In this episode of Diverse Voices Book Review contributor Kimberly Lau interviews Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and novelist Mirta Ojito about her novel DEEPER THAN THE OCEAN.
In the interview, Lau and Ojito discuss the book’s dual narrative and its inspiration: the 1919 sinking of the Valbanera, a Spanish ship carrying hundreds of immigrants to the Americas that was lost at sea during a hurricane, with no survivors. The conversation explores how this tragedy help shape a story about migration, inherited trauma, memory, and family history.

Mirta Ojito is a Cuban-born journalist, professor, and author. She is the recipient of both a Pulitzer Prize and an Emmy Award and has written two nonfiction books.

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In this episode of Diverse Voices Book Review, host Hopeton Hay welcomes author and historian Clyde Ford for a conversation about his book A HIGH PRICE FOR FREEDOM: Raising Hidden Voices from the African American Past. Ford challenges familiar narratives about Black history, including the meaning of Juneteenth, the overlooked leadership of Black women, and the hidden figures behind pivotal moments in the Black Freedom Struggle, urging listeners to confront historical myths and engage the truth. Learn more about Clyde Ford at https://www.clydeford.com and explore the book on the publisher’s page at https://www.harpercollins.com/products/a-high-price-for-freedom-clyde-w-ford.

About Clyde Ford
Clyde Ford is the author of more than a dozen works of fiction and nonfiction and serves as director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Library Publishing Project. He is an award-winning writer and sought-after public speaker whose work centers on Black history, myth, and social justice.

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Diverse Voices Book Review contributor Amran Gowani interviewed Jennifer Chow, author of the cozy mystery novel TELL-TALE TREATS. They discussed the importance of food to Asian and Asian American culture, how Jennifer found her way into the cozy genre, the delicate balancing act of tackling serious themes in a whimsical tone, and why everyone loves to pet bunnies. Follow Jennifer on Instagram at @jenjchow and learn more at jenniferjchow.com.

Jennifer Chow writes cozy mystery series filled with hope and heritage. She has been a finalist for the Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Lilian Jackson Braun Memorial Awards. She has also been a past president of Sisters in Crime and she’s currently an active member of Crime Writers of Color and Mystery Writers of America.

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Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Johnny Lorenz, translator of the Brazilian novel THE FRONT by Edimilson de Almeida Pereira. Set in Brazil, the novel follows an unnamed narrator standing in line, using memory, poetic language, and philosophical reflection to confront hunger, racism, and the everyday violence of social systems. In the interview, Lorenz said he was inspired to translate more of the literary work of writers of color to speak to the moment after the rise of Black Lives Matter protests against the murder of George Floyd.

About Johnny Lorenz:
Johnny Lorenz is a poet, translator, and scholar, and a professor of English at Montclair State University. He has translated several major works of Brazilian literature, including novels by Clarice Lispector and Itamar Vieira Junior, and focuses on bringing Afro‑Brazilian and diasporic writers to English‑language readers.

About Author Edimilson de Almeida Pereira
Edimilson de Almeida Pereira is a Brazilian poet, scholar, and novelist whose work engages Afro‑Brazilian history, philosophy, and myth. 

In celebration of Black History Month, we're reposting Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay's  interview with Dana A. Williams, author of TONI AT RANDOM: The Iconic Writer's Legendary Editorship. It was was originally posted on July 3, 2025.

In the interview, Dr. Williams discussed Toni Morrison's path to becoming a book editor, some of the Black writers she edited at Random House including Angela Davis and Toni Cade Bambara, and what inspired her to write the book.Dana A. Williams is Professor of African American Literature in the Department of English and Dean of the Graduate School at Howard University. She is former president of the College Language Association and the Modern Languages Association and is the author of In the Light of Likeness—Transformed: The Literary Art of Leon Forrest. 

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Diverse Voices Book Review contributor Amran Gowani interviewed Ross Montgomery, author of the locked-room mystery THE MURDER AT WORLD’S END. They discussed humanity’s perpetual fascination with apocalyptic thinking, Ross’s long-time fascination with Halley’s comet, the works that inspired Ross to write his first adult novel, and what’s next in the nascent Stockingham and Pike series. Follow Ross on Instagram at @mossmontmomery and learn more at http://rossmontgomery.co.uk.

Ross Montgomery is an award-winning author of over twenty children’s books. THE MURDER AT WORLD’S END is his first adult novel.

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Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Jarvis R. Givems, author of I'LL MAKE ME A WORLD: The 100-Year Journey of Black History Month.  In the interview, Givens not only discussed the importance of Carter G. Woodson, the founder of Black History Month, and other important figures, but also the role of teachers in providing guidance and inspiration for young black students.  He also wrote in his book that "preserving the history of black communities and culture is not just the work of historians but of all members of the community.  Givens also explained that Woodson "created the weeklong celebration with the explicitly political aims, it's objective being to popularize the study and public commemoration of black life and culture as a culture weight against the anti-black narratives used to justify the violent mistreatment and the second-class citizenship of black people in US society and around the globe."

Jarvis R. Givens is a professor of education and African and African American Studies and the cofounding faculty director of the Black Teacher Archive at Harvard University.  His web site is  https://jarvisgivens.com/.

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Diverse Voices Book Review contributor Amanda Moore interviewed Yasmin Angoe about her new book, Behind These Four Walls.  Yasmin tells the story of a young woman who enters the world of a wealthy family in a desperate search for truth only to find herself in a dangerous world of deceit.  You can learn more about Yasmin on Instagram at @author_yasminangoe, on Facebook @ Yasmin Angoe Author and on her website at yasminangoe.com.

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I was really excited to interview my friend and fellow book lover, Deone Wilhite.  Deone and I were in a book club together in the mid-1990s in Austin, Texas. He is a community activist, a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, a long-suffering Dallas Cowboys fan, and a not-so-suffering UT Longhorns football fan.  On Facebook, he is well known for his book nerd alerts, grabbing the attention of his fellow readers for recommending tomes that have blown him away.

In the interview, Deone credits his late mother for his love of reading.  He said, “My mother was a schoolteacher, so there were always lots of books and reading materials around.” He cites this environment for sparking his lifelong love of reading. We talked about his favorite authors, 1990s hip hop, and the best book he read in 2025, THE AFTERLIFE OF MALCOLM X by Mark Whitaker.

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Join Hopeton Hay on Diverse Voices Book Review as he talks with Nicholas Buccola, author of One Man’s Freedom: Goldwater, King, and the Struggle Over an American Idea. Buccola explores how two iconic leaders—Barry Goldwater and Martin Luther King Jr.—shaped contrasting visions of freedom during a pivotal era in American history.

Nicholas  is a writer, lecturer, and teacher who specializes in the area of American political thought.  His previous books include The Fire Is upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate over Race in America (Princeton University Press, 2019) and The Political Thought of Frederick Douglass: In Pursuit of American Liberty (New York University Press, 2012).  He is a Professor of Humanism and Ethics in the Department of Government at Claremont McKenna College.

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