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This episode features our conversation with Lisa Pegram (poetry. nonfiction.), which was livestreamed on Saturday, January 21, 2023.

Lisa Pegram is a writer, arts integration specialist and publishing professional who hails from Washington, DC. She has over 20 years of experience in high-level program design for such organizations as the Smithsonian Institute, Corcoran Gallery of Art and National Geographic. She served as DC WritersCorps program director for a decade, and as co-chair of United Nations affiliate international women’s conferences in the US, India and Bali. 

Her endeavors as a literary publicist and acquisitions editor are sparked by a desire to advocate for and amplify underrepresented voices. Lisa completed her MFA in 2012 and has an Executive Certification in Arts & Culture Strategies from UPenn. She is currently working on a family memoir that is a narrative cookbook which explores her life story through the lens of food and music. Exploring the Black diaspora as a way of life, she’s currently based on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten.

To learn more about Lisa and for updates on her work, please follow her on
Instagram: @ladypcoq.

This episode is presented in collaboration with Levee Break Lit.


To access Lisa's recipe mentioned in the episode, please visit the National Museum of Women in the Arts' website.

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This episode features our conversation with Mbinguni (historical fiction. women’s fiction. literary fiction), which was livestreamed on Saturday, January 7, 2023, opening up the Spring portion of Season Three. 

Mbinguni is a natural storyteller. Born and raised on the barrier island of Fernandina Beach, FL, she's had dreams of writing professionally for as long as she can remember. An avid reader, she began composing her own narratives as a small child in grade school. Mbinguni’s debut novel, Looking for Hope was released in January of 2021 and published by NEW Reads Publications. 

In this coming-of-age tale, Mbinguni weaves a narrative about Hannah “Mouse” Maynard and her transformation from a shy, quiet, girl into a strong and assertive woman. 

At 7-years-old, Mouse experiences a tragedy that forces her to face the evils of the world and leave behind everything she’s ever known. With their home destroyed, Mouse and her father travel from Maplewood, Georgia to Virginia and Michigan confronting their past as they move into their future. 

Mouse encounters women along the way who help her find the strength to survive and thrive against all she's seen. Through these bonds and their fierce protection, Mouse not only finds her voice but a renewed sense of hope.

Special thanks to Nikesha Elise Williams, who was our guest on Episode 2 of this season, for connecting us with Mbinguni.

To learn more about Mbinguni and her work, please visit Mbinguni.life.

Find Mbinguni on Instagram: @mbinguni.life

Looking for Hope is available for purchase via Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

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A bonus episode, Nicole shares what she is reading during her holiday break. Check out her list and read along with her!

Black Writers Read will return in early January of 2023. In the meantime, watch past livestreamed episodes on YouTube or listen to audio podcasts episodes.

Thanks for your ongoing support. Happy Holidays and see you in the new year!

Find us on Instagram: @blackwritersread

Find Nicole on Instagram: @coco_penexplore

Learn more about Nicole and her other work: nicolemyoung.com 

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This episode features our conversation with Toni Ann Johnson, which was livestreamed on Saturday, December 3, 2022. We talked about her award-winning short story collection, LIGHT SKIN GONE TO WASTE which was published in October. It’s received praise from Publishers Weekly, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and the Washington Post. 

Toni Ann Johnson won the Flannery O'Connor Award for short fiction with her linked story collection LIGHT SKIN GONE TO WASTE, selected for the prize and edited by Roxane Gay. A novella, HOMEGOING, was published in 2021 after winning Accents Publishing's inaugural novella contest. A novel, REMEDY FOR A BROKEN ANGEL, was nominated for a 2015 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work by a Debut Author. Johnson won the Humanitas Prize for her teleplays, Ruby Bridges (Disney/ABC), and Crown Heights (Showtime), both of which are based on true stories that examine race relations. She's been a Callaloo Writer's Workshop fellow, and a Sundance Screenwriter's Lab Fellow and she has received support for her writing from The One-Story Summer Conference, The Prague Summer Program for Writers, The Center For Fiction, and The Hurston/Wright Foundation. Johnson currently teaches fiction and screenwriting at Antioch University Los Angeles where she earned her MFA in Creative Writing.

To learn more about Toni Ann and her work, please visit www.toniannjohnson.com.

Special thanks to Amanda Choo Quan for introducing me to Toni Ann.

Find Toni Ann on Instagram: @treeladytoniann

LIGHT SKIN GONE TO WASTE is available for purchase via Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org. 

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This episode features Dr. Natasha Gordon-Chipembere who joined us for the live-streamed episode on November 12, 2022. We talked about her debut historical fiction novel, Finding La Negrita, which was released in September.

Published by Jaded Ibis Press, Finding La Negrita is a captivating retelling of the Black Madonna narrative, which has driven Costa Rica's national and spiritual identity since the 1700s. In powerful prose, Natasha Gordon-Chipembere delivers a vivid and intimate living portrait of slavery in this nation, which was radically different from plantation bondage in other parts of the Americas.

Dr. Natasha Gordon-Chipembere is a professor of African Diasporic literature. She focused her first book on Sarah Baartman in Representation and Black womanhood: The Legacy of Sarah Baartman (Palgrave 2011). Gordon-Chipembere’s writing has also been published in Essence Magazine along with a monthly series, “Musings from An Afro-Costa Rican” in the Tico Times. She is a Senior Co-editor of the AfroLatin@ Diasporas Book Series from Palgrave, which prioritizes the voices of emerging Afro-Latin@ scholars. Her current writing focuses on slavery and the legacy of Afro-descendants in Latin America. Her historical fiction novel, Finding La Negrita was published by Jaded Ibis Press in September 2022. Gordon-Chipembere is the founder and host of the annual Tengo Sed Writing Retreats in Costa Rica, an exclusive gathering of global BIPOC writers in Costa Rica for a week. She was born in New York to Costa Rican/Panamanian parents and eventually moved to Costa Rica eight years ago with her husband and two children. She is currently working on her next historical fiction novel, Naomi, which is a loose rendering of her great-grandmother's life in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica in the 1940s. To learn more about Natasha and her work, please visit her website at www.natashagordonchipembere.com.

This episode is presented in collaboration with Lisa Pegram and Levee Break Lit.

Find Natasha on Instagram: @natashagordonchipembere

Finding La Negrita is available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org. 

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This episode features award-winning flash fiction, essay, children's literature author Desiree Cooper, originally live-streamed on November 6, 2022 to kick off Children’s Book Week. During the episode we chatted about her first children’s picture book, Nothing Special, which was released in October.

Published by Wayne State University Press and illustrated by Bec Stone, Nothing Special is a buddy story that spans generations. But it's also a love letter to the black family connections that survived the Great Migration. Between 1910 and 1970, more than six million African Americans left the Jim Crow South, but they never forgot the culture, the land, and the family they left behind. In the decades since, it’s been a summer ritual for many black families to reverse the journey and return South for a nostalgic visit to their homeplaces. Nothing Special celebrates the enduring connection between the generations who stayed in the South, and the millions of emigrants for whom it will always be home.

Desiree Cooper is a 2015 Kresge Artist Fellow, former attorney, and Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist. Her debut collection of flash fiction, Know the Mother, won numerous awards, including 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Award. Cooper’s fiction, poetry and essays have appeared in The Best Small Fictions 2018, Callaloo, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Rumpus, and River Teeth, among other publications. Her essay, “We Have Lost Too Many Wigs,” was listed as a notable essay in The Best American Essays 2019. Her first children’s book, Nothing Special, received a starred review from Booklist. After spending her 30-year career in Detroit, she now lives in the Virginia Beach area where she cares for her mother and three grandchildren.

Please be sure to check out the live-streamed episode to see the beautiful illustrations that we discussed during our conversation.

Learn more about Desiree Cooper and her work by visiting: http://www.descooper.com/.

Find Desiree on Instagram: @descooper
Find Nothing Special on Instagram: @nothing_special_book

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This episode features poet Dr. Tara Betts, originally live-streamed on October 22, 2022. During the episode we chatted about her newest poetry collection, Refuse to Disappear, which was released in July of 2022.

Refuse to Disappear is a declaration that there are some people who resist by merely existing. In these poems, Tara Betts renders celebrations and tributes to Black women, but also pieces together an anthem that we have survived so much, even if the world pretends to be blind. These poems are a bound collection of love letters to history, music, and people who are denied the chance to speak for themselves.

Dr. Tara Betts is the author of Refuse to Disappear, Break the Habit and Arc & Hue. In addition to her work as a teaching artist and mentor for young poets, she has taught at several universities, including Rutgers University, Northwestern University, University of Illinois-Chicago, and at Stateville Prison via the Prison + Neighborhood Arts Project. She is the Inaugural Poet for the People Practitioner Fellow at University of Chicago. Betts serves as Poetry Editor at The Langston Hughes Review and is founder of the nonprofit organization The Whirlwind Learning Center on Chicago’s South Side.

This episode was presented in collaboration with Levee Break Lit. Special thanks to Lisa Pegram and her company for hooking us up with Tara and for your ongoing support of Black Writers Read.

Find Tara on Instagram: @tarabettschitown

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This bonus episode features the virtual book launch of author Addie Tsai’s book, Unwieldy Creatures. This special event was livestreamed on August 30, 2022, Mary Shelley’s 225th Birthday as Unwieldy Creatures is a biracial, queer, gender-swapped retelling of Mary Shelley's classic novel, Frankenstein.

Joining me for this special event to co-host was horror writer, Tracy Cross. Black Writers Read supporters will remember her as she was our featured guest on Season Two, Episode Four.

Tracy’s forthcoming debut novel, Rootwork, is scheduled for release on November 14 later this year and will be published by MotherHorror’s Dark Heart Publishing. Her book is now available for pre-order.

Based in Washington DC, Tracy is a widely published author. Tracy’s works have appeared in Don’t Break the Oath by Kandisha Press, 99 Tiny Terrors, and anthologies and magazines including Big Book of Bootleg Horror, Things That Go Bump, D’Evolution Z Horror Magazine, Tales of the Lost Vol. 2, and websites midnight & indigo and New American Legends.  In 2016, Tracy was awarded the Boston Accent Literary Journal Prize.  You can find out more about her at tracycrossonline.com or on Instagram at tracycrosswrites.

Addie, our guest for this episode, is a queer nonbinary artist and writer of color who teaches courses in literature, creative writing, dance, and humanities. They are currently a Lecturer of Creative Writing at the College of William & Mary. They taught in Goddard College's MFA Program in Interdisciplinary Arts and Regis University’s Mile High MFA Program in Creative Writing. They collaborated with Dominic Walsh Dance Theater on Victor Frankenstein and Camille Claudel, among others. They hold an MFA from Warren Wilson College and a Ph.D. in Dance from Texas Woman’s University. Addie is the author of the young adult novel Dear Twin. Their writing has been published in Foglifter, VIDA Lit, Banango Street, The Offing, The Collagist, The Feminist Wire, Nat. Brut., and elsewhere. Addie is the Assistant Fiction Editor at Anomaly, Associate Editor at Raising Mothers, and Founding Editor & Editor in Chief at just femme & dandy. Find Addie online at addietsai.com.

This episode is presented in collaboration with BookWoman and Levee Break Lit.  BookWoman is a feminist independent bookstore, BookWoman based in Austin, Texas. Addie Tsai has ties to this region as they grew up in Houston and visited BookWoman often. They also hosted a book launch for Tsai’s previous book, Dear Twin.  Celebrating 45 years, BookWoman is based on Tonkawa, Comanche and Apache land in Austin, Texas. Founded by a collective, BookWoman hosts a myriad of events including book launches, like this one, book groups, and in-person events. Visit their website at ebookwoman.com. 

Special thanks to Lisa Pegram and her literary publicity company, Levee Break Lit, for introducing us to both Addie and BookWoman.

Find Addie on Instagram: @bluejuniper
Purchase your copy of Unwieldy Creatures TODAY!

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This episode features award-winning author, educator and recovered lawyer,  Tricia Elam Walker, originally live-streamed on October 9 2022. Tricia read excerpts from her children's books, Dream Street and Nana Akua Goes to School. Following her reading, we chatted about her prolific career.

Tricia's novel, Breathing Room, was published by Simon & Schuster/PocketBooks. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, Essence and other publications. She has provided commentary for NPR, CNN, the BBC and more.

Tricia’s short stories are included in the O.Henry Prize Stories, New Stories from the South and other anthologies and her essays are published in Father’s Songs, Dream Me Home Safely, It’s All About Love and more. Several of her plays have been produced and her first children’s book, Nana Akua Goes to School, was published by Random House in June 2020 and won a 2021 Children’s Africana Book Award and the 2021 Ezra Jack Keats writer award. Her second picture book, Dream Street was published in November 2021, garnered five starred reviews and was a New York Times Best Children’s Book of 2021 selection.

Tricia is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Howard University in Washington, DC.

Learn more about Tricia by visiting: www.triciaelamwalker.com.
Find Tricia on Instagram: @triciawriting

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This episode features Fiction, Poetry, Narrative Non-Fiction author Nikesha Else Williams, originally live-streamed on October 1, 2022. We met to chat about her new book, Mardi Gras Indians, which was released on October 5, 2022 and published by Louisiana State University Press.

Mardi Gras Indians explores how sacred and secular expressions of Carnival throughout the African diaspora came together in a gumbo-sized melting pot to birth one of the most unique traditions celebrating African culture, Indigenous peoples, and Black Americans. Williams ties together the fragments of the ancient traditions with the expressed experiences of the contemporary. From the sangamentos of the Kongolese and the calumets of the various tribes of the lower
Mississippi River valley to one-on-one interviews with today’s Black masking
tribe members, this book highlights the spirit of resistance and rebellion upon
which this culture was built.

Nikesha Elise Williams is a two-time Emmy award winning producer, an
award-winning author, and producer and host of the Black & Published podcast.
Nikesha’s latest novel, Beyond Bourbon Street, was awarded Best Fiction by the
Black Caucus of African-American Librarians in the 2021 Self-Published eBook
Literary Awards. It also received the 2020 Outstanding Book Award from the
National Association of Black Journalists. A Chicago native, Nikesha is an
Editor at Narrative Initiative and a columnist with JAX Today. Her work has
also appeared in The Washington Post, ESSENCE, and VOX. She lives in Florida
with her family where she is working on her next novel.

Learn more about Nikesha and her expansive body of work by visiting: www.newwrites.com.

Listen to the Black & Published bonus episode which chronicles Nikesha's journey to Mardi Gras Indians: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

Find Nikesha on Instagram: @nikesha_elise
Find Black & Published on Instagram: @blkandpublished
Find Black & Published on Twitter: @BLKandPublished

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