Saturday at the Clearbrook Center for the Arts in Lake Ridge gave way to the area’s first ever BLK Author Expo.

Featuring more than 20 Black-owned writers and entrepreneurs, one could find the best in self-published works in a myriad of genres. Whether it was for business, social justice, or for children, the expo showcased talents that would not rarely get the opportunity to meet like-minded creators.

In addition to the authors’ works, they hosted a lounge setting that one would find in many Black-owned book stores and coffee shops. The “Booktalk Lounge” gave authors such as fourth-grader Kwame Nesmith-Otoo, who had “Storytime with Kwame,” to best-selling author Tracee Lydia Garner. The “Loft Stage,” hosted by Josh King, hosted several authors who spoke on culture and community. It gave a spoken-word level vibe to those in attendance. Among those who spoke were Ron Daise, better known as “Mr. Ron” on the hit TV show “Gullah Gullah Island.” Also, the Pair brothers, Eugene and Aaron, founders of Man Made Media, an organization dedicated to promoting the positivity in Black Men.

I spoke with two of the visionaries who put the expo together about what it meant to host the event in Woodbridge. “It meant a lot to me and my daughters (Nalani and Leila) and my son (Marco). We do a lot of other things like this with other authors. Sometimes, it’s hard to do something like this with self-published authors, so we wanted to give them their space. Our goal was to give authors from our own community the opportunity first.”

“It was overwhelming at first because we didn’t do this before. Then, when I realized how many authors were coming together for the first time, it made the reward worth the work. We look forward to doing this again.”

Inita Nesmith, another expo organizer, talked about how collaborating with Aaron made it possible. “I came up with this idea because I am an entrepreneur,” she said. “I’ve been to the chili cookoff, and the events in Springfield, but I wanted to be on the organizer side of the table. Aaron and I worked for a construction company, and we said, ‘Why don’t we come up with our own event?”

“Since he already had his own book publishing company, putting this together was an easy idea. I was inspired to do this because of my son (Kwame).”

How was the process of taking this event from idea to reality? “We started working on it in January. Initially, we wanted it in February for Black History Month, but it took more time to get everything ready. I’m glad we had it when we did.”

The next event will take place on November 11 in Largo, Maryland, with a return to Woodbridge in 2024.