In her memoir Fruit Punch, Kendra Allen's seamless and sublime merging of poetry, prose, and humor is captivating as she shares her life growing up in Dallas, Texas. Forging her way through family turmoil and unspeakable moments of sexual abuse, Allen finds herself in the chair of her therapist's office, attempting to work through the childhood memories that she continues to come back to over and over again. We take a deep and hilarious dive into the life of this talented writer as Allen shares with us her life growing up with a mother who would show up at the funerals of veterans she never knew. She also tells us how this book helped her to address things she tried so hard to say in her previous poetry collections.

Content Warning: Trauma, sexual abuse, and depression.

In an age of heavy attempts at erasure, visual artists and photographers Michael Davis and Douglas Shindler are making leaps and bounds to preserve for the future remembrance of all things Black. They are the masterminds behind The Black Library, a collaborative community-driven project with a mission to celebrate Black culture and history for the citizens of Sullivan County, New York, and all those who will visit.

In this episode, we are joined by these two creators as they discuss infusing their personal stories into their art, the urgency to create a space that highlights the contributions of the people of Monticello, NY and what it was like when they received the call that they had won a $400,000 grant to bring The Black Library to life.

Natalia Sylvester's young adult novel BREATHE AND COUNT BACK FROM TEN will have everyone reimagining a life where all we did was swim our hearts away in the cool spring Florida waters. This beautiful story opens us to the world of Verónica, a Peruvian-American teen who loves the water so much that she longs to become a mermaid at an aquatic theme park. She has two things standing in her way, her overprotective father and her diagnosis of hip dysplasia.

Natalia reveals her journey as a writer who wanted to see characters reflected between pages that mirrored her life as a person with a disability and desires to live beyond the expectations of others. She also talks with us about young people finding power in speaking up and advocating for themselves in a world that feels they would never know what would be best for them.

Debut novel, The Survivalists, from Kashana Cauley starts out as a rom-com that suddenly turns into a love story made for Dateline. We look to see what happens when a young New York lawyer meets a coffee lover who has an over-zealous obsession with preparing for disasters and mastering the right cup of joe.

Kashana joins us on the podcast to discuss her novel's inspiration, her own experience of watching a friend get sucked into a life of becoming a survivalist, and her decision to switch from a career as an attorney to venture into the world of comedy writing for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and the animated series The Great North.

Delivered in a magnificent thread of verse, We Are All So Good At Smiling by Amber McBride offers a message of hope found in a forest full of secrets and monsters. Whimsy is a teenage girl receiving treatment in a mental hospital when she meets a boy named Faerry. Both of them realize they are magical beings battling secrets from a shared past they are unable to fully remember. Amber Mcbride talks to us about writing this novel for those who may find it hard to get through the darkness of life, her endearing relationship with her grandmother, and we see if she is ready to break the bank for a pair of Beyonce tickets. 

Pink and blue, step to the side. There is a new color in town! What Does Brown Mean to You? is the debut children's picture book from educator Ron Grady. In this book, we meet Benny, a little boy talking about different ways the color brown is explored and celebrated throughout his life. From Benny's beautiful brown skin to the color of his grandmother's coffee, the color brown shines throughout this delightful story.  Ron Grady joins us to talk about how his career as a nature preschool teacher and his love for drawing brought about this much-needed story. We also speak about the ways parents can be encouraged to have conversations with their little ones about race and ethnicity. 

Jonathan Escoffery's stellar debut If I Survive You takes the short story genre and turns it on its axis to show the multidimensional underbelly of racism, generational discord, and the toll that a series of bad luck takes on the family dynamic. Escoffery presents a family that has migrated to South Florida to forgo political unrest in Jamaica to make a life in the "land of possibility." The story begins with its center on the youngest American-born child, Trelawny, who has found himself homeless and attempts to find financial freedom by taking unusual jobs on Craigslist. Jonathan Escoffery joins us on the podcast to talk about his personal experiences living in Miami and why readers must allow for space for imagination to thrive within a story. 

This week on the Vulgar Geniuses Podcast, we get to sit down with Cree Myles, the culture creator and influencer who has built a life sharing her love of Black literature. As the official curator of Penguin Random House's Instagram account, ALL WAYS BLACK, Cree uses creative and innovative ways to celebrate and highlight Black writers. We talk to Cree about her bookstagram origin story, the one thing she will never compromise herself on, and what it is like to be a part of the all-mighty infamous Libra collective. 

Yuyi Morales has captivated children for over 20 years with her vibrant illustrations and beautiful stories. Her most recent release, Bright Star, is a moving story about a young fawn living with her mother in a desert borderland. As the fawn is confronted with obstacles, its mother reassures her to continue in spite of the hardships that arise. 

We spoke to Yuyi about her art exhibit Soñadora previously on tour at the Orlando Museum of Art, which closed this past December. She also talked about how a trip to the library with her son sparked an entire career that blended her love for art, storytelling, and the rich culture and history of her country Mexico. 

The bumper may be dragging, and the engine may be on fire, but we made it to the end of a rollercoaster ride of a year. Most importantly, we ended the year with you! Grab a glass of champagne, sit back, and toast the end of 2022 as we look to see if the resolutions we made in 2021 actually happened and which guest made our top 10 favorite podcasts of the year!