Four Brooklyn bookstores will be featured at an upcoming even during the Brooklyn Book Festival, highlighting the role of Black women-owned bookstores in creating spaces for literature, community and cultural connection. The Center for Black Literature will host the 2026 Brooklyn Book Festival Bookend Event on Thursday, Sept. 24, at AB1 Dining Hall on the second floor of Medgar Evers College, 1638 Bedford Ave.
The event will bring together Maura Cheeks of Liz’s Book Bar, Gabrielle Davenport of BEM Books & More, Tiffany Dockery of Gladys Books & Wine and Darlene Okpo of Adanne Bookshop.
The program follows the NYC Black-Owned Women Book Store Crawl held in March 2026, and continues a conversation about the experiences of women operating Black-owned bookstores and the communities that have formed around them.
The featured businesses offer more than traditional retail spaces. Their programming includes author events, literary discussions, community gatherings and curated selections that create opportunities for readers to discover books and connect with one another.
Gladys Books & Wine, for example, describes itself as a space centered on Black queer literature, community programming and gatherings in Bedford-Stuyvesant. BEM markets itself as a bookstore, café and culinary hub.
Bringing the four owners together will give attendees an opportunity to learn about the work involved in developing and sustaining independent bookstores while exploring how these spaces contribute to Brooklyn’s literary culture.
The Sept. 24 gathering is part of the programming surrounding the 2026 Brooklyn Book Festival and is open to readers, writers, bookstore supporters and members of the community.
Registration is currently open for the event at Medgar Evers College. The evening will provide a chance to hear directly from the women behind four Brooklyn bookstores and learn more about the communities and literary spaces they are building.
