Stories of romance, loss, incarceration, and family took center stage Sept. 13 at Sacramento’s BlkLit Book Festival, where authors and community members gathered to honor the long tradition of Black storytelling.

The inaugural one-day festival — hosted by St. HOPE and held at Underground Books and The Guild Theater — celebrated Black writers past and present. The festival highlighted the role that Black stories and books play in guiding, empowering, and preserving culture.

“We are the descendants of Toni Morrison and of James Baldwin. Those are our literary ancestors,” said Julian Newman, a native Sacramentan and author of “Beautiful Together.” “The fact that we’re here in this space is part of the resistance.”

Throughout the day, audiences also heard from authors such as Sheryl Lister,

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