The New Black Fest’s Keith Josef Adkins

4:00 p.m. EST: Reading of The People Before the Park + discussion

6:30 p.m. EST: Conversation with Keith Josef Adkins

7:30 p.m. EST: The Heat Will Kill Everything, a solo piece written and performed by Keith Josef Adkins + Discussion

The People Before the Park: The people of Seneca Village, African-American and some Irish immigrants, have lived peacefully and away from the corruption of downtown New York City. However, when the city decides to build Central Park, their quiet hamlet becomes the target of demolition. One man decides he will not be moved.

The Heat Will Kill Everything: A one-person play about a Black father whose search for his missing daughter during an extreme heat event forces him to finally confront his internalized patriarchy and its destructive grip on his life.

Keith Josef Adkins is a writer and artistic director. His Great Migration play, The West End, had its world premiere at Cincinnati Playhouse and was a finalist for the 2022 Steinberg-ATCA New Play Award. Keith’s other plays include The People Before the Park, Safe House, Pitbulls, and The Last Saint on Sugar Hill, among others. He’s the recipient of the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award, Samuel French’s Award for Impact and Activism in the Theater Community, as well as National Black Theater’s Teer Spirit Award. He is the artistic director of The New Black Fest, a 14-year-old theater organization committed to fostering insurgent voices from the African Diaspora. The New Black Fest was in residence at the Lark Play Development Center for six years and has commissioned three social justice anthologies, including Facing Our Truth, Hands Up, The Apollo Presents… A New Harlem Renaissance—all published by Samuel French/Concord Theatrical. Keith and The New Black Fest was also commissioned by the Apollo Theater to develop work for their new Victoria Theater. Keith is also currently working on a collection of short memoir called The Men Within Me. Some of his TV writing credits include Accused, Outer Banks, The Good Fight. He’s also developed TV projects with JJ Abrams, Don Cheadle/Steven Soderbergh and Regina King. Keith co-wrote the horror film Run Sweetheart Run that can be seen on Amazon Prime.