I'm Not Hard-Headed with Ebony Walden

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Ebony Walden, author of the travel Memoir, Where I'm From: A Poetic Journey Across Five Continents.It’s a book Ebony wrote after her 2010 trip that took her to 17 countries that she let sit on the shelf for a decade before she decided to share her story.In our conversation, Ebony readily admits that she believes she should follow just about every idea she has. Plus, the reason she says after conceiving, fundraising, and embarking on her global odyssey it took her 3 1/2 years to come back to herself.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

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Sheryl Lister, author of the USA Today Bestselling novel, All My Sisters and Me.It’s a novel about sisters-in-law where three of the four are close, but the one who’s been a member of the married in-to family the longest still feels like the odd woman out.In our conversation, Sheryl explains the two major life changes she experienced that led to her career as an author. And the random conversation with a family member that served as the inspiration for her novel.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

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Rhonda McKnight, author of the novel Writer in Residence. The novel is set in the bookish world as her main character Alex, is a writer.In our conversation, Rhonda explains how writing this novel allowed her the freedom to express her real thoughts about her profession and the publishing industry. Plus, how she’s learned to be okay with keeping her romances closed door. And in setting the novel on the Gullah island of Edisto, in the South Carolina low country, how she was able to thread the needle between telling the truth and not dishonoring a people she greatly respects.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

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks wit Shanda McManus, author of Brother Epistles: A Sister's Memoir.In the book Shanda writes letters to her brother Monir, who was murdered in 1992, finally reckoning with her grief more than 30 years later.In our conversation, Shanda discusses why she believes, death doesn’t sever relationships or connections. And why she says her brother’s death is a result of the in-between economy and the systemic structures that funnel young Black men toward homicide.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

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Shannon Sanders, author of the novel, The Great Wherever. It’s a generational family saga about a thirty-something woman living in D.C. who suddenly learns she has a stake in a century-old family farm.In this story of inheritance Shannon leaves no topic untouched from reproductive rights, and the ubiquity of the queer community throughout the annals of time, to the precarious cruelty that happens when Black people are in white spaces.In our conversation, Shannon discusses the dangers of leaving behind both your place and your people. Plus, why she doesn’t believe fiction can truly correct the historical record.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

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with, Trisha R. Thomas, the author of, Nappily Ever After, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.It’s a book Trisha was moved to write after working in the school system. In our conversation, she discusses why she believes Black Beauty culture has always been about both power and pain.Plus, what still excites Trisha about publishing 25 years after her debut.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

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha kicks off Season 7 with Deesha Philyaw, the author of the debut novel, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman.It’s a satirical romp through a Black mega-church from the perspective of its esteemed First Lady, Scharisse Freeman, who wants nothing more than to be accepted even though that validation might come at the cost of her soul.In our conversation, Deesha discusses the twenty-year journey to bring this book to life, what she was doing on the page that held her back from unlocking the story she really wanted to tell, and why she believes it’s okay if your ambition doesn’t match your skillset when you first begin a project.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

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Amena Brown, author of the essay collection, Never Tell a Black Girl How to Black Girl.It’s not Amena’s first book, but it's the first where she felt like she could say what she wanted, how she wanted, and to whom she wanted after years of holding her tongue in public and on the page.In our conversation, Amena explains why she will always refer to herself as an independent performing artist. Plus, how long it took for her to deconstruct and unlearn the harmful conservative Christian theology that had to be included in her first two books before she found her authentic voice.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

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with T Clark, author of the short-story collection, All This Want (and I Can't Get None).The collection is made up of 12 stories that follow young girls and queer teens as they come of age in the small towns or big cities of the Northeast.In our conversation, T, who is a New York native, discusses the importance of epiphany and revelation in the creation of a story. And in penning a collection about desire how T’s desires have changed as their basic needs have been met.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

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today!This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Dr. LeConté Dill, author of the poetry collection, Soul Survivors. The collection is born out of 15 years of research, data, and analysis, from working with young Black girls across the country and how they navigate violence while still proudly repping their hood.In our conversation, Dr. Dill explains how external validation gave her permission to be more of herself. Plus, how she's using research to amplify what it means to be a Black girl, a Black woman, caught between good and ghetto.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