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Ron Kavanaugh is a dedicated literary activist and the visionary founder and director of the Literary Freedom Project, a vibrant arts organization rooted in the Bronx. LFP firmly believes that cultural identity serves as a pivotal cornerstone in fostering intelligent, creative, and engaged communities. Kavanaugh oversees a range of community-oriented initiatives, including One Book One Bronx, Mosaic Literary Conference, and the publication of Mosaic. In 1996, Kavanaugh launched MosaicBooks.com, the first website dedicated to Black books. The website closed in 2014.
Raised in the Bronx, Ron Kavanaugh has contributed his passion and expertise to numerous local arts organizations, such as The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx Council on the Arts, and En Foco, Inc. In 2017, he organized the photography exhibition “Black Documents,” featuring the works of photographer Jamel Shabazz, Laylah Amatullah Barrayn, Lola Flash, Danny Ramon Peralta, Edwin Torres, and Michael Young. Moreover, in 2022, Kavanaugh co-curated the exhibition “Swagger and Tenderness: The South Bronx Portraits by John Ahearn and Rigoberto Torres” at The Bronx Museum. Hilton Als, of The New Yorker, lauded this exhibition as “remarkable.” During the same year, Kavanaugh was honored with the Madam C.J. Walker Award presented by The Hurston/Wright Foundation. When not doing book stuff he’s off traveling the world.
Kavanaugh’s writing include “Beautiful,” “aka The Harbinger,” “Brooklyn Moon/for one night only,” and “Labor Day,” which is part of the “Swagger and Tenderness” catalogue.