Black Writers Read

Send us Fan Mail

Aprell May (urban creative non fiction. journalism) was our guest on the first episode of Season 2 of Black Writers Read, which originally aired on November 14, 2021.

Previously a Salon Owner, Aprell May graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Bay Path University in 2021. She is a seventh generation storyteller coming from a proud lineage of family members and ancestors who could hold an audience with compelling words, prose, and narration. Her poetry collection, Expose Such a Life, which was published in 2017, is available on Amazon. On this episode, Aprell May read essays from her not yet published memoir, Classic Fly written as urban creative nonfiction. When she is not spending time with her wonderful daughter and dogs Bentley and Lolaisha, Aprell May loves writing about her fascination with food, culture, adventure, social justice and family! Based in Springfield, MA, Aprell May currently serves as a trending and breaking news reporter for The Republican, a newspaper based in Western Massachusetts.

Find Aprell May on Instagram: @aprellmaydaily

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Poet, fiction, and nonfiction writer Kaija Langley was our very first guest on Black Writers Read, which was originally livestreamed in September of 2020.  Born and raised in East Orange, New Jersey, Kaija Langley has been writing since she fell in love with words at age seven. She knew she was onto something when she wrote her first poem and her grade school classmates thought she'd copied it from a book! A proud alumna of Morgan State University, a Historically Black College and University in Baltimore, MD, she received her MFA in Fiction from St. Mary's College of California in 2005. She's called many places home over the years -- New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, DC, California, Louisiana -- and currently lives, writes, and plays in Cambridge, MA with her two bonsai and her Beloved.

During the episode, Kaija read from the first chapter of non-yet-published Middle Grade Novel, Call Me Early, is a coming-of-age story about a Black 12 year old girl who spends her summer unexpectedly straddling family, friendship, and identity. Since appearing on Black Writers Read, Kaija’s debut children's picture book, When Langston Dances, was published in the fall of 2021, exactly a year later following her conversation with Black Writers Read.  When Langston Dances was nominated for a 53rd NAACP Image Award in Outstanding Literary Work for Children. Other nominees in this category include Amanda Gorman, Stacy Abrams, and Misty Copeland. Kaija’s debut Middle Grade novel, The Order of Things is slated for release in 2023 and will be published by Nancy Paulsen Books. Her second children’s picture book, A Century for Caroline, scheduled for publication in 2024. 

Find Kaija on Instagram: @kaijalangley

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Memoirist and essayist Shannon Luders-Manuel joined us for Episode 7 of Season One of Black Writers Read. Shannon Luders-Manuel is a West Coast writer, editor, and sensitivity reader. She received her master's in English literature from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and Real Simple, among others. She is currently represented by Chase Literary Agency for her memoir about growing up mixed race, coming in and out of conservative Christianity, and her complicated relationship with her absent, alcoholic father.  During this episode, Shannon read from her essay, "Rediscovering My Father," which was published in the New York Times in 2019.

To read the essay in its entirety, please visit: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/31/well/family/memory-photos-family-alcoholism.html. 

Find Shannon on Instagram: @shannon_luders_manuel 

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

In this bonus episode of Black Writers Read, hear from Nicole M. Young-Martin, the person behind the scenes about herself, career, and the reason(s) behind Black Writers Read.

Originally from Detroit, Nicole M. Young-Martin (she/her) is a performance poet, playwright, events curator, and nonprofit professional. Nicole has called New England "home" for over 15 years. As a performance poet, she has performed her work in over 20 venues in various states including Massachusetts, New York, and Michigan opening for musicians and other spoken word artists.  Her award-winning play, get (t)his! has been produced by fringe and one-act festivals in her hometown and in New York City. In 2019, Nicole released a self-produced spoken word album, In/Put: Live from the Valley, which was recorded in front of a live audience. As an educator, she has taught composition, developmental writing, and Theatre at several colleges and universities and is a regularly sought-after writing workshop facilitator.

Find Nicole on Facebook: www.facebook.com/writercocopenexplore 
Find Nicole on Instagram: @coco_penexplore

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Historian, essayist, and nonfiction writer, Dr. Khary Oronde Polk joined us for Episode 3 of Season Two of Black Writers Read.  An Associate Professor of Black Studies & Sexuality, Women's and Gender Studies at Amherst College, Dr. Polk is the author of Contagions of Empire: Scientific Racism, Sexuality, and Black Military Workers Abroad, 1898-1948 published by University of North Carolina Press in 2020. Contagions of Empire examines how the movement of Black soldiers and nurses around the world in the early-to-mid twentieth century challenged U.S. military ideals of race, nation, sexuality and honor.

Polk has written for the Studio Museum of Harlem, Interim: A Journal of Poetry & Poetics, The Journal of Negro History, Women’s Studies Quarterly, Gawker, and the journal Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly. He has also contributed essays to a number of queer of color anthologies, including If We Have To Take Tomorrow, Corpus, and Think Again. Polk is a member of the African Atlantic Research Group, the Critical Militarization Editorial Collective, and recently held a visiting professorship at the JFK Institute for North American Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin.  During this episode, Dr. Polk read from his new essay/project, "Spacewalking in the Archive: Transatlantic Black Feminist Lives" To read the essay in its entirety, please visit: https://www.interimpoetics.org/384/khary-oronde-polk/. 

Find Dr. Khary Oronde Polk on Twitter: @kharypolk. 

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Margo Gabriel (food, travel, culture, wine, music, art, lifestyle, self-care) joined us for Episode Two of Season Two (December 4, 2021) of the livestreamed series of Black Writers Read. She read the opening essay, Where Food, Culture and People Meet, from her debut cookbook, The Expat Kitchen. We also chatted about her expansive writing career.

To learn more about Margo and her work, visit https://margoscreativelife.com/. 

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Launched during the fall of 2020 as a livestreamed series, Black Writers Read was created as a platform to showcase, celebrate, and honor the words, work and traditions of Black writers from across the country, across genres, across experiences and across the African Diaspora.  The livestreamed series is now wrapping up Season Two. Beginning with Season Three, Black Writers Read will be presented as both a livestreamed series and audio podcast, first airing the livestreamed episode online. After the episode has aired, supporters will be able to listen to Black Writers Read from their preferred audio podcast platform.

Produced and hosted by performance poet, playwright, and events curator, Nicole M. Young-Martin, Black Writers Read presents a different author each episode who shares excerpts from their work and is then interviewed by Nicole about their work and how they seek to shift and influence the larger literary canon.

To learn more about Black Writers Read and your producer and host, please visit www.nicolemyoung.com.

Find Black Writers Read on Instagram: @blackwritersread.

Watch past episodes of Black Writers Read on YouTube.

Support the show