Black & Published
Black & Published

Black & Published

Nikesha Elise Williams

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Episodes

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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.

Recent Episodes

The Little Spoon with Jason Reynolds
FEB 18, 2025
The Little Spoon with Jason Reynolds

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with author and MacArthur genius Jason Reynolds about his YA romance novel, Twenty-four Seconds from Now: A Love Story. The novel explores the budding relationship between Neon and Aria. High school seniors who’ve been together for two years and are both ready to take their relationship to the next level of love and intimacy.

In our conversation, Jason explains how writing this novel is part of his constant quest to challenge his craft and dedicate his life to art. Plus, why he pays so much attention to life’s small moments, and what he finds worthy in 18 month increments. And, why he believes the love of a friend is the closest we can get to the love of God. 

Mahogany Books

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54 MIN
The Proof is in the Writing with Victoria Christopher Murray
FEB 11, 2025
The Proof is in the Writing with Victoria Christopher Murray

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with return guest, Victoria Christopher Murray about her latest novel, Harlem Rhapsody. The novel tells the story of Jesse Redmon Faucet. A complex and ambitious woman who moved to New York to be nearer to her lover W.E.B. DuBois, and also to run his magazine, The Crisis. Between the scandal she had to keep quiet and an opportunity she didn’t want to squander, Victoria details how Jesse Redmon Faucet birthed what we now know as the Harlem Renaissance. 

In our conversation, Victoria explains why there would have been no boon in Black literature—then or now—without the visionary work of Ms. Faucet. Plus, the countless writers Faucet discovered and mentored whose works we still return to today. And the echoes of the past in the present Victoria is seeing in her own career where she’s been mandated to prove herself and to readers that Black stories sell. 

Mahogany Books

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50 MIN
Pursuing Passion with Shanora Williams
FEB 4, 2025
Pursuing Passion with Shanora Williams

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author, Shanora Williams, about her new romance novel, Beautiful Broken Love. The novel is the second chance love story of Davina Klein-Roberts and Deke Bishop. Reeling from tragedy and trying to rebuild her life, Davina is not prepared for Deke, the NBA star, with his own dark secrets, who takes a sudden interest in her, and won’t take “no” for an answer.

Shanora is an author who cut her career in self-publishing in 2013 but didn’t get her big break from a traditional publisher until 2020. In our conversation she discusses how her “big break” actually put her in debt. Plus, how she bends the rules of genre fiction to keep her work honest instead of on trend, and how she made room on the page for grief to breathe in all its different forms. 

Mahogany Books
























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43 MIN
Anchored in History with Tara Roberts
JAN 28, 2025
Anchored in History with Tara Roberts

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Tara Roberts, author of the memoir, Written in the Waters: A Memoir of History, Home, and Belonging. It’s an epic story of Tara fulfilling her childhood desire of becoming a writer commingled with her active decision to embrace a past she’d always run from.

A storyteller, adventurer, and traveler, Tara is now an explorer in residence at National Geographic where she continues the work she’s done since 2016 as a scuba diver working with groups like Diving With a Purpose to map and document slave shipwrecks. 

I first was introduced to Tara’s work through her award winning podcast with Nat Geo Into the Depths and then had the pleasure of coaching Tara for her TEDTalk.

In this conversation, Tara goes deep about the trauma she experienced that made her fear becoming a writer. Plus, how she confronted and healed her own feelings of shame around Blackness and identity. And, the grace she had to find for herself and others when she was not embraced on the continent of Africa. 

Mahogany Books

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47 MIN
The Power of Belief with Iris Mwanza
JAN 20, 2025
The Power of Belief with Iris Mwanza

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Iris Mwanza, author of the novel The Lion’s Den. It’s a thriller featuring a young lawyer fighting for justice in the case of a queer teen, that has her going up against  every oppressive system in Zambia from the President and police to her priest and the doctrine of the Catholic Church. 

Iris is  Zambian-American. She started her career as an attorney, but currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Women in Leadership team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

In our conversation, she explains why she’s more intrigued about exploring what the law could and should be, versus what it actually is. Plus, the newspaper story that’s stayed with her for 30 years that inspired her novel. And why she believes authors must write something that matters. 

Mahogany Books

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Thanks 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

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50 MIN