NEW YORK (AP) — Colson Whitehead’s novel “The Nickel Boys” and Kwame Alexander’s picture story “The Undefeated” are among the finalists for the Kirkus Prize, a $50,000 honor given for the year’s outstanding fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ books. Saeed Jones’ memoir “How We Fight for Our Lives” also was a nominee announced Tuesday by […]
“The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution” (W.W. Norton and Co.), by Eric Foner It took the United States two tries to get the Constitution right. The first time was at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. The second time was during Reconstruction, the 12-year period after the Civil War when the […]
Chicago-based artist and rapper Noname, born as Fatimah Nyeema Warner, has launched her own book club. Simply titled “Noname’s Book Club” with the tagline Reading material for the homies, the artist is celebrating progressive writers of color and writers within the LGBTQ community. Two literary works will be featured per month. For September, Don’t […]
Black Panther broke down significant barriers in Hollywood as an all-black film, grossing $1.347 billion in box offices across the world. Nyong’o shared with Vanity Fair her thoughts on why the film was such a breath of fresh air. “In Black Panther, I felt that the African experience was allowed to exist aspirationally,” she said. […]
I’ll always find it fascinating how what is meant for you can simply fall onto your lap. At the time, when I was asked to review Keturah Kendrick’s newly released memoir, No Thanks: Black, Female, and Living in the Martyr Free Zone, I was in the midst of being overwhelmed by various responsibilities, and had […]
In May, Italian illustrator Paolo Parisi released his latest, Basquiat: A Graphic Novel, which is a detailed exploration of the renowned artist’s life through vivid and colorful graphics. The book takes readers on a journey in reverse, beginning with Basquiat’s tragic death, and concluding with the start of his life. All throughout the graphic […]
Last year, we featured Akwaeke Emezi’s debut novel Freshwater in JARO’s curated list of books to read by women of color in 2018. After becoming a finalist for the prestigious PEN/Hemingway Award for a Debut Novel and receiving various other accolades, Freshwater is now in early development for television by FX. According to Variety, who […]
OlaRonke Akinmowo is fulfilling her purpose, and enriching others’ lives in the process. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Akinmowo’s company The Free Black Women’s Library is an innovative mobile library which currently includes over 1,000 books by Black women authors. The dream began four years ago for Akinmowo, on the stoop of a brownstone in […]
Issa Rae has recently unveiled her ambitious new project: Adapting Tayari Jones’ Award-winning 2011 novel Silver Sparrow for the big screen. Jones verified to Oprah Magazine that Rae has optioned the film and will produce. Silver Sparrow begins boldly with an opening line of “My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist.” It is a story […]
In his memoir I’m BETTER not BITTER, Anthony Tuggle takes us through his very personal journey with God—a journey that ultimately molded him into the Dynamic Husband, Loving Father, Friend, and Prolific Leader that we see before us today. After receiving the devastating news of kidney failure, and the subsequent trials and tribulations while […]