Black & Published

On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha is speaking with author, Georgia Dawkins,  about her memoir, Everybody Knows: The Power of Being in Position. Georgia is The Purpose Producer. From ABC’s Good Morning America to Will Packer’s Central Ave, Georgia has worked within a multitude of television genres including local news, network news, talk shows, reality television, and entertainment news. In 2018 she published Everybody Knows while at the same time launching Georgia Dawkins Media to cement herself as a young media tycoon in the making. 

During the conversation, Georgia and Nikesha discuss how they came to their respective media careers--which is where their paths first crossed some 10 years ago--and why they left. Georgia also shares why she can't help but tell the truth, how she can't help but to seek bigger for herself after years of playing small, and why it's sometimes necessary to burn bridges in your life in the name of self-preservation. 

Support the show

Follow the Show:

IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished

Follow Me:

IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Website: www.newwrites.com

On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha is speaking with  poet, essayist, and journalist Jeneé Darden about her book, When a Purple Rose Blooms. An Oakland native, Jeneé holds a BA in ethnic studies from UC San Diego and a masters's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California. She has reported for NPR, Time magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Ebony and more. The National Book Foundation awarded Jeneé a summer writing fellowship in 2003 and her award-winning short documentary, Where is East Oakland?  was screened at the Oakland International Film Festival.

Jeneé is passionate about African-American erotic art and mental health awareness. In this conversation she discusses growing up with insecurities, her struggle to love herself, honoring the power in the feminine, and the trauma she endured during and after the O.J. Simpson trial and how it all fuels her work today.



***
Follow @Nikesha_Elise on Twitter and Instagram and check out her latest novel Beyond Bourbon Street available everywhere books are sold.

Don't forget to subscribe to Black & Published on your podcast platform of choice as well as rate and review. If you have thoughts, feedback, or questions about the episode, hit us up at @blkandpublished on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #blackandpublished. 

Support the show

Support the show

Follow the Show:

IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished

Follow Me:

IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Website: www.newwrites.com

On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha is speaking with author and poet Jessica Lynn about her novel, Kissing Frogs: The Thirteenth. A proud graduate of Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University and an educator for over 10 years, Jessica Lynn used her experiences, the experiences of friends, and others to craft a literary drama that takes readers to the ancestral realm, on thrilling adventures, and sexy exploits to interrogate what it means to love, lose, and love all over again.

During the conversation, Jessica discusses how she wrote a happy ending for her characters even though she was experiencing devastating lows in life. She also explains why she grounds the good and bad decisions of her characters in the reality that as people we may know better, but we don't always do better when it comes to matters of the heart, forging friendships, and fixing familial bonds.



***
Follow @Nikesha_Elise on Twitter and Instagram and check out her latest novel Beyond Bourbon Street available everywhere books are sold.

Don't forget to subscribe to Black & Published on your podcast platform of choice as well as rate and review. If you have thoughts, feedback, or questions about the episode, hit us up at @blkandpublished on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #blackandpublished. 

Support the show

Follow the Show:

IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished

Follow Me:

IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Website: www.newwrites.com

In this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha is speaking with author, Tamika Newhouse, about how she went from teen mom to CEO by the age of twenty. The author of 17 novels, including her latest romance collection, Suga Hill, Tamika Newhouse opens up about the pros and cons of the publishing industry, her battle with mental illness and depression while fulfilling her dreams, and making sure Black women take agency over their own sexuality by creating characters who aren't afraid to ask, get, or even take exactly what they want.

Tamika  explains why she believes consistency is the  key to making it in publishing after self-publishing her first book in 2009 only to land a major deal through her hard work and tenacity. She also drops gems throughout the episode such as, "Your publisher is not your friend," when talking about the industry and, "I don't believe in monogamy, I believe in loyalty . . . or discipline," when waxing on dating and relationships.


***
Follow @Nikesha_Elise on Twitter and Instagram and check out her latest novel Beyond Bourbon Street available everywhere books are sold.

Don't forget to subscribe to Black & Published on your podcast platform of choice as well as rate and review. If you have thoughts, feedback, or questions about the episode, hit us up at @blkandpublished on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #blackandpublished. 

Support the show

Follow the Show:

IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished

Follow Me:

IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Website: www.newwrites.com

On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha is speaking with author, performer, playwright, and educator Ebony Payne-English,  about her journey as a literary artist that has led her to publish a poetry collection (Secrets of Ma'at), a graphic novel (The Random Happenings), and release six studio albums. Her latest offering, Kuongoza, dropped March 28, 2021 and is available on all streaming platforms. With 17 years of professional experience from Black on Black Rhyme to HBO's Brave New Voices, Ebony, is a nationally acclaimed spoken word artist whose performance credits include the renowned Nuyorican Café in New York and ESSENCE Fest.

During the conversation, Ebony courageously discusses her devastating diagnosis with an illness that stifled her creativity for three years, how writing helped save her own life, and how Superman Returns inspired her forthcoming play The Goddess Experience. She also dishes on finding God in art and how she stands whole, complete & empowered in her gift as a spoken word artist and emcee.



***
Follow @Nikesha_Elise on Twitter and Instagram and check out her latest novel Beyond Bourbon Street available everywhere books are sold.

Don't forget to subscribe to Black & Published on your podcast platform of choice as well as rate and review. If you have thoughts, feedback, or questions about the episode, hit us up at @blkandpublished on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #blackandpublished. 

Support the show

Follow the Show:

IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished

Follow Me:

IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Website: www.newwrites.com

On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha is speaking with multi-genre literary artist Khalisa Rae. An essayist, journalist, budding novelist, and poet, Khalisa is the author of the chapbook Real Girls Have Real Problems. Her debut full-length poetry collection, Ghost in a Black Girl's Throat is out now from Red Hen Press. Khalisa, who is based in Durham, NC is the founder of Think In Inkand the Women Speak Reading series and Writing Center Director at Shaw University. 

 

Episode Notes

On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha is speaking with multi-genre literary artist Khalisa Rae. An essayist, journalist, budding novelist, and poet, Khalisa is the author of the chapbook Real Girls Have Real Problems. Her debut full-length poetry collection, Ghost in a Black Girl's Throat is out now from Red Hen Press. Khalisa, who is based in Durham, NC is the founder of Think In Inkand the Women Speak Reading series and Writing Center Director at Shaw University.

Khalisa, who speaks with fierce rebellion, says being a writer in the South and the only Black woman in many spaces has taught her many lessons along her publishing journey that she learned through trial and error. In this conversation, she opens up about childhood sexual trauma, the intense racism and oppression she experienced upon migrating from the Midwest to the South and how acknowledging her trauma informs her work and helps heal her pen to page. Khalisa also offers this pro-tip for other creatives, "Do 5 creative things that have nothing to do with making a coin," to keep your creative cup full.


***
Follow @Nikesha_Elise on Twitter and Instagram and check out her latest novel Beyond Bourbon Street available everywhere books are sold.

Don't forget to subscribe to Black & Published on your podcast platform of choice as well as rate and review. If you have thoughts, feedback, or questions about the episode, hit us up at @blkandpublished on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #blackandpublished. 

Support the show

Support the show

Follow the Show:

IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished

Follow Me:

IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Website: www.newwrites.com

On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha is speaking with writer, editor, and New York Times Bestselling author Morgan Jerkins. Jerkins, who previously wrote the essay collection, This Will Be My Undoing and the memoir Wandering in Strange Lands, marks her fiction debut with Caul Baby. The Senior Culture Editor for ESPN's The Undefeated and a visiting professor at Columbia University, Jerkins' work has been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, ELLE, Esquire and more. She is currently based in Harlem.

During the interview Jerkins' opens up about how her memoir helped inspire parts of her novel and why she chose to examine Black motherhood with such intensity. She also discusses the undercurrent of displacement that drives the motivations of her characters, how women make an enterprise out of their bodies, and why when she's all written out, first and foremost, she wants to be remembered.


***
Follow @Nikesha_Elise on Twitter and Instagram and check out her latest novel Beyond Bourbon Street available everywhere books are sold.

Don't forget to subscribe to Black & Published on your podcast platform of choice as well as rate and review. If you have thoughts, feedback, or questions about the episode, hit us up at @blkandpublished on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #blackandpublished. 

Support the show

Follow the Show:

IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished

Follow Me:

IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Website: www.newwrites.com

On this throwback episode of Black & Published, Nikesha is speaking with author Angela Jackson-Brown. She is the author of the novel, Drinking From a Bitter Cup, and the award-winning poetry collection, House Repairs. Her novel, When Stars Rain Down, was published by Thomas Nelson, an imprint of Harper Collins, on April 13, 2021. Angela teaches Creative Writing and English at Ball State University in Muncie, IN and has an MFA from the Spalding low-residency program in Creative Writing. 

Over the course of the conversation, Angela discusses first getting a degree in business and marketing before going for her MFA in her 40s. She also gets candid about her publishing process including not wanting an agent right away, the years long process of revision, and why she was more interested in having a rapport with her publisher than a big advance. 

Support the show

Follow the Show:

IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished

Follow Me:

IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Website: www.newwrites.com

On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Zakiya Dalila Harris, author of the novel, The Other Black Girl. Zakiya spent nearly three years in editorial at Knopf/Doubleday before leaving to write her debut novel. Prior to working in publishing, Zakiya received her MFA in creative writing from The New School. Her essays and book reviews have appeared in Cosmopolitan, Guernica, and The Rumpus. 

During the conversation, Zakiya discusses how the main setting of her novel is really a placeholder for any white/male dominated industry. The liberation she found in her big chop and how those feelings of hair tangled themselves in her fiction, and why she believes some of the circumstances of Black life in America are still absolutely horrifying. 

Support the show

Follow the Show:

IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished

Follow Me:

IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Website: www.newwrites.com

Hey Black and Published family. I’m Checking in with you today to introduce you to a new podcast. The Ursa short fiction podcast hosted by Black & Published season 1 alums Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton. 

They’re also from Jacksonville, which is where I live so, you know, they get the extra hometown Duval love. 

Join Deesha (The Secret Lives of Church Ladies) and Dawnie (The Final Revival of Opal & Nev) for author interviews, book club discussions, and immersive short stories — all celebrating fiction from some of today's most thrilling writers, with an emphasis on spotlighting underrepresented voices.

Support their show by becoming a premium member! https://link.chtbl.com/kX4SGHQi

Support the show

Follow the Show:

IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished

Follow Me:

IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Website: www.newwrites.com