by Kandiss Edwards
October 26, 2025
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and creator of the “1619 Project,”Hannah-Jones is launching The North Star Books + Bar, a literary salon in Brooklyn.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and creator of the “1619 Project,” Nikole Hannah-Jones is launching The North Star Books + Bar, a new literary salon in Brooklyn.
North Star Books + Bar aims to honor Black writers, old and young, and create a space for community in the literary world. The salon will occupy a two-story brick building at the corner of Macon Street and Marcus Garvey Boulevard. The building previously held long-standing Black-owned Macon Hardware.
The plan includes a first-floor café and bar space, a books ,and event area; and upstairs micro-residencies for visiting writers who will lead workshops, readings, and community engagement.
Hannah-Jones, a Brooklyn resident for nearly 15 years, said she has hosted multiple writer salons in her home. She now wants to scale that energy into a dedicated public space for all.
“I started holding these writers’ salons at my house within a year of moving to New York. I felt that young Black writers needed to have a place where they could be with their heroes, where we could do readings. At one of my early salons, Ta-Nehisi Coates read an early draft of his [2015 Pulitzer-nominated nonfiction book] ‘Between the World and Me’ on my stoop…So I’ve been thinking for a long time about trying to open a public salon-style space that involved the greatest attributes of the Harlem Renaissance,” Jones told Harper’s Bazaar.
While the opening date has not been finalized, organizers say the salon will begin programming in early 2026. Activities are expected to include author talks, community book clubs, and partnerships with local schools and cultural institutions to deepen literary engagement in the neighborhood.
Hannah-Jones emphasized that the salon is more than a bookstore or bar — it is set to become “a space where creative folks can come together and exchange knowledge, ideas, literature, art.”
With this development, Hannah-Jones extends her mission beyond journalism and education. The writer and activist is committed to furthering the rich literary culture in New York. While also cultivating cultural infrastructure in Black communities. The North Star Books + Bar is a small foothold for Black New Yorkers in a rapidly gentrifying borough, anchoring literature, culture and community in Bed-Stuy for the long term.
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