At 23, Tamika Newhouse moved to the Atlanta area and later made it Black Writers Weekend headquarters. For the last five years, the festival has been the annual gathering for Atlanta’s writers, filmmakers and creatives. Its offerings range from workshops that teach independent writers how to self-publish and market their work to networking events where aspiring writers can meet and learn from industry veterans. The festival’s signature event is the AAMBC Awards, which has honored names such as American poet and activist Nikki Giovanni, and self-published pioneer Teri Woods.