Black & Published

This week on Black and Published , Nikesha speaks with Ladee Hubbard , author of the short story collection, The Last Suspicious Holdout . Ladee is also the author of the novels The Talented Ribkins which received the 2018 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence and the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction and The Rib King . Her writing has appeared in Oxford American, Guernica , V...

This week on Black and Published , Nikesha speaks with Mant¿s , author of the poetry collection, The Rootwork Stretched . Mant¿s writes from the intersections of Black, femme, queer, and artist. They are Pittsburgh born, and Hill District raised. They have performed their poetry at universities, open mics, launch parties, book tours, and featured showcases throughout Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and...

This week on Black and Published , Nikesha speaks with C.M. Lockhart , author of the novel, We Are the Origin . C.M. (also known as Chelsea) is a Black writer of fantasy. She loves creating worlds, exploring relationships, and writing stories about Black girls who aren't all that nice. She is the founder of Written in Melanin LLC — which encompasses a weekly podcast and YouTube channel as wel...

In this debut episode of Black & Published , Nikesha is speaking with author, Mbinguni, about her debut novel, Looking for Hope . Mbinguni is a natural storyteller with roots in West Africa and the Gullah-Geechee region of Georgia's barrier islands. Her novel, Looking for Hope , follows the life of young Hannah "Mouse" Maynard in this coming of age tale where Mouse transforms fr...

On this episode of Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with Tracey Michae'l Lewis-Giggetts , author of the essay collection, Black Joy . Tracey, holds both an MBA and an MFA. She's come up through the indie author ranks, has served as a celebrity ghostwriter, and is the author of 15 other titles.  During the Conversation, Tracey opens up about the happenstance opportunity that propell...

This week on Black and Published , Nikesha speaks with Cleyvis Natera , author of the novel, Neruda on the Park .  Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New York City, Cleyvis has received honors from PEN America, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Hermitage Artist Retreat, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation (VONA). Her fiction, essays and criticism...

This week on Black and Published , Nikesha speaks with Remica Bingham-Risher , author of the memoir, Soul Culture: Black Poets, Books and Questions that Grew Me Up .  A native of Phoenix, Arizona, Remica is a Cave Canem fellow and Affrilachian Poet. Her work has been published in The New York Times, The Writer’s Chronicle, Callaloo and Essence. She has written three poetry collections and is the D...

This week on Black and Published , Nikesha speaks with Shola Gbemi , author of the novel, They Were Chosen . A  New York native of Nigerian descent, his novel focuses on the twin movements of social justice and sexual assault while following fictional characters on an HBCU campus. During our conversation, Shola explains why writing his novel was a seven year process. What he learned from the counc...

This week on Black and Published , Nikesha speaks with Toni Ann Johnson , author of the short story collection, Light Skinned Gone to Waste . The collection won the 2021 Flannery O'Connor Award for short fiction. Toni Ann's novella, Homegoing , won Accents Publishing's inaugural novella contest and was published in 2021. Toni Ann was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award for her n...

This week on Black and Published , Nikesha speaks with George McCalman , author of the book, Illustrated Black History: Honoring the Iconic and the Unseen . The work  collects 145 of George's original portraits of Black pioneers alongside stirring profiles of why these individuals matter. A classically trained artist, his studio, McCalman.co creates long-lasting brands for clients across arts...

This week on Black and Published , Nikesha speaks with Tracy Cross , author of the horror novella Rootwork . Tracy has had several stories published in mass market anthologies and contributed to many horror podcasts. Her debut novella, Rootwork, is a folk horror homage to her late grandmother. She lives in Washington, DC and is a huge Prince fan.  During our conversation, Tracy opens up about grow...

On this episode of Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with Lizzie Damilola Blackburn, author of the novel, Yinka, Where is Your Huzband? Lizzie is a British-Nigerian writer who has been at the receiving end of the question in the title of her novel many times. Born and raised in London, she  now lives with her husband in Milton Keynes, England.  In our conversation, Lizzie explains why her nov...

On this episode of Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with Chinedu Achebe , author of the novel, The Miseducation of Obi Ifeanyi . Chinedu is Nigerian-American. He graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelors degree in Economics. He published his first book, Blunted on Reality in 2012. Chinedu has also written articles in the Huffington Post, Medium, and Bella Naija. He currently...

On this episode of Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with Lisa Williamson Rosenberg , author of the novel, Embers on the Wind . Becoming a novelist is Lisa's third career. Before writing, she was a professional ballet dancer with the Pennsylvania and Pacific Northwest Ballet Companies. She also has a Masters in Social Work and works as a psychotherapist. Lisa is biracial and Jewish and h...

On this episode of Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with Mateo Askaripour , author of the novel, Black Buck . The New York Times bestseller takes on racism in corporate America with humor and wit. Askaripour was chosen as one of Entertainment Weekly’s “10 rising stars to make waves,” and Black Buck was a Read With Jenna Today Show book club pick. He lives in Brooklyn.  In our conversation, M...

On this episode of Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with Maisy Card , author of the novel, These Ghosts Are Family which won an American Book Award, the  2021 OCM Bocas Prize in fiction and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel, among others.  Maisy's writing has appeared in The Paris Review Daily,  The New York Times, and other publications. She was born in Portmor...

On this BONUS episode of Black & Published , Nikesha talks about the release of her new book, Mardi Gras Indians , coming out from LSU Press on October 5, 2022.  She details the journey since her last bonus episode detailing her own Black & Published story about how the book started with an essay about food, evolved through a global pandemic and pregnancy, and left her with doubts and fear...

On this episode of Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with Katerina Canyon , author of the poetry collection, Surviving Home . Katerina is a 2020 and 2019 Pushcart Prize Nominee. Her stories have been published in New York Times and Huffington Post. She also served as the Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga from 2000 - 2003.  She has published multiple chapbooks and an album. In our conversation,...

On this episode of Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with Dawn Turner , author of the memoir, Three Girls from Bronzeville: A Uniquely American Memoir of Race, Fate, and Sisterhood . An award-winning author and journalist who's reported all over the world, Dawn is a former columnist for the Chicago Tribune where she spent 15 years writing about race, politics and people whose stories are...

On this episode of Black & Published , Nikesha speaks Marita Golden , author of the novel, A Woman's Place , which was first published in 1986 and is now being re-released by McSweeney's. Marita is the author of six novels as wells as memoirs and other non-fiction works. She's also the co-founder of the Hurston/Wright Foundation and works with writers all over the world facilita...

On this episode of Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with Natasha Marin , curator of the Black Powerful   anthology; the latest installment in her Black Imagination artist series. A conceptual artist whose people-centered projects have circled the globe, Natasha's focus is on  amplifying, centering, and holding sacred space for a diverse sample of voices including LGBTQIA+ Black youth, i...

Black & Published podcast is coming back with fresh episodes for all of your literary needs. We're of course talking writing and publishing, but it's all dipped in the Black experience. Our stories and the lessons we learned from our families, even the crazy ones, and what it means to live a life where your legacy is words. New episodes drop every Tuesday starting September 6. Subscr...

On this episode of Black & Published , Nikesha is speaking with author, Georgia Dawkins ,  about her memoir, Everybody Knows: The Power of Being in Position . Georgia is The Purpose Producer. From ABC’s Good Morning America to Will Packer’s Central Ave, Georgia has worked within a multitude of television genres including local news, network news, talk shows, reality television, and entertainme...

On this episode of Black & Published , Nikesha is speaking with  poet, essayist, and journalist Jeneé Darden about her book, When a Purple Rose Blooms . An Oakland native, Jeneé holds a BA in ethnic studies from UC San Diego and a masters's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California. She has reported for NPR , Time magazine, the Los Angeles Times , Ebony and more. The...

On this episode of Black & Published , Nikesha is speaking with author and poet Jessica Lynn   about her novel, Kissing Frogs: The Thirteenth . A proud graduate of Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University and an educator for over 10 years, Jessica Lynn used her experiences, the experiences of friends, and others to craft a literary drama that takes readers to the ancestral realm, on th...