Latoya Nicole is the successful owner of a prominent coloring book business that focuses on the importance of Black women’s mental health. As the author of nine books including her bestseller Exhale Self Care Coloring Book, she is also an advocate for increasing representation in publishing. “When I started publishing in 2018, only 11% of […]
In conversation with Essence, literary influencer Cree Myles explained how she uses reading as an act of rebellion, and how she monetized her love for books and transformed it into a fruitful career. On reading, Myles said, “It’s an act of resistance. It’s an act that can change things. The revolution always starts with you […]
Nancy Johnson’s debut novel The Kindest Lie, officially released today, is an exploration of motherhood, race, and class. Featured on our most anticipated books of 2021, Johnson describes her first novel as “a story about the choices that we make in our lives, and how tethered we are to our past, and how much our […]
There have been a plethora of distinguished books throughout 2020 (view this year’s reading list here), allowing us to escape to different worlds as we grapple with a pandemic and multiple other crises. Now, we’re looking forward to unearthing even more gems in the forthcoming year, especially as multiple writers of color release their debut […]
The African literary culture magazine Brittle Paper will be publishing a collection of Africanfuturism stories as part of their Decade Project which celebrates the company’s 10 year anniversary. Africanfuturism was birthed by Nigerian-American author Nnedi Okorafor, and relates to science fiction that is rooted in the African world as opposed to Western society. This special […]
As the last year of the decade comes to a close, we’re keeping our eyes out for books that will mark the beginning of a new era, written by fresh new voices and seasoned authors of color. One of our most anticipated reads comes from the late literary great Zora Neale Hurston, where eight previously […]
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 […]
The new year calls for a refreshing variety of upcoming and recently released books by black authors, both seasoned and new, to potentially add to your reading list. Spanning across multiple genres, these fifteen books have been chosen to highlight the diversity of works within the community of black writers. Here is Jaro’s curated selection […]