Atlanta’s first Black Romance Book Festival to celebrate diverse narratives in 2025

The event is founded by Lauren Lacy (above). Photo by Kerri Phox/The Atlanta Voice The first-ever Black Romance Book Festival is coming to Atlanta in 2025. From May 30 to June 1, romance lovers across the country will celebrate the literature and voices of the Black romance authors who have been making their hearts pump, overworking their tear ducts and creating rich and diverse narratives. The event is the brainchild of Atlanta-based author Lauren Lacey. From best friends to lovers to second-chance romances and unexpectedly discovering healing and love on an island, Lacey has been weaving Black love stories together since 2023. When she recently attended a large-scale book festival, Lacey shared that she was excited to see a few Black authors in attendance. However, her excitement didn’t reflect the interest of the other festival-goers.& “What was disheartening was, I didn’t see them getting a lot of traffic. And it was because it wasn’t our space,” Lacey said. “It wasn’t our target audience. It wasn’t the people who love and enjoy reading our books.” As a new author herself, Lacey knew she wanted to create a space where emerging and established Black authors could come together and connect with their...