Just Buffalo Literary Center (JBLC) is a not-for-profit literary organization centered in Buffalo, NY which serves the greater Western New York region as a prominent literary curator. Just Buffalo Literary Center’s mission is to create and strengthen communities through the literary arts. And for more than 40 years, Just Buffalo Literary Center has brought the world’s greatest writers to Buffalo, hosted poetry events, and readings, and supported the development of young writers.
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Just Buffalo Literary Center's business office is currently located above the Western New York Book Arts Center on Washington Street.
Inception
Just Buffalo began in 1975 when founder Debora Ott hosted a reading featuring Diane di Prima at the Allentown Community Center. In the following years, notable authors and poets such as Robert Creeley, Ed Dorn, Alice Notley, Maureen Owen, and Ted Berrigan came to Buffalo to participate in readings offered by what had by then become "Just Buffalo". The organization proceeded to host writing workshops for writers of all-ages and published a literary magazine. It also had a radio show.
Continued growth
In 1982, Just Buffalo Literary Center established its renowned Writers in Education program, providing in-school creative writing programs for young people. At their peak, this program served approximately 4,000 students per year. After more than two decades of stewarding community-based literary programs and establishing Just Buffalo Literary Center as a national presence on the literary scene, Debora left the organization in 1998. She hired Michael Kelleher as Artistic Director in the months before she left. Ed Taylor served as Executive Director from 1998-2001.
2002-present
Laurie Dean Torrell took over as Executive Director in 2002, ushering in a new era. During her tenure, Just Buffalo Literary Center has experienced an extraordinary expansion. It moved from the Tri-Main Center to the Market Arcade Building in 2005, a change which marked the beginning of a groundbreaking administrative collaboration with CEPA and Big Orbit Galleries. All three organizations benefited from this long-term effort that involves shared resources and staff as well as a joint education effort, Writing With Light. In 2016, Just Buffalo Literary Center moved from the Market Arcade Building to its current home on the second floor at the corner of Washington and Mohawk in downtown Buffalo.
Just Buffalo Literary Center's program office staff currently consists of Laurie Dean Torrell, Executive Director; Barbara Cole, Artistic Director; Noah Falck, Education Director; Kristen Pope, Development Director.
BABEL
BABEL is an international literary lecture series that brings notable authors to Buffalo to speak four times per year. It is cosponsored by Hallwalls. It was conceived of in 2006 by Michael Kelleher, who was at the time Just Buffalo's Artistic Director. The series was launched in 2007. Past authors have included Nobel Prize winners Orhan Pamuk, Derek Walcott and V.S. Naipaul, as well as global literary icons Isabel Allende, Amos Oz, Salman Rushdie, A.S. Byatt, Chinua Achebe and many others.
BABEL was initially hosted in folk-musician Ani Difranco's recording space, "Babeville", in the old Asbury Delaware United Methodist Church, until it outgrew the space late in its second season and moved to Kleinhans Music Hall.
In 2009, BABEL was awarded "Most Innovative Arts Programming (any artform)" by Buffalo Spree Magazine.
The BABEL series has been hailed by the Buffalo News as:
...one of the most exciting literary series Buffalo has ever seen.In describing BABEL in its first year, Kelleher states:
The idea of the series is really to bring global perspective to the literary discussion in Buffalo.From Just Buffalo Literary Center's official website:
BABEL lectures give the audience direct access to different parts of the world as seen through the eyes of some of the world’s most important writers. Each lecture is as unique as the writer who delivers it.BABEL is headed into its 10th season in 2016-17 and will feature Marlon James, Laila Lalami, Edna O'Brien, and Dave Eggers.
Big Night
Big Night is a multi-disciplinary poetry series featuring poets from around the country alongside local artists in other media such as music, film, video, and visual art. It is hosted at the Western New York Book Arts Center in downtown Buffalo.
Writing With Light
Writing with Light is the name for Just Buffalo's joint educational programs. In partnership with CEPA Gallery, Writing With Light offers multidisciplinary school programs such as “Picturing Poetry,” which takes a school-based, multidisciplinary approach in order to combine creative writing with photography and other art forms.
Spotlight On Youth
Spotlight on Youth is an open mic series open to artists aged 12-21 that meet at the Smith Theatre in Shea's Performing Arts Center six times per year.