BLACK, QUEER, ARTISTS AND WRITERS ARE OUR CULTURE’S KEY CREATORS.

IT’S TIME OUR LIVES AND WORK ARE FULLY SUPPORTED.

OUR VISION:

Fire & Inkwell builds upon its historical work as the most influential supporter and advocate for LGBTQ+ writers of African descent. As we reconvene, we deliberately engage not just writers, but artists and creators across media. Artists have always been an integral part of Fire & Ink — as they have stood with and for us, we now stand with and for us all.

OUR MISSION:

Fire & Inkwell is devoted to increasing the understanding, visibility, accessibility, and awareness of the work of LGBTQ+ artists and writers of African descent and heritage and ensuring that our lives and the making of our work is supported. In order to achieve this important mission Fire & Inkwell seeks to:

• Sponsor biennially an internationally focused forum for the scholarly and professional examination and celebration of black GLBT writing and publishing. The proceedings of this forum may be published and distributed.

• Advocate for increased inclusion of such GLBT works in libraries, academic curricula and bookstores.

• Organize workshops that nurture and strengthen GLBT writers and publishers of African descent and heritage.

• Archive our work, and teach our communities how to build, steward, and place their own archives for access to artists and scholars today and into the future.

• Publish a review of writing by GLBT writers of African descent and heritage.

• Curate & Exhibit Black LGBTQ+ artists and work to partner with galleries, museums, and exhibition spaces to place our work in front of the audiences who need it.

We gather once again to build a unified body of artists and writers who can teach, inspire, share encouragement and networking opportunities, and develop effective strategies for sustaining our lives and work.

Through professional development, direct support, and advocacy, we seek to expand the market for the work nationally and internationally, and defend the work and its makers against increasing attacks on their literatures, communities, and lives.

At every turn Black LGBTQ+ writers have already expressed extreme jubilation at the resurgence of our movement. A deep bench of support already exists. Over the next few years, it will be stretched wider than ever.