INTERVIEWS
"I wanted to write about how black societies could evolve without white hegemony": A conversation with Okezie Nwọka
literary fiction, Africanjujuism
A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop who was born in Washington, D.C., God of Mercy is Okezie Nwọka’s debut novel.
“This book was the way to offer a kind of solidarity”: A conversation with Emmanuel Iduma
travel
Emmanuel Iduma on A Stranger’s Pose‘s ideas and diverse influences as he prepares for next year’s publication of his new memoir, I Am Still With You.
“I’m writing the stories I need to write”: A conversation with Dean Atta
verse novel, YA
Dean Atta is a Greek-Cypriot Jamaican-British poet who was named one of the most influential LGBT people in Britain by the Independent on Sunday.
Meet Mocha Girls Read: A Q&A with founder, Alysia Allen
book club
Alysia Allen tells us more about Mocha Girls Read, a book club centred on Black women, and shares advice for those working in book communities centered on diversity.
“I want the book to create space, especially psychic space in our imaginations”: A conversation with Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah
non-fiction
In 2009, Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah co-founded the award-winning blog, Adventures from the Bedrooms of African Women. Now she has published The Sex Lives of African Women.
“I needed to write a book that reflected reality”: A conversation with Lọlá Ákínmádé Åkerström
upmarket fiction
Lọlá Ákínmádé Åkerström talks freely about how In Every Mirror She’s Black upends mainstream ideas about Nordic society, her difficult journey to publication, and writing Black women.
“I felt that I had grown up and become Jewell Parker Rhodes”: A conversation with Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes
children’s fiction
Award-winning author sheds light on learning oral tradition from her dear Grandmother and adapting it for children’s books.
“I hope Black girls will leave the book feeling that alrightness”: A conversation with Tamara Winfrey Harris
non-fiction, self-help
Tamara Winfrey Harris talks about her work, the Black girl experience, her reading recommendations, and what she’s got coming.
"I grew up obsessed with this alternate version of myself": A conversation with Safia Elhillo
verse novel, YA
The author of Home is Not a Country, Safia Elhillo’s work has been recognised internationally for its originality of form and capacity for tenderness.
"I learned to read between the lines": A conversation with Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa
historical fiction
The author of Daughters of the Stone, the 2010 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize finalist, tells us more about her inspirations, the power of historical fiction, and her forthcoming novel.
"I am not a planner": A conversation with Chibundu Onuzo
literary fiction, travel
Chibundu Onuzo talks about what it’s like for a non-planner to fashion a novel out of a PhD and how Sankofa relates to the cultural coordinates that orient it in modern day Ghana.
5 Fun Facts with Lizzie Damilola Blackburn
chick lit, women's fiction
From the blog post that inspired her to Yinka’s abiding love for her local chicken shop, Lizzie Damilola Blackburn gives us five fun facts about one of the first Black British romantic comedies.
6 Unforgettable Black Poetry Collections
classics
From the concrete heights of a North Peckham estate to the azure shores of the Zambezi River, these poetry collections are brilliant.
Shadow Forward: A Review of My Monticello
short stories, literary
My Monticello pulsates the contemporary moment’s terror and uncertainty. Who and what are we the product of, and what is the future of this current birthing?