Send us a text This bonus episode features excerpts from five interviews from Season Four - those that we had with authors who write memoir. Over the summer, we will be revisiting conversations that cover the nuisances of genre, form, and style - offering mini masterclasses filled with advice and insight from some of our guests. This retrospective offers insight on source material, exploring the effects of traumatic experiences, self-reflecting on formative moments in life, and honoring the past...
Jul 03, 2024•54 min
Send us a text In celebration of Juneteenth, we revisit our conversations with fiction authors featured during Season Four to reflect on approaches to creating worlds for our characters and what informs this work. Included in this bonus episode are: David Jackson Ambrose (S4 E17) writes on the intersections of race, sexuality and generational trauma. During our conversation, which took place during National Mental Health Awareness Month, we had a chance to talk about David’s three books, State o...
Jun 19, 2024•1 hr 17 min
Send us a text This episode features our conversation with Lisa Braxton about her recently released memoir, Dancing Between the Raindrops: A Daughter’s Reflections on Love and Loss , which was live-streamed on June 1, 2024. Lisa Braxton is the author of the award-winning Dancing Between the Raindrops: A Daughter’s Reflections on Love and Loss (Sea Crow Press, April 2024). The memoir in essays is a powerful meditation on grief, a deeply personal mosaic of a daughter’s remembrances of beautiful, c...
Jun 13, 2024•56 min•Season 4Ep. 19
Send us a text This episode features our conversation with Wakisha Stewart , which was live-streamed on May 18, 2024 in recognition of Women’s Health Week (May 12th-18th) and National Share a Story Month . Wakisha (Kisha) Stewart is a wife, mother of three, nurse, heart attack survivor, and a national advocate for heart health dedicated to improving the quality of cardiovascular health care for everyone. Since her heart attack in 2011 at age 31, she has conducted extensive research about the spe...
May 30, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 4Ep. 18
Send us a text This episode features our conversation with David Jackson Ambrose , which was live-streamed on May 11, 2024 in recognition of National Mental Health Awareness Month . David Jackson Ambrose writes on the intersections of race, sexuality and generational trauma. Through fiction, his work explores various genres, topics, and themes including African American life, Black history, LGBTQ issues and life, prison industrial complex, mental health, and generational trauma. David has an MFA...
May 16, 2024•59 min•Season 4Ep. 17
Send us a text This episode features our conversation with Lynne Thompson , which was live-streamed on April 14, 2024 closing out National Poetry Month. Lynne Thompson served as the 4th Poet Laureate of the City of Los Angeles. She's the author of four collections of poetry: Beg No Pardon (Perugia Press, 2007), Start With A Small Guitar (What Books Press, 2013), Fretwork (Marsh Hawk Press, 2019) and, most recently, Blue On A Blue Palette (BOA Editions, 2024). In 2022, Thompson was awarded a Laur...
May 03, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Season 4Ep. 16
Send us a text This episode features our conversation with M. Nzadi Keita , which was live-streamed on April 14, 2024 during National Poetry Month . M. Nzadi Keita's new poetry collection, Migration Letters (Beacon Press, April 2, 2024), reflects on Black working-class identity and culture in Philadelphia. Her second book, Brief Evidence of Heaven (Whirlwind Press, 2014), shed light on Anna Murray Douglass, Frederick Douglass’ first wife and was cited in David Blight ‘s prize-winning biography, ...
Apr 25, 2024•1 hr 25 min•Season 4Ep. 15
Send us a text Happy National Poetry Month ! Launched in April of 1996 by the Academy of American Poets, National Poetry Month celebrates the literary traditions sustained by this mode of storytelling. Thank you so very much to every single poet who has joined me on this platform. This episode features our conversation with Nandi Comer (poetry.), which was live-streamed on April 7, 2024. Nandi Comer is the Poet Laureate of Michigan. She is the author of American Family: A Syndrome (Finishing Lin...
Apr 18, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Season 4Ep. 14
Send us a text This episode features our conversation with Chana Shinegba , which was live-streamed on March 30, 2024. Chana Shinegba, a gifted storyteller, embodies the spirit of resilience and creativity that defines her generation. Coming of age as a young Black girl in the vibrant but complex landscape of the 1980s and 1990s, Chana grappled with acknowledging her innate talents amidst the backdrop of societal expectations and personal fears. From a tender age, Chana’s artistic prowess manife...
Apr 11, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Season 4Ep. 13
Send us a text This episode features our conversation with Angie Chatman , which was live-streamed on March 16, 2024. For long-time Black Writers Read supporters you may remember Angie from our Black History Month Virtual Event in 2021. Angie Chatman is a writer and storyteller. She's written for Insider Personal Finance, MIT Tech Review, the National Science Foundation, Yahoo News and elsewhere. Her literary work has appeared in Brevity, TaintTaintTaint Magazine, Literary Landscapes, Pangyrus, ...
Mar 28, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 4Ep. 12
Send us a text This episode features our conversation with Janine Fondon , which was recorded during our live event held in person on March 4, 2024 at Holyoke Media . Janine Fondon , MFA, is an award-winning writer, digital media producer, and educator/historian who uses the art and science of communication and inclusion to elevate voices, engage audiences, and inspire creative thinking in a world of change. As Assistant Professor and Chair of Undergraduate Communications at Bay Path University ...
Mar 14, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 4Ep. 11
Send us a text This episode features our conversation with Donna Hemans , which was live streamed on Saturday, February 17, 2024. We chatted about her recently released novel, The House of Plain Truth , and her writing career. Donna Hemans is the author of three novels, River Woman , Tea by the Sea , and The House of Plain Truth . Her short fiction and essays have appeared in Slice, Electric Literature, Ms. Magazine, The Rumpus, Crab Orchard Review, among others. She received her undergraduate d...
Feb 29, 2024•39 min•Season 4Ep. 10
Send us a text This episode features our conversation with T.H. Moore , which was live streamed on Saturday, February 10, 2024. We chatted about his forthcoming memoir, Ghetto Bastard , and his expansive body of work. T.H. Moore is a Southwest Philadelphia native who relocated to Camden, New Jersey at the age of ten. He’s an active member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Morgan State University. His career as an Information Technology Consultant and...
Feb 15, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Send us a text This episode features our conversation with K E Garland , which was live streamed on Saturday, January 6, 2024. We chatted about her debut memoir, I n Search of a Salve . K E Garland is a creative nonfiction writer and blogger based in Florida. She uses personal essays and memoir to de-marginalize women's experiences with an intent to highlight and humanize contemporary issues. She has published essays with Midnight & Indigo, Raising Mothers, and For Harriet. Other works have ...
Jan 23, 2024•1 hr 26 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Send us a text This episode features our conversation with Nada Samih-Rotondo (nonfiction. fiction.), which was live-streamed on Saturday, December 16, 2023. This episode is presented in collaboration with Levee Break Lit. Nada Samih-Rotondo is a multi-genre Palestinian American writer, educator, and mother. A graduate of Rhode Island College, she earned degrees in English and Education and an MFA in creative writing from Lesley University. When she is not befriending trees or attuning to hidden...
Dec 19, 2023•52 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Send us a text This episode features our conversation with Minda Honey , which was live streamed on Saturday, November 18, 2023, about her memoir, THE HEARTBREAK YEARS . Minda Honey’s essays on politics and relationships have appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Oxford American, Teen Vogue, and Longreads. Her work is featured in “Burn It Down: Women Writing About Anger”, “A Measure of Belonging: Writers of Color on the New American South”, and “Sex ...
Nov 28, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Send us a text This episode features our latest conversation with Kerika Fields , which was live- streamed on Saturday, October 28, 2023. We chatted about her latest book, With Your Bad Self . Kerika Fields is a Brooklyn, New York-based writer and photographer whose work has been published and exhibited widely. She is the author of With Your Bad Self (Jacaranda Books, November 29, 2022). With Your Bad Self is a coming-of-age love story set in an economically challenged Brooklyn on the precipic...
Oct 31, 2023•58 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Send us a text Welcome to our special series, Black Writers Read Presents Writers Across the Margins , our opportunity to chat with writers from other Diasporas! This episode features our conversation with Jason Montgomery which was live streamed on Saturday, October 7, 2023. During our chat, Jason shared an excerpt from his latest poetry collection, These Latest Apocalypses which was recently published by Arteidolia Press. Jason R. Montgomery (he/they), or JRM, is a Chicano/Indigenous Californi...
Oct 24, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Send us a text This episode features our latest conversation with Aina Hunter (science fiction.), which was live-streamed on Sunday, September 24, 2023. We chatted about her debut novel, Charlotte and the Chickenman: the Inevitable Nigrescence of Charlotte-Noa Tibbit (Whiskey Tit Books, 2022) Based in Western Massachusetts, Aina Hunter is an artist with a background in journalism, Food Studies and Japanese having studied at Columbia University, New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture,...
Oct 10, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Send us a text This episode features our latest conversation with Aaron Dworkin , which was live-streamed on Sunday, September 17, 2023. We chatted about his latest poetry collection, The Poetjournalist , and his evolving work as a writer. Named a 2005 MacArthur Fellow, President Obama’s first appointment to the National Council on the Arts and member of President Biden’s Arts Policy Committee, Aaron P. Dworkin is former dean and current Professor of Arts Leadership & Entrepreneurship at the...
Sep 28, 2023•52 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Send us a text Welcome to our first episode of Season Four of Black Writers Read ! This episode featu4res our latest conversation with Sami Miranda , which was live-streamed on Saturday, September 9, 2023. We chatted about his latest poetry collection, Protection from Erasure , and his body of work. Samuel "Sami" Miranda grew up in the South Bronx and resides in Washington, DC. He is a visual artist, poet, and teacher who uses his craft to highlight the value of everyday people and places. His w...
Sep 19, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Send us a text We are super excited to kick off Season Four of Black Writers Read ! Learn more about our upcoming lineup of guests and an upcoming project, Writers from the Margins . We're also thrilled to share with you our new online home: www.blackwritersread.com . We launched our website earlier this summer. On it, you'll have access to past episodes and information on upcoming events including live-streamed interviews and book discussions with our authors. Be sure to visit our website and s...
Sep 15, 2023•4 min
Send us a text This episode features excerpts from four conversations we’ve had with guests that reflect on topics relevant to the Juneteenth holiday including family, ancestral influences, food, culture, and honoring our pasts. Included on this bonus episode are the following conversations: Saida Agostini (S2 E6 of the livestream series /Retrospective Episode on the audio podcast) read excerpts from let the dead in . let the dead in is an exploration of the mythologies that seek to subjugate Bl...
Jun 19, 2023•49 min•Season 3Ep. 21
Send us a text This episode features our latest livestream from Saturday, June 10, 2023 with our guest, Kimberly Mack to discuss her latest book, Time’s Up , which is on the band, Living Colour’s sophomore album. Kimberly Mack will begin her time as the Associate Professor of English at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign this coming fall. Her book, Living Colour’s Time’s Up , part of Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 book series, was published in May 2023. She is also the author of Fictional Blues: Narra...
Jun 15, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Season 3Ep. 20
Send us a text This episode features our latest livestreamed from Sunday, June 4, 2023 with our guest, Itua Uduebo to discuss his debut novel, Parade of Streetlights . Itua was born in Lagos, Nigeria and currently resides in New York, NY. He graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in International Politics and works in the financial technology industry. Itua's writing journey began in 2016 and to date, he has several essays, articles, freeform poems, and short stories published online...
Jun 08, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 3Ep. 19
Send us a text This episode features our latest livestreamed from Saturday, May 13, 2023 in honor of Mother’s Day weekend. We chatted with poet and nonfiction writer, Shirley A. Jones Luke who read for our 2021 Black History Month virtual event. Shirley A. Jones Luke is a poet and writer. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Ms. Luke has an MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College. Her poems focus on culture, family, and society. Ms. Luke is working on her first collection entitled Traumaland , a...
May 16, 2023•1 hr 33 min•Season 3Ep. 18
Send us a text This episode features our conversation with Lisbeth White (poetry. prose.), which was livestreamed on Saturday, April 29, 2023. Lisbeth is the author of the 2022 Perugia Prize winning poetry collection, AMERICAN SYCAMORE . From the bayou, to Belgium, to Barbados, AMERICAN SYCAMORE examines the Black diaspora, ancestral reparation, and the sacred feminine. In pursuit of understanding the nuances of belonging and displacement in a Black mixed-race feminine body, Lisbeth White travel...
May 02, 2023•1 hr 55 min
Send us a text This episode features our conversation with certified doula, writer, book coach, and host of the Write to Heal Podcast , Danielle Jernigan , which was livestreamed on Saturday, April 15, 2023 during Black Maternal Health Week . During our conversation, we talked about Daniellle's writing for popular audiences, how her past work experience in medical research pairs nicely with her current writing endeavors, and briefly about her current manuscript in development, Healing Mother Wou...
Apr 18, 2023•55 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Send us a text This episode features our conversation with Enzo Silon Surin , which was livestreamed on Saturday, April 8, 2023. We talked about their most recent books including When My Body was a Clinched Fist and the forthcoming poetry collection, American Scapegoat . Enzo Silon Surin is a Haitian-born, award-winning poet, educator, librettist, publisher and social advocate. He is the author of three previous collections of poetry, including When My Body Was A Clinched Fist (Black Lawrence Pr...
Apr 11, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Season 3Ep. 15
Send us a text This episode features our conversation with Philadelphia’s Dr. Raina J. León , which was livestreamed on Saturday, March 25, 2023 to talk about her expansive body of work. Dr. Raina J. León is Black, Afro-Boricua, and from Philadelphia (Lenni Lenape ancestral lands). She is a mother, daughter, sister, madrina, comadre, partner, poet, writer, artist, digital archivist, podcaster, and teacher educator. She believes in collective action and community work. She is the author of black ...
Mar 28, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 3Ep. 14
