BLACK BOOKS LIVE!

Black Books Live! seeks to address the dearth of audio material available from Black Authors. Hosts Jason Harris, Cher Jey and guests will read excerpts from a Black author's classic works. Links to the print and audio copies of the featured author will be included with each episode.

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Episodes

Episode 5: Episode 5 - The Short Stories of Langston Hughes

Today we are featuring one of the icons of the Harlem Renaissance, and one of the fathers of Black Literature, Langston Hughes. James Mercer Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1901, in Joplin, Missouri. His parents divorced when he was a young child, and he was raised by his grandmother until he was thirteen. He moved to Lincoln, Illinois with his mother and her husband for a spell, before the family eventually settled in Cleveland, Ohio. Hughes began writing poetry as a teen, and after gradua...

Feb 22, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 4Ep. 5

Episode 4 - J.California Cooper

For this episode, we are featuring the work of yet another living master: award winning playwright and novelist J. California Cooper . After gaining notoriety as a playwright, Cooper turned her attention to novels and short stories; she has since published 13 books, including A Piece of Mine, Homemade Love, which was awarded the 1989 American Book Award; Some Soul to Keep, In Search of Satisfaction, and her latest, Life is Short but Wide, published in 2009. Cooper is known for her witty, convers...

Mar 04, 2014•47 min

Episode 3 - Arthur Flowers

Arthur Flowers is the author of two novels, 'Another Good Loving Blues' and 'De Mojo Blues'. He has also written a nonfiction memoir, 'Mojo Rising: Confessions of a 21st Century Conjureman' and other books. Flowers states that his work is focused on "the interplay between literature, mythwork and human destiny." He augments this work of creative production through cultural retention with the modern trappings of cyberspace, as he regularly posts on his blog, Rootsblog- a cyberhoodoo webspace. He ...

Jan 06, 2014•24 min

Episode 2 - Toni Cade Bambara

When one thinks of books and thinks of Toni, we all know who comes to mind- our Nobel laureate, Pulitzer prize winning grand dame, Toni Morrison. Yet in the world of literature, there are two 'Tonis', and today we are focusing on the equally important Toni Cade Bambara. As with last weeks episode, our featured writer was brought up in the fertile creative environment of Harlem New York. Bambara's approach to writing was shaped in this culturally rich community and later augmented with an extensi...

Oct 08, 2013•48 min

Episode 1 - James Baldwin

For our first podcast, we present James Baldwin's 'Sonny's Blues'. Born and raised in Harlem, James Baldwin's writing and his work on behalf of African Americans is known worldwide. His debut novel 'Go Tell It on the Mountain, and his powerful collections of non-fiction, 'Notes of A Native Son, 'Nobody Knows My Name' and 'The Fire Next Time, established him as one of the most important literary voices of the 20th century. 'Sonny's Blues', which first appeared in The Partisan Review in 1957, and ...

Sep 27, 2013•1 hr 26 min

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