Black & Published
by Nikesha Elise Williams
Black & Published brings you the journeys of writers, poets, playwrights, and storytellers of all kinds to discuss what it means to be a writer, dissect the writing process, and demystify the steps between concept and publication.
Copyright: © 2024 Black & Published
Episodes
An Urban Author Myth with Nikki May
48m · PublishedThis week on Black and Published, Nikesha speaks with Nikki May, author of Wahala. Born in Bristol and raised in Lagos, Nikki May is Anglo-Nigerian. At twenty, she dropped out of medical school, moved to London, and began a career in advertising, going on to run a successful agency. Her debut novel Wahala was inspired by a long boozy lunch with friends.
In our conversation, we discuss how her overnight success in the literary world is really due to her 57 years of life on Earth. Plus why she revels in "frivolous" stories and how despite trying to write a fun entertaining story, serious issues seemed to creep in any way.
Follow the Show:
IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished
Follow Me:
IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Get My Books
An Urban Author Myth with Nikki May
48m · PublishedThis week on Black and Published, Nikesha speaks with Nikki May, author of Wahala. Born in Bristol and raised in Lagos, Nikki May is Anglo-Nigerian. At twenty, she dropped out of medical school, moved to London, and began a career in advertising, going on to run a successful agency. Her debut novel Wahala was inspired by a long boozy lunch with friends.
In our conversation, we discuss how her overnight success in the literary world is really due to her 57 years of life on Earth. Plus why she revels in "frivolous" stories and how despite trying to write a fun entertaining story, serious issues seemed to creep in any way.
Follow the Show:
IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished
Follow Me:
IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Get My Books
Everything Can Be Forgotten with Caseen Gaines
45m · PublishedThis week on Black and Published, Nikesha speaks with Caseen Gaines, author of When Broadway Was Black: The Triumphant Story of the All-Black Musical that Changed the World. Caseen Gaines is an author, director, educator, and pop culture historian. He is the author of We Don't Need Roads: The Making of the Back to the Future Trilogy, A Christmas Story: Behind the Scenes of a Holiday Classic and Inside Pee-wee's Playhouse, which earned Caseen a 2012 Independent Publisher Book Award.
In our conversation we discuss how Caseen landed his first book deal by cold pitching presses, the value of collective memory and how it increases the incentive to erase Black history, and why no matter how many books you publish, you're never just "good" as a working writer.
Support the showFollow the Show:
IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished
Follow Me:
IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Get My Books
Everything Can Be Forgotten with Caseen Gaines
45m · PublishedThis week on Black and Published, Nikesha speaks with Caseen Gaines, author of When Broadway Was Black: The Triumphant Story of the All-Black Musical that Changed the World. Caseen Gaines is an author, director, educator, and pop culture historian. He is the author of We Don't Need Roads: The Making of the Back to the Future Trilogy, A Christmas Story: Behind the Scenes of a Holiday Classic and Inside Pee-wee's Playhouse, which earned Caseen a 2012 Independent Publisher Book Award.
In our conversation we discuss how Caseen landed his first book deal by cold pitching presses, the value of collective memory and how it increases the incentive to erase Black history, and why no matter how many books you publish, you're never just "good" as a working writer.
Support the showFollow the Show:
IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished
Follow Me:
IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Get My Books
Learning the Continent with Yessoh G.D.
37m · PublishedThis week on Black and Published, Nikesha speaks with Yessoh G.D. author of the African fantastical suspense thriller, Ta Lé Book One: Knowledge. Yessoh grew up in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, a country on the southern coast of West Africa. He believes that books have the power to change people for the betterment of the whole. When he is not day-dreaming about stories and the world, he is a visual effects artist and a gamer. He specializes in 3-D animation and visual effects and has worked on many films, television shows, and commercials, including for Disney, Netflix, and Apple TV.
In our conversation, Yessoh discusses why he had to see the story clearly in his mind before he could begin writing, the challenges he faced getting his book to readers as an African author, and why it was important to him to incorporate African spiritual traditions and practices in the narrative of his novel.
Follow the Show:
IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished
Follow Me:
IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Get My Books
Learning the Continent with Yessoh G.D.
37m · PublishedThis week on Black and Published, Nikesha speaks with Yessoh G.D. author of the African fantastical suspense thriller, Ta Lé Book One: Knowledge. Yessoh grew up in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, a country on the southern coast of West Africa. He believes that books have the power to change people for the betterment of the whole. When he is not day-dreaming about stories and the world, he is a visual effects artist and a gamer. He specializes in 3-D animation and visual effects and has worked on many films, television shows, and commercials, including for Disney, Netflix, and Apple TV.
In our conversation, Yessoh discusses why he had to see the story clearly in his mind before he could begin writing, the challenges he faced getting his book to readers as an African author, and why it was important to him to incorporate African spiritual traditions and practices in the narrative of his novel.
Follow the Show:
IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished
Follow Me:
IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Get My Books
The Cat Daddy Lounge with Derrick Harriell
49m · PublishedThis week on Black and Published, Nikesha speaks with Derrick Harriell author of the poetry collection, Come Kingdom. Derrick Harriell is the Ottilie Schillig Associate Professor of English and African American Studies at the University of Mississippi. His previous collections of poems include Stripper in Wonderland, Cotton, and Ropes, winner of the 2014 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Poetry Book Award
During our conversation, Derrick opens up about being bitten by the poetry bug at an open mic night when he was just 19 years old, the vulnerability he experienced between his friends and family members during the pandemic, and writing a book that could stand the test of time as his Magnum Opus.
Follow the Show:
IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished
Follow Me:
IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Get My Books
The Cat Daddy Lounge with Derrick Harriell
49m · PublishedThis week on Black and Published, Nikesha speaks with Derrick Harriell author of the poetry collection, Come Kingdom. Derrick Harriell is the Ottilie Schillig Associate Professor of English and African American Studies at the University of Mississippi. His previous collections of poems include Stripper in Wonderland, Cotton, and Ropes, winner of the 2014 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Poetry Book Award
During our conversation, Derrick opens up about being bitten by the poetry bug at an open mic night when he was just 19 years old, the vulnerability he experienced between his friends and family members during the pandemic, and writing a book that could stand the test of time as his Magnum Opus.
Follow the Show:
IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished
Follow Me:
IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Get My Books
A Good Push with Dior J. Stephens
51m · PublishedThis week on Black and Published, Nikesha speaks with Dior J. Stephens author of the poetry collection, CRUEL/CRUEL. Dior J is the author of the chapbooks SCREAMS & lavender, 001, and CANNON!. They proudly serve as the Managing Poetry Editor of Foglifter Journal and Press and are a fellow of Cave Canem and Lambda Literary's Emerging LGBTQ Voices Fellowship.
In our conversation, Dior discusses writing poems to popular music as a child, how confronting his rage and anger helped him publish his debut collection, and encouraging his students to fail as much as he encourages them to be great.
Follow the Show:
IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished
Follow Me:
IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Get My Books
A Good Push with Dior J. Stephens
51m · PublishedThis week on Black and Published, Nikesha speaks with Dior J. Stephens author of the poetry collection, CRUEL/CRUEL. Dior J is the author of the chapbooks SCREAMS & lavender, 001, and CANNON!. They proudly serve as the Managing Poetry Editor of Foglifter Journal and Press and are a fellow of Cave Canem and Lambda Literary's Emerging LGBTQ Voices Fellowship.
In our conversation, Dior discusses writing poems to popular music as a child, how confronting his rage and anger helped him publish his debut collection, and encouraging his students to fail as much as he encourages them to be great.
Follow the Show:
IG: @blkandpublished
Twitter: @BLKandPublished
Follow Me:
IG: @nikesha_elise
Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise
Get My Books
Black & Published has 230 episodes in total of non- explicit content. Total playtime is 183:44:09. The language of the podcast is English. This podcast has been added on July 29th 2022. It might contain more episodes than the ones shown here. It was last updated on May 15th, 2024 10:11.