Exhibit B presents Black History, Present Tense
Sat, Feb 07
|Champaign
Exhibit B invites the Champaign-Urbana community to The Literary Book Bar for a special Black History Month reading on Saturday, February 7 at 5 PM, honoring Black writers whose work expands the boundaries of language, memory, and imagination.
Time & Location
Feb 07, 2026, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Champaign, 122 N Neil St, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
About the event
The evening features four dynamic voices: I.S. Jones, Grayson Thompson, Hollis Toussaint Druhet, and James Stewart III. The lineup brings together celebrated writers from both Chicago and Champaign, creating a regional literary gathering that reflects the richness and diversity of Black storytelling across generations and geographies.
Headlining the event is I.S. Jones, whose debut collection Bloodmercy was named one of The New York Times Best Poetry Books of 2025. Chosen by Nicole Sealey as the winner of the 2025 APR / Honickman First Book Prize, Bloodmercy has received national acclaim for its emotional depth and lyrical power. Jones will be joined by Grayson Thompson, Hollis Toussaint Druhet, and James Stewart III for an evening of poetry and prose engaging Black life in its fullness—grief and grace, lineage and becoming, survival and joy.
“Each featured reader approaches the page as a site of witness and possibility,” said Exhibit B organizers. “Together, their performances…