Black & Published

On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Carlos Allende, author of the novel, Coffee, Shopping, Murder, Love. Carlos is  is a media psychology scholar and a writer of fiction. He has written two previous novels: Cuadrillas y Contradanzas, a historical melodrama set during the War of Reform, in Mexico, and Love, or the Witches of Windward Circle, a horror farce set in Venice, California. He teaches in the Writers’ Program at UCLA Extension and lives in Santa Monica with his husband.

During the conversation, Carlos opens up about the childhood nightmare that inspired Coffee, Shopping, Murder, Love. Plus he discusses how he overcame more than 100 rejections to finally get this book in the world, his two biggest regrets in his writing career, and how he uses empathy to get people to reflect on the bad behavior of his characters and themselves. 

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On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Asantewaa Boykin, author of the poetry collection, Love, Lyric & Liberation. Asantewaa Boykin is a proud San Diego native who found her voice in Oakland, CA. Her poetry and art combines her love of words, storytelling, and resistance. Exploring topics like; space-travel, black-femme militancy, & motherhood. 

During the conversation, Asantewaa discusses how she discovered her passion for writing in the pages of her nursing notebook, her tenuous relationship with organized religion, and why her poems are the one thing in the world she can absolutely trust. 

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On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Brian Broome, author of the award winning memoir, Punch Me Up to the Gods. Brian is a poet and screenwriter. He has been a finalist in The Moth storytelling competition and won the grand prize in Carnegie Mellon University’s Martin Luther King Writing Awards. He also won a VANN Award from the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation for journalism in 2019. He is currently a columnist for The Washington Post. 

Over the course of the conversation, Brian opens up about growing up a young Black gay boy in Ohio, being addicted to drugs and alcohol, and how saying yes to getting clean led him to saying yes to writing. 

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On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Chicago area sisters Chyrel Jackson and Lyris Wallace, who wrote the poetry collections Different Sides of the Same Coin and Mirrored Images. The sisters said they came to their love of writing from their love of reading authors and poets like Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Terri McMillan and more. 

Episode Notes
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On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Chicago area sisters Chyrel Jackson and Lyris Wallace, who wrote the poetry collections Different Sides of the Same Coin and Mirrored Images. The sisters said they came to their love of writing from their love of reading authors and poets like Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Terri McMillan and more. 

During the discussion, the sisters open up about the pushback they received from publishers that forced them to go indie, the importance of not being white-washed and owning their own narrative, and the healing in hearing Black language whether it's spoken or sung. 

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Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
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On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Kristen R. Lee author of the YA novel, Required Reading for the Disenfranchised Freshman.  A novel she began as a way to process her undergraduate experience at MTSU. The novel focuses on systemic racism and Black culture. As a Memphis native, Kristen writes stories that reflect her upbringing. 

Episode Notes
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On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Kristen R. Lee author of the YA novel, Required Reading for the Disenfranchised Freshman.  A novel she began as a way to process her undergraduate experience at MTSU. The novel focuses on systemic racism and Black culture. As a Memphis native, Kristen writes stories that reflect her upbringing. 

During the conversation, Kristen discusses coming from South Memphis and why she and her family felt college was her only chance. How she stumbled into a life of her dreams that allowed her to put her pursuit of her Masters in Social Work on hold. Kristen also discusses the impact of student debt, race, and class and how that's influencing her fiction. 

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Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
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On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Marc Curtis Little, author of the award-winning novel, The Bootlegger's Mistress.  Among being a popular independent writer, Marc Curtis Little also worked as a radio broadcaster for fifteen years in a career that was highlighted with seven Billboard Magazine awards for on-air performance and programming. Little also owned and managed a public relations and advertising agency for twenty years. 

Episode Notes
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On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Marc Curtis Little, author of the award-winning novel, The Bootlegger's Mistress.  Among being a popular independent writer, Marc Curtis Little also worked as a radio broadcaster for fifteen years in a career that was highlighted with seven Billboard Magazine awards for on-air performance and programming. Little also owned and managed a public relations and advertising agency for twenty years. 

During the conversation, Marc discusses how his entrepreneurship helped him as an independent author, the encounter with God that initiated his literary career, and why he wants to always spin stories out of the Great Migration. 

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Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Website: www.newwrites.com

On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Preston Clark, author of the novel Vinnie: A Love Letter.  Preston is a screenwriter and poet who also works full time as a high school  Humanities teacher at Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men in Chicago. He was a 2021 Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing Voices of Color Fellow and his first novel, Vinnie: a love letter, placed in the 28th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards in 2020. Born and raised in San Diego and a graduate of Hampton University, Clark fights for safe spaces for Black men - young and old - to improve their emotional and mental health. 

Episode Notes
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On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Preston Clark, author of the novel Vinnie: A Love Letter.  Preston is a screenwriter and poet who also works full time as a high school  Humanities teacher at Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men in Chicago. He was a 2021 Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing Voices of Color Fellow and his first novel, Vinnie: a love letter, placed in the 28th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards in 2020. Born and raised in San Diego and a graduate of Hampton University, Clark fights for safe spaces for Black men - young and old - to improve their emotional and mental health. 

During the conversation, Preston explains why he says the man he is now is a miracle, the two personal tragedies that led him to finish his book, and why he describes his debut novel as an emotional free write. 

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Website: www.newwrites.com

On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Adiba Nelson, author of the motherhood memoir, Ain't That a Mother: Postpartum, palsy, and Everything in Between.  Adiba Nelson is an author, screenwriter, retired burlesque performer, disability rights advocate, and most recently, the subject of the Emmy winning documentary, The Full Nelson. She wrote and self-published her first children’s book, Meet ClaraBelle in 2013 and  has penned several articles for Huffington Post, The Washington Post, The Lily, Parents magazine and others.  

Episode Notes
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On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Adiba Nelson, author of the motherhood memoir, Ain't That a Mother: Postpartum, palsy, and Everything in Between.  Adiba Nelson is an author, screenwriter, retired burlesque performer, disability rights advocate, and most recently, the subject of the Emmy winning documentary, The Full Nelson. She wrote and self-published her first children’s book, Meet ClaraBelle in 2013 and  has penned several articles for Huffington Post, The Washington Post, The Lily, Parents magazine and others.  

During the conversation, Adiba opens up about how she uses humor as her coping mechanism, how she manifested her book deal, and how running from emotional pain caught up with her in the writing of her memoir.  

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Follow the Show:

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Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Website: www.newwrites.com

On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Lola Akinmade Åkerström, author of the novel, In Every Mirror She's Black.  Lola has lived on three different continents — Africa, North America, and now Europe — for extended periods of time. As a Nigerian-American author who is now based in Sweden Lọlá  is the author of the 2018 Lowell Thomas Award winner for best travel book, Due North and the bestselling, LAGOM: Swedish Secret of Living Well. She is drawn to the complexities and nuances of culture and how they manifest themselves within relationships. She has written two prior books and contributed to several others. 

Episode Notes
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On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Lola Akinmade Åkerström, author of the novel, In Every Mirror She's Black.  Lola has lived on three different continents — Africa, North America, and now Europe — for extended periods of time. As a Nigerian-American author who is now based in Sweden Lọlá  is the author of the 2018 Lowell Thomas Award winner for best travel book, Due North and the bestselling, LAGOM: Swedish Secret of Living Well. She is drawn to the complexities and nuances of culture and how they manifest themselves within relationships. She has written two prior books and contributed to several others. 

During the conversation, Lọlá discusses how she kept going even though her manuscript was rejected 70 times. She also explains why she wanted to explore the many facets of Black womanhood to illustrate that Black women are not a monolith. Plus, in tackling class, career, and culture Lọlá  shares why the main takeaway she wants her readers to get from her work is to hold empathy for other people and their differences and experiences. 

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On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Lawrence Jackson, author of the memoir, Shelter: A Black Tale of Homeland, Baltimore.  Jackson is a biographer and critic whose work has appeared in Harper’s Magazine, n+1, and Best American Essays. He teaches English and history at Johns Hopkins and founded the Billie Holiday Project for Liberation Arts.

Episode Notes
_________________________
On this episode of Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Lawrence Jackson, author of the memoir, Shelter: A Black Tale of Homeland, Baltimore.  Jackson is a biographer and critic whose work has appeared in Harper’s Magazine, n+1, and Best American Essays. He teaches English and history at Johns Hopkins and founded the Billie Holiday Project for Liberation Arts.

During the conversation, Lawrence discusses how he turned to writing as a way to work out his feelings on race and rage, and the importance of acknowledging where you came from when you move up in the world. Finally, in the speed round breaks down why James Baldwin's classic book, The Fire Next Time, is overrated. 

Support the show

Follow the Show:

IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished

Follow Me:

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