This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with James Stewart, III, the author of the novel, Defiant Acts. It’s a non linear story about an interracial family that couples the mundanity of everyday life with the incendiary explosiveness of racial reckoning out in the world. 

In our conversation, James discusses how he recreated his life from what was expected of him as a working class man. Plus, how he allowed his personal values guide his craft and bridge the gaps in his memory in this work of auto-fiction. And in working 10 years to publish this book James explains why his first publisher canceled his book deal. 

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This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Honorée Fannone Jeffers, the author of Misbehaving at the Crossroads: Essays and Writings. The book blends, history, cultural criticism and memoir seamlessly to weave a story about Black women in America, their worth, their value, and their inherent humanity and equality. 

In our conversation, Honorée explained how she found peace and a place of healing for herself after her mother's passing. Plus, the Black women writers who have carried her to where she is now. And why she says she had to leave the classroom seven years before retirement after giving her love for free. 

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This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Kristina Forest the author of The Love Lyric. It’s the final installment of Kristina’s romance trilogy about three sisters who are named after flowers. 

In our conversation, Kristina’s discusses how working on both sides of the aisle in the publishing industry gives her a unique advantage even if she still has questions. The reason she’s concerned about YA as a whole in publishing. Plus,  the timeline she set for herself to achieve her dreams so her MFA wouldn’t be a waste of money. 

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This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Nikkolas Smith about his new picture book The History of We. It's a book he says shows the lineage for every human on Earth beginning with Black people in Africa.

In our conversation, Nikkolas discusses why he's grateful for the winding path that led him to his full time role as an illustrator. Plus the Jim Crow era story that was one inspiration point for the book. And the viral piece he created for the 2016 summer games as a tribute to Simone Biles that led to his first book deal and current career. 

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This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Mahogany L. Browne, the author of the new YA novel A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe. The story is a real time exploration of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York told through a chorus of young voices and borne out of Mahogany’s own battle with the virus. 

In our conversation, Mahogany explains how poetry saved her when journalism became unsafe. Plus, what she wished she’d known sooner as she was circling the globe doing poetry in places like Poland and Australia. And the critique she got from a high school English Teacher that actually became an asset for the New York Times. 

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This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Kiese Laymon and Alexis Franklin about their new picture book, City Summer, Country Summer. It's a story about an up north city kid who goes down south to visit his country cousins for the summer. 

In our conversation, Kiese & Alexis discuss how they were able to explore in their own ways what intimacy looks like between young Black boys. Plus, how this story puts the harmful narrative of pause no homo” on notice. And what they’ve been able to give school children across the country by honoring the child in all of us. 

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This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Dwight Thompson, author of the novel, My Own Dear People. It’s a story about a young man reflecting on the harm he and his friends caused a young teacher while they were in high school and why even as a spectator the protagonist was still a perpetrator. 

In our conversation, Dwight explains how his own reflection of his boyhood informed the creation of his character. Plus, how telling the truth got his first novel labeled as "too lewd." And, the measurement Dwight uses when writing that lets him know he’s on the right track. 

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This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Denne Michele Norris author of the novel, When the Harvest Comes. The story is one Denne has been working on for 14 years but couldn’t unlock until she freed herself first. 

In our conversation, Denne discusses how she worked through her issues of gender, race, and sexuality using her characters and craft. Plus, the reason she believes it’s her duty to walk readers through trauma hand in hand. And as a classically trained violist, why Denne ultimately chose the page over an orchestra stage for her artistic expression. 

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This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with W.J. Lofton, author of the poetry collection, boy, maybe. The collection explores William’s difficult and at times traumatic childhood, how he survived, and how he’s living now as young, Black queer man in America. 

In our conversation, Williams explains the reason he says that even though he crosses many identity intersections it’s not his life that is fractured. Plus, how writing boy, maybe was a gentle escape, despite the subject matter, when he was supposed to be writing an entirely different book. And, how he feels about being on the front lines facing attacks from the current administration. 

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This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with, Arriel Vinson, author of the YA romance novel, Under the Neon Lights. It’s a story that sets the budding love between Jaelyn and Trey against a backdrop of their shifting community landscape and Jaelyn’s fight to maintain her safe place.

In our conversation, Arriel explains the reason she grounded this book in her own good memories as a way to explore the harm of encroaching whiteness. Plus, how she believes the oral storytelling tradition can save us in this time of book bans and attacks on libraries, archives, universities, and museums. And, the reason she says she wasn’t really a big fan of poetry even though she wrote her debut novel in verse. 

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