Nikole Hannah-Jones Hope To Open A New York Literary Salon

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and creator of the “1619 Challenge,” Nikole Hannah-Jones is launching The North Star Books + Bar, a brand new literary salon in Brooklyn. 

North Star Books + Bar goals to honor Black writers, young and old, and create an area for neighborhood within the literary world. The salon will occupy a two-story brick constructing at the nook of Macon Avenue and Marcus Garvey Boulevard. The constructing beforehand held long-standing Black-owned Macon {Hardware}.

The plan features a first-floor café and bar area, a books ,and occasion space; and upstairs micro-residencies for visiting writers who will lead workshops, readings, and neighborhood engagement. 

Hannah-Jones, a Brooklyn resident for practically 15 years, mentioned she has hosted a number of author salons in her house. She now desires to scale that vitality right into a devoted public area for all. 

“I began holding these writers’ salons at my home inside a yr of shifting to New York. I felt that younger Black writers wanted to have a spot the place they may very well be with their heroes, the place we might do readings. At one in every of my early salons, Ta-Nehisi Coates learn an early draft of his [2015 Pulitzer-nominated nonfiction book] ‘Between the World and Me’ on my stoop…So I’ve been considering for a very long time about making an attempt to open a public salon-style area that concerned the best attributes of the Harlem Renaissance,” Jones informed Harper’s Bazaar. 

Whereas the opening date has not been finalized, organizers say the salon will start programming in early 2026. Actions are anticipated to incorporate writer talks, neighborhood guide golf equipment, and partnerships with native faculties and cultural establishments to deepen literary engagement within the neighborhood.

Hannah-Jones emphasised that the salon is greater than a bookstore or bar — it’s set to turn out to be “an area the place inventive people can come collectively and change information, concepts, literature, artwork.” 

With this growth, Hannah-Jones extends her mission past journalism and schooling. The author and activist is dedicated to furthering the wealthy literary tradition in New York. Whereas additionally cultivating cultural infrastructure in Black communities. The North Star Books + Bar is a small foothold for Black New Yorkers in a quickly gentrifying borough, anchoring literature, tradition and neighborhood in Mattress-Stuy for the long run.

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