Black & Published

This week on Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with Shenequa Golding , author of the essay collection A Black Girl in the Middle: Essays on (Allegedly) Figuring it All Out . Shenequa’s collection is the culmination of what happened after her essay about being Black in the workplace after George Floyd’s murder went viral. So viral, Amazon founder and billionaire, Jeff Bezos, reposted it.  In o...

This week on Black & Published we're introducing you to a new show that we love, Reckon True Stories hosted by acclaimed authors Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon. Guests for Season One include writers Roxane Gay , Imani Perry , Alexander Chee , Minda Honey , Hanif Abdurraqib , and Samantha Irby . Reckon True Stories is a celebration of new and classic nonfiction – the essays, journalism, a...

This week on  Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with Walela Nehanda , author of, Bless the Blood: A Cancer Memoir . As a Black, non-binary, disability justice advocate and stem-cell transplant survivor, Walela's book is an outgrowth of their time and work as a slam poet.  In our conversation, Walela, explains why even though their publishing journey may seem like a Cinderella story, they...

This week on  Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with the authors and illustrators of the children's picture book,  The Last Stand . Written by Antwan Eady and illustrated by the brothers Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey , The Last Stand   is a book that honors the legacy and sacrifices of Black farmers by focusing on the joy found in community.  In our conversation,  Antwan, Jarrett, and Jero...

This week on  Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with  Avery Cunningham , author of the novel,  The Mayor of Maxwell Street . Avery is a resident of Memphis, TN, and a 2016 graduate of DePaul University’s Master of Arts Writing & Publishing program. She has over a decade of editorial experience with various literary magazines, small presses, and best-selling authors.  In our conversation,...

This week on  Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with  Donna Hemans , author of the novel,  The House of Plain Truth . Born in Jamaica and currently residing in the DMV area, Donna is the author of the novels  River Woman  and  Tea by the Sea . Works that all center the Caribbean experience.  In our conversation, Donna discusses the book that made her want to be a writer. Plus, the lesson she...

This week on Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with Crystal Wilkinson , author of the cookbook memoir, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts . A poet, a novelist, and an essayist, Wilkinson is a recipient of an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Poetry and was recently named a 2024 Writing Freedom Fellow.  In our conversation, we discuss why she says she’s never writing solely for publication. How...

This week on  Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with  Maya Golden , author of the memoir,  The Return Trip . Maya is the founder of the 1 in 3 foundation which provides recovery tools and support for survivors of sexual abuse. An organization she started after she went on her own road to healing through body based therapy that helped her overcome her trauma and sex addiction.  In our conversa...

This week on  Black & Published,  Nikesha speaks with Dr. Jenn M. Jackson , author of the book, Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism . Dr. Jackson (they/them)  is a genderflux androgynous Black woman, a lesbian, an abolitionist, and a lover of all Black people, They are an Assistant Professor at Syracuse University in the Department of Political Science where their prim...

This week on  Black & Published , Nikesha speak with  Ashton Lattimore , author of the historical novel,  All We Were Promised . The novel that follows three young Black women in 19th century Philadelphia. One is born free. One is enslaved. And the third is free-ish: she self-emancipated with her father who’s maintaining their liberation by passing for white. Ashton is the Editor-in-Chief of t...

This week on Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with Vanessa Riley , author of the historical fiction romance novel, Queen of Exiles . An engineer and self-proclaimed math nerd, Vanessa applies her  inventive and analytical mindset to her creative writing. Her historical novels showcase the hidden histories of Black women and women of color, emphasizing strong sisterhoods and dazzling multicul...

This week on Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with Juliana Lamy , author of the short story collection, You Were Watching From the Sand . A Haitian writer, Juliana says her collection is preoccupied with what it means to be Haitian and the honesty of that lived experience.  In our conversation, Juliana, who is a graduate of Harvard and the Iowa Writers Workshop, explains how she creates rhyt...

This week on  Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with  Shannon Sanders , author of the short story collection,   Company . A lawyer by trade, Shannon came to crafting her award-winning collection after attending several writing workshops and having to produce on a deadline.  In our conversation, Shannon explains why she thinks about what's enjoyable for her reader as she's creating n...

This week on Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with Rudy Francisco , author of the poetry collection, Excuse Me As I Kiss the Sky . Rudy is a renowned spoken word artist who has published two previous collections: Helium (2017) and I'll Fly Away (2020). As a spoken word artist, Rudy said taking his work from the stage to the page allowed him to grow and write about more than one topic. ...

This week on  Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with  Roberto Carlos Garcia , author of the poetry anthology,  What Can I Tell You .  Roberto is the author of three previous poetry collections Elegies , black / Maybe: An Afro Lyric , and Melancolía .  In our conversation, Roberto discusses unlearning the ways in which colonialism have infected the mind. How anti-Blackness begins at home in so...

This week on  Black & Published , Nikesha speaks with  Tracey Rose Peyton , author of the novel,  Night Wherever We Go .   The novel follows the lives of six enslaved women on a struggling plantation in Texas. When their owners The Lucy's, nicknamed after Lucifer himself, come up with a plan to increase their prosperity through reproduction, the women refuse despite the consequences of su...

This week on  Black & Published Nikesha speaks with  Kim Johnson , author of the YA novel,  Invisible Son . The book is set in Oregon during the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020. A setting Kim chose to bear witness to all that was happening while also balancing the trauma of that year with its triumphs as well.  In our conversation, Kim readily admits that she came to writing late in life....

This week on Black and Published , Nikesha speaks with  Jennifer Baker , author of the YA novel,  Forgive Me Not . The story centers the life, loves and struggles of a teenaged Black girl to explore the pitfalls and failures of mass incarceration and carceral systems.    In our conversation, Jennifer opens up about how she stayed motivated to continue writing while working for some twenty years in...

This week on Black and Published , Nikesha speaks with Lamya H , author of the memoir, Hijab Butch Blues . The book is an in depth extension of the personal essays Lamya has penned for years. Their writing has appeared in Vice, Salon, Vox, Black Girl Dangerous, Autostraddle, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. They are a  former Lambda Literary Fellow  and currently live in New York with their pa...

This week on Black and Published , Nikesha speaks with K E Garland , author of the memoir, In Search of a Salve: Memoir of a Sex Addict .  K E Garland is an award-winning creative nonfiction writer and blogger who uses personal essays and memoir to de-marginalize women's experiences with an intent to highlight and humanize contemporary issues including adoption and addiction.  In our conversa...

This week on Black and Published , Nikesha speaks with Kim Coleman Foote , author of the biomthyography novel, Coleman Hill . The novel draws from Kim's own family legend, historical record, and fervent imagination to create an unforgettable new history.  In our conversation, Kim discusses how she came to tell the story of her family while she was working on another novel. Plus, how she got o...

This week on Black and Published , Nikesha speaks with Liv Little , author of the novel, Rosewater . A writer of Jamaican and Guyanese descent living in South London, Liv tells stories about the people and places that matter to her; specifically the Black, queer, femme community.  In our conversation, Liv discusses why she was dedicated to illustrating the ways Black, queer and femme communities s...

This week on Black and Published , Nikesha speaks with jarrett hill   and Tre'vell Anderson , the authors of, Historically Black Phrases: From "I Ain't One of  Your Little Friends" to "Who All Gon Be There? " Tre'vell and jarrett both have backgrounds in journalism and they are the hosts of the award-winning podcast FANTI . Their book chronicles the living langua...

This week on Black and Published , Nikesha speaks with Minda Honey , author of the memoir,  The Heartbreak Years . A retrospective for  the twenty-somethings who are ready to stop leaping into the lives of the men they like and instead choose themselves and a life they love. The book is born out of Minda's series of essays for Longreads on dating politics. Her writing has also been featured i...

This week on Black and Published , Nikesha speaks with Anissa Gray , author of the novel, Life and Other Love Songs . The novel uses music as a metaphor to examine the aftermath of one man's decision on his entire family after they lose the loves of their lives.  In our conversation, Anissa discusses how she processed her own personal tragedies on the page. Plus, the reason she says writing ...