Book and Lounge

In this episode, we are discussing the Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris. Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. Fed up with the isolation and the micro-aggressions, she's thrilled when Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. They've only just started comparing natural hair care regimens, though, when a string...

In this Episode I am joined by Remingtob Blackstaff to discuss his debut novel the Durbar's Apprentice.  Remington Blackstaff was born in Nigeria and moved to the United Kingdom with his family at a young age. He went to The Priory School primary school,(not the psychiatric hospital, although he applied for a job there years later) in Banstead, Surrey with the actor Andrew Garfield. He was bi...

In this week we are discussing Assembly by Natasha Brown. Assembly is a story about the stories we live within – those of race and class,  safety and freedom, winners and losers. And it is about one woman daring to take control of her own story, even at the cost of her life. With a  steely, unfaltering gaze, Natasha Brown dismantles the mythology of whiteness, lining up the debris in a n...

Courttia Newland is a novelist, playwright and screenwriter. He has published nine works of fiction, including six novels and three short story collections. His latest collection of speculative fiction stories, Cosmogramma, and novel, A River Called Time, were published in 2021. As a screenwriter he recently co-wrote two feature length films for the Steve McQueen BBC series Small Axe and his plays...

Black Spartacus traces Louverture’s singular journey, from his triumphs against French, Spanish and British troops to his skillful regional diplomacy, his Machiavellian dealings with successive French colonial administrators and his bold promulgation of an autonomous Constitution. Hazareesingh shows that Louverture developed his unique vision and leadership not solely in response to imported Enlig...

In this episode we disects and critique The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, a novel about twin sisters and how their choices shape their lives and impact that of those around them.  Weaving together multiple strands and generations of the Vignes family from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett's second novel is a superb exploration of race, identity, colourism, sexism and homophobia. It consi...

In this episode I am in conversation with Russell Brooks author of four thrillers, Pandora’s Succession, Unsavory Delicacies, the Demeter Code and Chill Run. His fifth Jam Run is due for release later in 2022. Visit www.russellparkway.com to connect with Russell.

In this episode we discuss Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah's groundbreaking book the Sex Lives of African Women. The book is a collection of interviews with women across Africa and the diaspora covering sexuality, relationships, freedom and self-discovery. We dive deep into these stories so please beware there may be spoilers.

In this episode, we discuss Kei Miller's collection of essays where explores the silence in which so many important things are kept. He also considers the histories our bodies inherit - the crimes that haunt them, and how meaning can shift as we move throughout the world, variously assuming privilege or victimhood. Please be ware of spoilers!

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