2026 Langston Hughes Festival
November 19 - 20, 2026
2026 Langston Hughes Festival Program
“Our greatest strength is our sense of community. We believe we have a right to one another.” — Jericho Brown
The 2026 Langston Hughes Festival is truly a celebration of community as we honor this year’s Medallion recipient and Pulitzer Prize Winner Jericho Brown while also celebrating the centennial of FIRE!!: A Quarterly Devoted to the Younger Negro Artists, the landmark Harlem Renaissance publication that included works from Langston Hughes and created just a few blocks from campus. The Festival culminates with the 60th Anniversary celebration of the Percy Ellis Sutton Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge (SEEK) Program, a state-funded educational opportunity program designed to expand access to higher education for students from underrepresented communities.
FIRE!! Devoted to Younger Negro Artists is a journal that was published in November 1926 by seven friends: Wallace Thurman (editor), Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Bennett, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Bruce Nugent, John Preston Davis, and Aaron Douglas. Planned as a periodical featuring short stories, poems, and visual art, it challenged the pressure they were receiving from the older generation of Harlem Renaissance Black mentors and white patrons who encouraged them to produce art with a larger political or social objective. The journal pushed creative boundaries of the time.
Established in 1965 as a pre-baccalaureate program, SEEK at CCNY became a model for other educational opportunity programs across CUNY and across the county. SEEK expands equitable access to higher education and supports capable students who may otherwise face educational or financial barriers to college. Grounded in a social justice framework, the program supports students’ academic success, educational attainment, and workforce readiness. June Jordan, Toni Cade Bambara, Addison Gayle, Adrienne Rich, and Audre Lorde are just a few of the writers who taught in the early days of SEEK at CCNY.
This year's two-day festival celebrates the strength of community with student presentations honoring the legacy of FIRE!!, film screenings, musical presentations, dramatic acts from Quintessence Theatre, and more. See the full schedule of events listed in the Festival Program, and be sure to register via the Eventbrite link as space is limited for these free events. As Jericho so eloquently states, we hope that you feel that you have a right to share in this community and that you will join us November 19-20 for the 2026 Langston Hughes Festival at CCNY.
— Jervette R. Ward, Chair of the Black Studies Department & Director of the Langston Hughes Festival
Last Updated: 10/16/2026 16:26