the academic, social, and emotional support needed to thrive.
The day will be hosted by Shannon LaNier, an Emmy Award-winning news anchor and star of Tyler Perry’s “Duplicity,” and Arrianee LeBeau, a multiple Emmy Award-winning journalist.
This year’s honorees are Sunny Hostin, a lawyer, writer, and television host; Don Lemon, a television journalist; Alton Fitzgerald White, an actor; Marc H. Morial, president of the National Urban League; Harriette Cole, a writer and editor; Kendis Gibson, a journalist; Attika J. Torrence, a producer, director, and actor; Cheryl Wills, a journalist; Pamela McBride, a writer and podcast host, and Amaryllis Greene, a teenage actor, model, and writer who is the youth author honoree.
The festival’s highlights include a ceremony on the water recognizing Black literary excellence; a panel hosted by Rochell Bishop Sleets, editor in chief of Newsday, called Black Women in America, and Black Men and Literacy, a panel hosted by Maurice L. Williams, executive director of A Father’s Love.
Films to be screened are “Sins of the Father,” a 2025 drama by Mr. Torrence about a woman on a mission to connect with her father, and “Race vs. Culture: The Black Experience,” a 2025 documentary by Tevin Foster.
Also on the agenda are a live-paddle fund-raiser for A Father’s Love, a live D.J. and live music, a fine-art showcase, food, drink, and an all-white dress-code afterparty. Free books from Ms. Hostin and Mr. Lemon will be available while supplies last, and other authors’ books will be on hand for sale and signing.
In addition, there will be a civic proclamation ceremony declaring August to be Black Authors Festival Month in the Hamptons, which has the support of local political leaders, including County Legislator Jason Richberg, Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages and Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni, and East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez.
General admission is $175. V.I.P. registration, which opens at 2 and includes Red Carpet interviews and photo opportunities beginning at 2:30, is $350. V.I.P. all-access is $1,100. More information, including the V.I.P. perquisites, can be found at blackauthorsfestival.com.
