Black Writers Read

Black Writers Read showcases, celebrates, and honors the words, work, and traditions of Black writers from across the country, across genres, across experiences, and across the African Diaspora. This podcast series is produced and hosted by performance poet, playwright, events curator, and educator Nicole M. Young-Martin. Find us on Instagram: @blackwritersread. Find Nicole on Instagram: @coco_penexplore.

Episodes

Toni Ann Johnson's "But Where's Home?"

This episode features our conversation with Toni Ann Johnson, which was live-streamed on February 15, 2026.Toni Ann Johnson won the Flannery O’Co...

June 11, 2026 • Season 5 • Episode 18 • 1:24:54

Bonus Episode: Representing ‘MY’ Black Experience featuring Theresa Okokon

This episode features our conversation with Theresa Okokon, which was hosted live and in-person on November 1, 2025 at The LAVA Center in Greenf...

May 30, 2026 • 1:22:00

The Tribulations of Triangles Featuring Charmaine Leticia Wilcox

This episode features our conversation with

May 28, 2026 • Season 6 • Episode 17 • 1:01:22

An Intimate History of Black Feminism Featuring Dr. Jenn M. Jackson

This episode features our conversation with Dr. Jenn M. Jackson, which was live-streamed on January 23, 2026.Jenn M. Jackson (they/them) is a q...

May 23, 2026 • Season 6 • Episode 16 • 1:27:21

Growing Your Roots Where You Land Featuring Cedric Muhikira

This episode features our conversation with Cedric Muhikira, which was live-streamed on January 18, 2026.Cedric Muhikira is a self-t...

May 14, 2026 • Season 6 • Episode 15 • 29:56

Finding Home Through Life, Love, and Loss Featuring Denise Nicholas

This episode features our conversation with author, actress, and activist Denise Nicholas, which was live-streamed on January 17, 2026.Nicholas's memoir,

May 01, 2026 • Season 6 • Episode 14 • 52:21

Black Love & Travel Through Wanderlust Romance featuring Cher Terais

This episode features our conversation with Cher Terais, which was live-streamed on December 21, 2025.

April 23, 2026 • Season 6 • Episode 13 • 1:08:55

Healing Through Books Featuring Bibliotherapist, Emely Rumble, LICSW

This episode features our conversation with Emely Rumble, LICSW, which was live-streamed on December 2, 2025. Emely Rumble, LICSW is a distin...

April 09, 2026 • Season 6 • Episode 12 • 1:11:11

The Myth of Bringing Your Full Self to Work Featuring Jodi-Ann Burey

This episode features our conversation with Jodi-Ann Burey, which was live-streamed on November 18, 2025. Jodi-Ann Burey (she/her) is a writer and crit...

April 02, 2026 • Season 6 • Episode 11 • 1:22:08

Living Life After Death Changes Everything featuring Debut Author, Michael D. Whitney

This episode features our conversation with Michael D. Whitney, which was live-streamed on November 9, 2025. Michael D. Whitney is the author of Annetta's Michael:...

March 17, 2026 • Season 6 • Episode 10 • 1:06:13

A Conversation with 'A Future Ancient' featuring Sherese Francis

This episode features our conversation with Sherese Francis (poetry.), which was live-streamed on November 2, 2025.

February 26, 2026 • Season 6 • Episode 9 • 1:08:55

Why Not Us?, featuring wife writing team, Naomi Rivers

This episode features our conversation with Naomi Rivers.Naomi Rivers writes lesbian romance and women’s fiction. Naomi R...

February 05, 2026 • Season 6 • Episode 8 • 1:12:04

How Culture & Colonization Inform Craft, On Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico and Climate Change featuring Dorsía Smith Silva

This episode features our conversation with Dorsía Smith Silva, which was live-streamed on October 19, 2025. We chatted about her debut poetry collection,

January 15, 2026 • Season 6 • Episode 7 • 1:27:03

Kiss My Art & the Living Memoir featuring Tiriq Rashad

This episode features our conversation with Tiriq Rashad, which was live-streamed on October 17, 2025 as a part of our National Black Poetry Day marathon. We chatted about his recently released spoken word album,

January 01, 2026 • Season 6 • Episode 6 • 54:29

Filtering Out the "Noise" Through Poetry featuring Synnika Alek-Chizoba Lofton

This episode features our conversation with Synnika Alek-Chizoba Lofton, which was live-streamed on October 17, 2025 as a part of our National Black Poetry Day marathon. Synnika Alek-Chiz...

December 13, 2025 • Season 6 • Episode 5 • 1:25:59

Igniting New Beginnings featuring Damon Moore

This episode features our conversation with Damon Moore, which was live-streamed on October 17, 2025 as a part of our National Black Poetry Day marathon. We talked about his debut poetry collection, Anthems f...

November 28, 2025 • Season 6 • Episode 4 • 59:16

Rebirth, Resilience, and Reflection featuring The Honorable Tiffany D. Tilley

This episode features our conversation with self-help author, the Honorable Tiffany D. Tilley, which was live-streamed on October 14, 2025. Tiffany D. Tilley is an author, leader, advocate, and luminary from Detroit with a multi-fac...

November 14, 2025 • Season 6 • Episode 3 • 1:06:53

It's a New Dawn, It's a New Day featuring Dr. Shonda Buchanan

This episode features our conversation with Dr. Shonda Buchanan, which was live-streamed on September 14, 2025. We talked about her recent poetry collection,

October 10, 2025 • Season 6 • Episode 2 • 1:01:58

Claiming a Black-Biracial Identity Through Memory, Memoir, and Connections with Shannon Luders-Manuel

This episode features our conversation with Shannon Luders-Manuel, which was live-streamed on September 7, 2025. We welcomed Shannon back to the virtual platform to talk about her...

September 19, 2025 • Season 6 • Episode 1 • 1:01:41

Season Six Trailer

Black Writers Read has reached its sixth season! Check out this trailer to get a sneak peek of the upcoming season.Conversations here on Black Writers Read question our own subjectivities as creatives, justify our choices as writers, ack...

September 03, 2025 • 3:44

Roller Skating, Romance, and Resistance through Gentrification with Arriel Vinson

This episode features our conversation with Arriel Vinson, which was live-streamed on May 24, 2025. We chatted about her debut young adult (YA) novel in verse,

September 02, 2025 • Season 5 • Episode 25 • 1:09:16