by Kandiss Edwards
October 26, 2025
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and creator of the “1619 Undertaking,”Hannah-Jones is launching The North Star Books + Bar, a literary salon in Brooklyn.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and creator of the “1619 Undertaking,” 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 on 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 12 months of shifting to New York. I felt that younger Black writers wanted to have a spot the place they might be with their heroes, the place we may do readings. At one among 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 instructed 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 creator talks, neighborhood ebook golf equipment, and partnerships with native colleges 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 data, concepts, literature, artwork.”
With this improvement, Hannah-Jones extends her mission past journalism and training. 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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