By Stephen Hoffius, special to Charleston Currents | More than 25 African-American authors will gather at Burke High School on Sept. 17 to take part in Black Ink: A Charleston African-American Book Festival. The event will take place from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Marcus Amaker, recently named the first poet laureate of the City of Charleston, is the keynote speaker. He’s excited about the festival: “Charleston could use more events that celebrate the literary arts.” He is the author of seven books, the most recent of which, Mantra, is also an app, featuring audio, video, and new poems. Marcus’s poems have been featured on the PBS Newshour, the Huffington Post, several journals, and poetry collections.