Black & Published

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Helena Haywoode Henry, author of the YA novel, Last Chance Live!The book looks at the price of eternity through the eyes of an 18-year-old girl on death row, who decides to try to win her freedom on a reality show.In our conversation, Helena discusses the legal papers she read during her time as a lawyer that inspired the premise of her novel. Plus, the reason Helena believes reimagining the current state of capital punishment is one small way to reimagine the current state of America.Mahogany BooksMentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Reginald Dwayne Betts, author of the poetry collection, Doggerel, which he says is his most joyous to date.In our conversation, Dwayne explains how he became intentional about singing a different song after realizing he’d become a long suffering Black man. Plus, why he believes identity is always in flux and why he said he’s never had a problem reading his work in prisons until he started writing about love.Mahogany BooksMentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Lizzie Damilola Blackburn about her second novel, The Re-Write. A second chance romance between a full-figured woman and a reality TV star who’s struggling to decide exactly what kind of man he wants to be.In our conversation, Lizzie explains why she wanted to tackle toxic masculinity and fat phobia.Mahogany BooksMentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Ashley M. Jones, author of the poetry collection, Lullaby for the Grieving. A deeply personal look at what it means to find and lose love at the same time of unprecedented political turmoil.At 31-years-old, Ashley became the poet Laureate of Alabama, becoming both the youngest and the first person of color ever to hold that title.In our conversation, she discusses the amplified pressure she faced during her four-year term, what she’s learned about creating a sustainable writing practice, and the reason she says writing love poems feels unnatural.Mahogany BooksMentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Lauren Morrow. Author of the novel, Little Movements. A book that explores what it means to leave behind the life you know and take a risk on what you love without the guarantee of reward.In our conversation, Lauren explains why she's not turned off by her book being characterized as auto-fiction. Plus, what she’s learned about her own artistic voice and where it fits in the Black literary canon And how she views starting over as an artist on the verge of breakout.Mahogany BooksMentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Camonghne Felix, author of Let The Poets Govern: A Declaration of Freedom.It’s a treatise on the inherent harm of political power and an entreaty for people to seek collective and communal good from a praxis of poetics.In our conversation, Camonghne explains why the erasure poems she included in the text are the best option to show people a new narrative of democracy. Plus, the reason she advocates for anarchy.Mahogany BooksMentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Jodi-Ann Burey, author of the book Authentic: The Myth of Bringing Your Full Self to Work.Part memoir, part sociological study of how women, queer, disabled, and minoritized people are discriminated against in the workplace, the book is an outgrowth of Jodi-Ann’s 2020 Ted Talk on the same subject that’s been viewed nearly two million times.In our conversation, Jodi-Ann shares the life-threatening health diagnosis that shifted her relationship with work, the predatory publishing offers she received after internet virality, and why she says the future of work depends on other people.Mahogany BooksMentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Tayari Jones, author of the novel Kin.Kin, is Tayari’s fifth novel and her second Oprah’s book club pick after 2018’s An American marriage.In our conversation, she explains why she’s grateful for her “slow burn career" and how she surrendered to the story that wanted to be written … even though it was not the novel she planned.Mahogany BooksMentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Donika Kelly, author of the poetry collection, The Natural Order of Things.It’s a collection of poems paying homage to Donika’s wife, her friends, and especially her family. In our conversation, we discuss how she uses poetry to imagine a future that doesn’t feel possible, the comfort she finds in the natural world, and why she says she’s never writing toward a book. Mahogany BooksMentioned in this episode:Mahogany BooksRate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Damon Young, author and editor of That’s How They Get You: An Unruly Anthology of Black American Humor.The anthology features essays and stories from 24 acclaimed Black writers whose words do work on the page but are also funny AF.In our conversation, we discuss how humor is a vehicle to explore human vulnerabilities, the reason Damon believes Black American humor is the best humor, and the reason he’s got sex on his mind for his future projects.Mahogany BooksMentioned in this episode:Mahogany BooksRate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Ebony LaDelle, editor of the YA Romance Collection: You’ve Got a Place Here too: An Anthology of Black Love Storie set at HBCUs.The collection provides a gathering place for 11 authors to share stories of all representations of love within the HBCU ecosystem.In our conversation, we discuss why it’s necessary to give teens the tools we all need to navigate healthy love relationships, what a platonic soul mate taught her about romantic love, and how the death of her best friend propelled her into her purpose.Mahogany BooksMentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platformMahogany Books

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black and Published, Nikesha speaks with Dorsía Smith Silva, author of the poetry collection, In Inheritance of Drowning.The collection was born out of Dorsía’s experience of living through Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, becoming a mother, and witnessing the racial reckoning of 2020.In our conversation, we discuss the reason she shays she cannot write light verse, how long she had to put her creative dreams aside to secure her career, and why she believes poetry is the form that offers the most freedom.Mahogany BooksMentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platformMahogany Books

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This season on Black & Published, guests help answer the question: What does it mean to be a Black writer?Mahogany BooksMentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha celebrates the publication of her latest novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree, with Bookstagram and Book Tok favorites, Jamise Harper (@diversespines, @spinesvines) and Edrick Scarver (@edrickreadit).They discuss the original title of the novel that informed the whole story line, the greatest takeaway Nikesha wants readers to have when they finish the novel, and the experience of going from an indie to trad author.Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!See Nikesha on TourMahogany BooksMentioned in this episode:The Seven Daughters of Dupree Pre-Order Offer Nikisha Elise Williams, the host of the Black and Published podcast, is celebrating the release of her forthcoming novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree. This historical fiction novel is about the secrets kept between mothers and daughters over the course of seven generations and is told backwards in time from 1995 to 1860. The Seven Daughters of Dupree will be released on January 27th, 2026, but is available for pre-order now at MahoganyBooks.com. Please consider pre-ordering The Seven Daughters of Dupree today.Mahogany BooksRate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with her editor, Alison Callahan who has been working as an editor for 20+ years. They discuss why their editor-author relationship was always destined to be. Plus, the deep dive Alison and her team did into Nikesha's background before making the deal. And why she feels intimidated every time she takes off her editorial hat and tries to approach the page as a potential author.Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!See Nikesha on TourMahogany BooksMentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with her literary agent, Peter Steinberg. An agent since 1996, Peter explains the one thing that remains true in publishing even after all these years. Plus, the importance of rejection to an author's career, and what he thinks is the death of good fiction.Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!See Nikesha on TourMahogany BooksMentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha dives into how she wrote her forthcoming novel The Seven Daughters of Dupree. From starting the book for a publishing contest just days before she gave birth, to writing and revising as her life fell apart Nikesha breaks down how her novel kept her from a break down, and the kismetic happenstance that occurred between she, her agent, and editor.Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!See Nikesha on TourMahogany BooksMentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Black & Published is back for season 6, but before we dive into our regularly scheduled episodes, we're having a mini series all about Nikesha's forthcoming novel The Seven Daughters of Dupree. Over these next four weeks she'll discuss:the writing processhow she got her agenthow the novel sold in a weekthe themes already resonating with early readers.Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!See Nikesha on TourMahogany BooksMentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with author Deesha Philyaw about the new writing resource she created with graphic designer Diamonde Williamson, Writer Beware. The 20 page infographic takes a look at the distinctions among different publishing paths in order to dispel misinformation and help writers avoid predatory publishers. The resource is a compliment to Jane Friedman’s, Key Book Publishing Paths chart which breaks down all the avenues writers can take to publication. Mentioned in this episode:The Seven Daughters of Dupree Pre-Order Offer Nikisha Elise Williams, the host of the Black and Published podcast, is celebrating the release of her forthcoming novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree. This historical fiction novel is about the secrets kept between mothers and daughters over the course of seven generations and is told backwards in time from 1995 to 1860. The Seven Daughters of Dupree will be released on January 27th, 2026, but is available for pre-order now at MahoganyBooks.com. Please consider pre-ordering The Seven Daughters of Dupree today.Mahogany BooksRate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published Nikesha speaks with Rachel Howzell Hall, the author of the thriller Fog and Fury. The publication of this books marks twenty three years since Rachel’s publishing debut. In our conversation, Rachel discusses why it’s important for authors to know and lean into their brand. Plus, what she found to be the true secret sauce to go from writer to published author. And the reason she says even when you achieve all your writer dreams, your life still doesn’t change. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Laura Pegram, the editor of Sing The Truth: The Kweli Journal Short Story Collection. The anthology comes 15 years after Kweli debuted as the premier online literary journal focused on nuturing the voices of emerging writers who identify as Black, indigenous, or as other people of color. In our conversation, Laura explains how she got the idea to start the journal when she was in the hospital and could barely move. Plus, why at her weakest moments she held tight to creating a life of literary arts. And how she’s reframing the notion that for writers, rejection is the rule.Mahogany Books  Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Nancy Johnson, author of People of Means. It's a dual timeline historical fiction novel about the choices a mother and daughter make as they pursue excellence in a time of intense activism. In our conversation, Nancy discusses what triggered her to start telling stories of her own. Plus, the hidden history she learned on a phone call with the late great Nikki Giovanni that inspired one timeline in the novel. And the challenge she faces as a Black author as she tries to get her work in front of more Black readers.Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with James Stewart, III, the author of the novel, Defiant Acts. It’s a non linear story about an interracial family that couples the mundanity of everyday life with the incendiary explosiveness of racial reckoning out in the world. In our conversation, James discusses how he recreated his life from what was expected of him as a working class man. Plus, how he allowed his personal values guide his craft and bridge the gaps in his memory in this work of auto-fiction. And in working 10 years to publish this book James explains why his first publisher canceled his book deal. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Honorée Fannone Jeffers, the author of Misbehaving at the Crossroads: Essays and Writings. The book blends, history, cultural criticism and memoir seamlessly to weave a story about Black women in America, their worth, their value, and their inherent humanity and equality. In our conversation, Honorée explained how she found peace and a place of healing for herself after her mother's passing. Plus, the Black women writers who have carried her to where she is now. And why she says she had to leave the classroom seven years before retirement after giving her love for free. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Kristina Forest the author of The Love Lyric. It’s the final installment of Kristina’s romance trilogy about three sisters who are named after flowers. In our conversation, Kristina’s discusses how working on both sides of the aisle in the publishing industry gives her a unique advantage even if she still has questions. The reason she’s concerned about YA as a whole in publishing. Plus,  the timeline she set for herself to achieve her dreams so her MFA wouldn’t be a waste of money. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Nikkolas Smith about his new picture book The History of We. It's a book he says shows the lineage for every human on Earth beginning with Black people in Africa. In our conversation, Nikkolas discusses why he's grateful for the winding path that led him to his full time role as an illustrator. Plus the Jim Crow era story that was one inspiration point for the book. And the viral piece he created for the 2016 summer games as a tribute to Simone Biles that led to his first book deal and current career. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Mahogany L. Browne, the author of the new YA novel A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe. The story is a real time exploration of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York told through a chorus of young voices and borne out of Mahogany’s own battle with the virus. In our conversation, Mahogany explains how poetry saved her when journalism became unsafe. Plus, what she wished she’d known sooner as she was circling the globe doing poetry in places like Poland and Australia. And the critique she got from a high school English Teacher that actually became an asset for the New York Times. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Kiese Laymon and Alexis Franklin about their new picture book, City Summer, Country Summer. It's a story about an up north city kid who goes down south to visit his country cousins for the summer. In our conversation, Kiese & Alexis discuss how they were able to explore in their own ways what intimacy looks like between young Black boys. Plus, how this story puts the harmful narrative of pause no homo” on notice. And what they’ve been able to give school children across the country by honoring the child in all of us. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Dwight Thompson, author of the novel, My Own Dear People. It’s a story about a young man reflecting on the harm he and his friends caused a young teacher while they were in high school and why even as a spectator the protagonist was still a perpetrator. In our conversation, Dwight explains how his own reflection of his boyhood informed the creation of his character. Plus, how telling the truth got his first novel labeled as "too lewd." And, the measurement Dwight uses when writing that lets him know he’s on the right track. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Denne Michele Norris author of the novel, When the Harvest Comes. The story is one Denne has been working on for 14 years but couldn’t unlock until she freed herself first. In our conversation, Denne discusses how she worked through her issues of gender, race, and sexuality using her characters and craft. Plus, the reason she believes it’s her duty to walk readers through trauma hand in hand. And as a classically trained violist, why Denne ultimately chose the page over an orchestra stage for her artistic expression. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with W.J. Lofton, author of the poetry collection, boy, maybe. The collection explores William’s difficult and at times traumatic childhood, how he survived, and how he’s living now as young, Black queer man in America. In our conversation, Williams explains the reason he says that even though he crosses many identity intersections it’s not his life that is fractured. Plus, how writing boy, maybe was a gentle escape, despite the subject matter, when he was supposed to be writing an entirely different book. And, how he feels about being on the front lines facing attacks from the current administration. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with, Arriel Vinson, author of the YA romance novel, Under the Neon Lights. It’s a story that sets the budding love between Jaelyn and Trey against a backdrop of their shifting community landscape and Jaelyn’s fight to maintain her safe place.In our conversation, Arriel explains the reason she grounded this book in her own good memories as a way to explore the harm of encroaching whiteness. Plus, how she believes the oral storytelling tradition can save us in this time of book bans and attacks on libraries, archives, universities, and museums. And, the reason she says she wasn’t really a big fan of poetry even though she wrote her debut novel in verse. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Cher Terais, author of the wanderlust romance novel, Tempest in Tulum. In crafting her novels, Cher says while her settings may be exotic and lush for love, what the characters go through will always be grounded in reality. In our conversation she explains why she was never a fan of Prince Charming, the reason it took her twenty years to return to the page after she first tried to pen a novel, and how she makes her work as polished as possible as an indie author. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Hana Baba the storyteller on the new podcast Folk Tales from Sudan. The first season will feature 10 stories Hana grew up hearing from her uncle,  but was uncertain if she should or could step into his role behind the mic. A radio journalist by trade, Hana fell in love with voice, how it could emote, and its expressiveness at an early age though she grapples with what it means to take ownership of oral traditions. Why she’s resisting the urge to profit from her heritage.  Plus, the reason she believes her stories are a gift to the next generation of Sudanese children on the continent and across the diaspora. And how the current national and geopolitical climate influenced her decision to curate, produce, and distribute these stories, but now also endanger their future existence and proliferation. Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Dolen Perkins-Valdez, about her new historical fiction novel, Happy Land. The books is based on the true story of how a group of Black people founded their own Kingdom on more than 200 acres of mountain land that straddled North and South Carolina. In writing Happy Land, Dolen is correcting the historical record about the origins of the Happy Land settlers that has stood as the final word 75 years. How she learned about this intentional Black settlement and the research she says is still required. Plus, the reason Dolen believes land ownership represents the possibility of Black imagination. And, how the kingdom of the happy land may provide a Blueprint for Black people today living in this time of crisis. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Myah Ariel, author of the novel, No Ordinary Love. Myah, who is a journalist, film enthusiast, and lover of all things pop culture said she decided to try her hand at writing after spending the pandemic reconnecting with her love of reading romance novels. In our conversation she discusses how she managed to write, sell and publish two books in the four years from when she first approached the page. What intimidated her the most about novels after spending years reading screenplays and art criticism. And why she keeps coming back to the toxicity of the entertainment industry as a setting for her stories about love, hope, and reclaiming your name and life in the midst of fame. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Esme Addison, author of the novel An Intrigue of Witches. The historical mystery novel takes the reader on a treasure hunt with the main character to discover the hidden history of unruly women. In our conversation, Esme discusses who prophesied her writing and publishing career over her life. Plus, the difficulty she faced in securing an agent and publisher willing to take a chance on her books that don’t fit snugly into one genre. And as a self-proclaimed conspiracy theorist, why she says everybody, but especially Black people should be a little more skeptical when it comes to technology and our favorite apps. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Jacqueline Crooks, author of the novel, Fire Rush. It's a book that took her 16 years to bring into the world after getting a late start in writing even though it was something she knew she always wanted to do. In our conversation, Jacqueline explains why she considers her upbringing as an outsider because of her identity as a Caribbean immigrant in the UK a privilege on the page. Plus, how she brought to life the two battles women are always fighting against-- racial oppression and for gender equality--in her story about an underground subculture. And in taking control of a male dominated world, why Jacqueline says women, just like her character, need to beware of the charismatic man. Jacqueline's Dub Reggae Spotify playlistMahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Jill Tew, author of the YA dystopian romance novel, The Dividing Sky. It's a book Jill says she hopes disrupts old norms for her young audienceIn our conversation, Jill explains how she fell into the productivity trap in corporate America and the two major life changes that brought her back to the page. Plus, how rejection of her first novel prepared her to write her second and how the YA sci-fi space helped her redefine what’s most valuable in life. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Olufunke Grace Bankole, author of The Edge of Water. The book began as a short story and Olufunke has been working to bring it to fruition as a novel for the last twenty years. In our conversation she discusses, how she received the gift of patience from an industry insider that relieved the pressure of publishing. Plus, how her love of social justice and her career as a lawyer put her on the path to becoming a writer. And, how her story of a first generation, African woman, with dreams bigger than herself is really a manifestation of her own name and path through life as a writer. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Jodi M. Savage, author of the essay collection, Death of a Jaybird: Essays on Mothers and Daughters and the Things They Leave Behind. It’s a collection that reckons with Jodi’s grief before and after the deaths of her mother and grandmother and how she found comfort in the space a blank page provided. In our conversation, she discusses how she processed her life in real time and turned it into a book. Why she believes forgiveness and grief go hand in hand and how she let go of the concern about not having enough social media followers… and why those numbers really don’t matter. Mahogany Books

This week, Nikesha speaks with Donna Hill, the newly named executive director of The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, right in the heart of Brooklyn. Today, as in Thursday March 27, 2025, kicks off the center’s signature event, the National Black Writer’s Conference. This year is their two-day biennial symposium highlighting middle grade and young adult fiction. Tickets are free for seniors and for anyone else the cost is $30 or less. Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Aaliyah Bilal, author of the short-story collection Temple Folk. The collection is made up of ten short stories about Black Americans who identify as Muslim and who were at one time members of the Nation of Islam. In our conversation, Aaliyah explains why "normalcy" is the main message she wants readers to take away from her collection. Plus, the reason she believes borrowing details from her personal life is beneath the craft of fiction. And how she taught herself to write in an ultimate period of autodidactic self-study that lasted 15 years.Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Jamila Minnicks, author of the novel, Moonrise Over New Jessup. It's a book written about a small, Black, Alabama enclave in the 1950s facing pressure to integrate despite resistance from the town’s male leaders and the women who make their work possible. A native of Alabama, Jamila says she sees her writing as an extension of her work as an advocate. The reason she believes her novel is a way to jumpstart the conversation on what community and fellowship really mean. Plus, the pushback she gets from some readers who bought into the belief of white supremacy or the failed sales pitch of integration. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Laysha Ward author of the leadership book, Lead Like You Mean It: Lessons on Integrity and Purpose from the C-Suite. Laysha spent more than 30 years in corporate America, most of that time at Target. Our conversation took place before Target announced their roll back of DEI initiatives but we still discuss how her background as a Black girl from rural Indiana helped her find gold in her roots to unlock her superpowers. Why she believes it’s important to have a holistic approach to leadership and well-being. And the lessons she learned from Mrs. Coretta Scott King that helped her successfully navigate her professional and personal life. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode:Rate & ReviewThanks for listening, family! Please do us a solid and take a quick moment to rate and/or leave a review for this podcast. It will go a long way to making sure content featuring our stories and perspectives are seen on this platform