Harlem hosts first "Up South" Book Fest.

Up South, Inc. and Aaron Davis Hall, Inc./Harlem Stage will present the first annual Up South International Book Festival (USIBF), September 29-October 1 in New York City.

Spearheaded by Malaika Adero (pictured right), senior editor for Atria Books, the festival, which will be held at the Aaron Davis Hall, Inc./Harlem Stage at the Gatehouse, 135th Street and Convent Ave, will celebrate world culture through literature, music, dance, art and discussion.

"The purpose of the USIBF is to bring attention to the amazing contemporary work being published today, especially by people of color and from an international perspective and promote reading as a leisure-time activity," says Adero.

She founded Up South, Inc., a nonprofit organization that will produce the annual book and performing arts festival and other events. Up South refers to the familiar term applied to migration of African Americans from the South to the North.

"The festival is primarily meant to showcase the best in contemporary fiction, non-fiction and poetry, new work by established and emerging artists across boundaries of culture and generation, secondarily to show the narrative and cross-cultural links between literature and art, i.e. dance, music, film, theatre," says Adero. Some events will be bilingual, English/Spanish.

Supporters/sponsors for this festival include the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing (at Arizona State University); Atria Books/Simon & Schuster; the Victoria Sanders Literary Agency; and other individuals or organizations in the publishing and cultural community.

Hue Man Bookstore is a partner of the festival and will be the exclusive vendor of books and merchandise. Book signings will follow each event. Mobay Restaurant is the exclusive vendor for the food pavilion.

Organizers expect up to 1,000 people to attend various phases of the festival. Attendance fees are $25 for daytime programs, $35 for evening programs, $55 for a day-evening combination or $150 for a full pass to festival events.

Opening day events include a panel discussion with Dawn Davis, editorial director of Amistad/HarperCollins, on how books reach an audience, from the editorial process to publication; dialogues among African American, Caribbean and Latino authors; readings and dialogue with Ruby Dee, Life Lit by Some Large Vision: Selected Speeches and Writings of Ossie Davis (Atria Books, 2006) and Jewell Parker Rhodes, Porch Stories: A Grandmother's Guide to Happiness (Atria Books, 2006); dance by Ronald K. Brown of Evidence Dance Company; and jazz by the Billy Bang Quintet.

For more information: www.upsouthinternationalbookfestival.com/Contact Up South, Inc. at: [e-mail],

By Angela P. Dodson: E-mail your news to [e-mail]