Nikesha Elise Williams

Black & Published

A Books and Arts podcast

About the show

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.

Newest episodes

I'm Not Hard-Headed with Ebony Walden

Nov 10, 2026 45 min

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Ebony Walden, author of the travel Memoir, Where I'm From: A Poetic Journey Across Five Continents. It’s a book Ebony wrote after her 2010 trip that took her to 17 countries that she let sit on the shelf for a decade before she decided to share her story. In our conversation, Ebony readily admits that she believes she should follow just about every idea she has. Plus, the reason she says after conceiving, fundraising, and embarking on her global odyssey it took her 3 1/2 years to come back to herself. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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 Mahogany Books

Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful with Sheryl Lister

Nov 3, 2026 37 min

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Sheryl Lister, author of the USA Today Bestselling novel, All My Sisters and Me. It’s a novel about sisters-in-law where three of the four are close, but the one who’s been a member of the married in-to family the longest still feels like the odd woman out. In our conversation, Sheryl explains the two major life changes she experienced that led to her career as an author. And the random conversation with a family member that served as the inspiration for her novel. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Mahogany Books Rate & Review 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

Go Rest, You're Worthy with Rhonda McKnight

Oct 27, 2026 45 min

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Rhonda McKnight, author of the novel Writer in Residence. The novel is set in the bookish world as her main character Alex, is a writer. In our conversation, Rhonda explains how writing this novel allowed her the freedom to express her real thoughts about her profession and the publishing industry. Plus, how she’s learned to be okay with keeping her romances closed door. And in setting the novel on the Gullah island of Edisto, in the South Carolina low country, how she was able to thread the needle between telling the truth and not dishonoring a people she greatly respects. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Mahogany Books Rate & Review 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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The newest 50 of 229 episodes

I'm Not Hard-Headed with Ebony Walden

Nov 10, 2026 45 min

Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful with Sheryl Lister

Nov 3, 2026 37 min

Go Rest, You're Worthy with Rhonda McKnight

Oct 27, 2026 45 min

Is Grieving a Privilege? with Shanda McManus

Oct 20, 2026 48 min

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks wit Shanda McManus, author of Brother Epistles: A Sister's Memoir. In the book Shanda writes letters to her brother Monir, who was murdered in 1992, finally reckoning with her grief more than 30 years later. In our conversation, Shanda discusses why she believes, death doesn’t sever relationships or connections. And why she says her brother’s death is a result of the in-between economy and the systemic structures that funnel young Black men toward homicide. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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 Mahogany Books

What We Inherit with Shannon Sanders

Oct 13, 2026 52 min

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Shannon Sanders, author of the novel, The Great Wherever. It’s a generational family saga about a thirty-something woman living in D.C. who suddenly learns she has a stake in a century-old family farm. In this story of inheritance Shannon leaves no topic untouched from reproductive rights, and the ubiquity of the queer community throughout the annals of time, to the precarious cruelty that happens when Black people are in white spaces. In our conversation, Shannon discusses the dangers of leaving behind both your place and your people. Plus, why she doesn’t believe fiction can truly correct the historical record. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Mahogany Books Rate & Review 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

Write the Book of Your Heart with Trisha R. Thomas

Oct 6, 2026 41 min

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with, Trisha R. Thomas, the author of, Nappily Ever After, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. It’s a book Trisha was moved to write after working in the school system. In our conversation, she discusses why she believes Black Beauty culture has always been about both power and pain. Plus, what still excites Trisha about publishing 25 years after her debut. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Mahogany Books Rate & Review 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

Veer Off Script with Deesha Philyaw

Sep 29, 2026 51 min

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha kicks off Season 7 with Deesha Philyaw, the author of the debut novel, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman. It’s a satirical romp through a Black mega-church from the perspective of its esteemed First Lady, Scharisse Freeman, who wants nothing more than to be accepted even though that validation might come at the cost of her soul. In our conversation, Deesha discusses the twenty-year journey to bring this book to life, what she was doing on the page that held her back from unlocking the story she really wanted to tell, and why she believes it’s okay if your ambition doesn’t match your skillset when you first begin a project. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Mahogany Books Rate & Review 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

How to Black Girl with Amena Brown

Sep 22, 2026 58 min

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Amena Brown, author of the essay collection, Never Tell a Black Girl How to Black Girl. It’s not Amena’s first book, but it's the first where she felt like she could say what she wanted, how she wanted, and to whom she wanted after years of holding her tongue in public and on the page. In our conversation, Amena explains why she will always refer to herself as an independent performing artist. Plus, how long it took for her to deconstruct and unlearn the harmful conservative Christian theology that had to be included in her first two books before she found her authentic voice. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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 Mahogany Books

Desire Lives Within with T Clark

Sep 15, 2026 34 min

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with T Clark, author of the short-story collection, All This Want (and I Can't Get None). The collection is made up of 12 stories that follow young girls and queer teens as they come of age in the small towns or big cities of the Northeast. In our conversation, T, who is a New York native, discusses the importance of epiphany and revelation in the creation of a story. And in penning a collection about desire how T’s desires have changed as their basic needs have been met. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Mahogany Books Rate & Review 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

Remembering Myself with Dr. LeConté Dill

Sep 8, 2026 48 min

Buy The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Dr. LeConté Dill, author of the poetry collection, Soul Survivors. The collection is born out of 15 years of research, data, and analysis, from working with young Black girls across the country and how they navigate violence while still proudly repping their hood. In our conversation, Dr. Dill explains how external validation gave her permission to be more of herself. Plus, how she's using research to amplify what it means to be a Black girl, a Black woman, caught between good and ghetto. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Mahogany Books Rate & Review 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

A Mirror or a Door with Terah Shelton Harris

Sep 1, 2026 44 min

Order The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Terah Shelton Harris, author of the novel Where the Wildflowers Grow. It's a novel about a woman who grew up off the grid, finds herself incarcerated, and after a major accident is allowed the chance to rebuild her life thanks in no small part to a handsome man. In our conversation, Terah explains why she hates the term “smut” when it’s used to describe any book with sex on the page. Plus, why she made how to heal from complex grief, even without closure, the primary theme of her novel. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Mahogany Books Rate & Review 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

Bad Bitches Go Way Back in Time with Chet'la Sebree

Aug 25, 2026 50 min

Order The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Chet'la Sebree, author of the travel memoir in essays, Turn Where: A Geography of Home. It’s a book that sent Chet’la wandering across the country and around the world asking the same three questions over and over again. In our conversation, Chet'la explains how the three questions provided a framework for the book. Plus, why the form of the essay allows her to be the most honest. And how her decision to parent as a single person gave her clarity in other areas of her life. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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 Mahogany Books

Patriarchy Has a Racist Flavor with Savala Nolan

Aug 18, 2026 58 min

Order The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Savala Nolan, author of, Good Woman: A Reckoning. It’s a collection of 12 essays where Savala breaks down why she refuses all attributes ascribed to women by patriarchy, misogyny and capitalism that make them good. In an attempt at liberation. In our conversation, she explains how her training as a lawyer prepared her to write her books. Why she says she was more self-possessed with her publisher for her second book than her first. And in throwing off the good girl cape, Savala questions whether women, like men, should start paying for sex. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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 Mahogany Books

We're All Complicit with De'Shawn Charles Winslow

Aug 11, 2026 50 min

Order The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with De'Shawn Charles Winslow, author of the novel, The Fervent Whites. It’s a Get Out-esque thriller set in the early 80s in upstate New York, with a secret about trans-racial adoption at the center of the novel that was inspired by De'Shawn’s own life. In our conversation he discusses how he’s changed his intention on who he writes for. And the reason that in a novel featuring well meaning white folks, a serial killer had to make an appearance. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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 Mahogany Books

Life is Mean with Rachel Howzell Hall

Aug 4, 2026 44 min

Order The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Rachel Howzell Hall, author of the novel, Mist & Malice. It's book two in the Haven Thriller Series. The novel tackles major themes including race, class, and immigration status. In our conversation Rachel explains why as a California native it was time to discuss ICE in her work and how people are being hunted. Plus, the everyday cancers she says we ignore in our neighborhoods. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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 Mahogany Books

Rescuing History with Ashton Lattimore

Jul 28, 2026 43 min

Order The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Ashton Lattimore, author of the novel, Runner. The novel explores prohibition era life on Martha’s Vineyard and the burgeoning cultural force that became the Harlem Renaissance between two women who will do anything to achieve their dreams, including risking their own lives. In our conversation, Ashton discusses why she enjoys exploring the full tapestry of the Black experience through highlighting class differences and the role respectability plays in keeping the main characters tethered to what they don’t want. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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 Mahogany Books

Coming of Womanhood with Amy DuBois Barnett

Jul 21, 2026 49 min

Order The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Amy DuBois Barnett, author of the novel, If I Ruled the World. It’s a story Amy began during her tenure in corporate media, specifically working as an editor at several major magazines including ESSENCE, EBONY and as the Editor-in-Chief of Honey. Living the dream of becoming a novelist is something Amy’s wanted to do since she enrolled in an MFA program in her twenties. In our conversation she discusses, her circuitous route into magazine publishing, that ultimately brought her back to fiction. Why she believes it’s important for women to take themselves on small adventures. And what she believes is the true cost of ambition. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Mahogany Books Rate & Review 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

Black & Published LIVE! from the American Writers Festival

Jul 14, 2026 41 min

Order The Seven Daughters of Dupree Today! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha takes you to the American Writers Festival, held June 7, in Chicago where she did a live recording of the podcast with the authors Jabari Asim, Deborah D. Douglas, and Lonnae O’Neal. In their conversation they discuss, the importance of narrative repair, publishing in the current socio-political climate, and how they avoid being pigeonholed to write what they want. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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 Mahogany Books

In Partnership We Trust with Victoria Christopher Murray & Marie Benedict

Jul 7, 2026 44 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Victoria Christopher Murray and Marie Benedict, the authors of the historical fiction novel, A Pair of Aces. In our conversations they discuss why they see their partnership as a mission with a message. The hard conversations about race, class, and feminism, they have with each other that get transported to the page. And why they want readers to remember you don’t have to be friends to be allies. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

Black. Country. Love. with Regina Black

Jun 30, 2026 57 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Regina Black, author of the country romance novel, August Lane. The book recontexutalizes the narrative around who can be a country star as well as expands the perspective of who lives a country, read: rural, life. In our conversation, Regina explains how fanfiction and live journal became her MFA workshop and Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter provided a launch pad for her to discuss her life and what it really means to be both Black and Country. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

Black Women Deserve Beach Reads with Kristina Forest

Jun 23, 2026 39 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Kristina Forest, author of the romance novel The Summer Girlfriend. In our conversation, Kristina discusses an enraging trip to the bookstore that sparked the idea for the novel, the plotting tools she uses to create meaningful stakes, and why she wanted to put her heroine definitively in her "soft girl era." Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

People Over Place with Toni Ann Johnson

May 19, 2026 44 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Toni Ann Johnson author of the new short story collection, But Where's Home. The collection dives even further into the world she’s built with previous publications of a middle class Black family, in a majority white enclave in upstate New York. In our conversation, Toni Ann explains why she keeps returning to auto fiction as her chosen form instead of memoir or an autobiography. Plus, how she learned to decolonize her own mind and why she says it’s difficult to set a boundary with abusive parents. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

Living Cheek by Jowl with Lisa Smith

May 12, 2026 51 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Lisa Smith, author of the novel, Jamaica Road. It’s a coming of age story that spans 12 years in the lives of Connie and Daphne, who wrestle with their identity as British and Jamaican at a time of great racial unrest in the UK. In our conversation, Lisa explains why she decided to write a novel during maternity leave and how she finished it after chemo. Plus, the real life do over that she gave herself through the characters in her novel. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

The Psychology of Romance with Ashley Jordan

May 5, 2026 48 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Ashley Jordan, the author of the romance novel, Once Upon a Time in Dollywood. In our conversation, Ashley explains how going to grad school helped her finish her novel, plus the zombie apocalypse television show that sparked Ashley’s writing career. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

Water's at the Root with Gwendolyn Wallace and Tonya Engel

Apr 28, 2026 38 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Gwendolyn Wallace and Tonya Engel, the author and illustrator of the new picture book, Dancing with Water. It's a story about a young queer child and their love for their grandfather who is a water diviner. In our conversation, Gwendolyn explains why she believes stories are truly born at the intersection of science and the humanities. Plus, how Tonya and Gwen see children’s literature as a way to preserve Black traditions. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

Every Which Way But Loose with Rickey Fayne

Apr 21, 2026 49 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Rickey Fayne, author of the novel The Devil Three Times. A multi-generational story about one family, their spiritual gifts, and how they see they’re calling in life as either from God or Satan. In our conversation, Rickey reveals who gave him the push he needed to take his work seriously. Plus, in making the devil a central figure in his novel, what Rickey believes that says about the toll men face for being spiritually sensitive and what’s at stake for Black liberation with the devil at the helm of the fight. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

A Character Study with Christina Dotson

Apr 14, 2026 47 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Christina Dotson, author of the novel Love You to Death. The story is billed as a Black Thelma and Louise who go on a murderous romp throughout the south. In our conversation, Christina explains how the complex characters she works with in real life help as a social worker, help her craft the imperfect personalities of the people in her novels. Plus, the real life news story Christina saw that embedded itself in her brain and took her on the wildest writing ride of her life Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

Not for Your Entertainment with Helena Haywoode Henry

Apr 7, 2026 52 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Helena Haywoode Henry, author of the YA novel, Last Chance Live! The book looks at the price of eternity through the eyes of an 18-year-old girl on death row, who decides to try to win her freedom on a reality show. In our conversation, Helena discusses the legal papers she read during her time as a lawyer that inspired the premise of her novel. Plus, the reason Helena believes reimagining the current state of capital punishment is one small way to reimagine the current state of America. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

You Gotta Win Joy with Reginald Dwayne Betts

Apr 1, 2026 53 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Reginald Dwayne Betts, author of the poetry collection, Doggerel, which he says is his most joyous to date. In our conversation, Dwayne explains how he became intentional about singing a different song after realizing he’d become a long suffering Black man. Plus, why he believes identity is always in flux and why he said he’s never had a problem reading his work in prisons until he started writing about love. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

Take a Second Chance with Lizzie Damilola Blackburn

Mar 24, 2026 31 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Lizzie Damilola Blackburn about her second novel, The Re-Write. A second chance romance between a full-figured woman and a reality TV star who’s struggling to decide exactly what kind of man he wants to be. In our conversation, Lizzie explains why she wanted to tackle toxic masculinity and fat phobia. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

Where There is Grief, There is Love with Ashley M. Jones

Mar 17, 2026 54 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Ashley M. Jones, author of the poetry collection, Lullaby for the Grieving. A deeply personal look at what it means to find and lose love at the same time of unprecedented political turmoil. At 31-years-old, Ashley became the poet Laureate of Alabama, becoming both the youngest and the first person of color ever to hold that title. In our conversation, she discusses the amplified pressure she faced during her four-year term, what she’s learned about creating a sustainable writing practice, and the reason she says writing love poems feels unnatural. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

Stepping into the Spotlight with Lauren Morrow

Mar 10, 2026 52 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Lauren Morrow. Author of the novel, Little Movements. A book that explores what it means to leave behind the life you know and take a risk on what you love without the guarantee of reward. In our conversation, Lauren explains why she's not turned off by her book being characterized as auto-fiction. Plus, what she’s learned about her own artistic voice and where it fits in the Black literary canon And how she views starting over as an artist on the verge of breakout. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

The Power in Poetics with Camonghne Felix

Mar 5, 2026 48 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Camonghne Felix, author of Let The Poets Govern: A Declaration of Freedom. It’s a treatise on the inherent harm of political power and an entreaty for people to seek collective and communal good from a praxis of poetics. In our conversation, Camonghne explains why the erasure poems she included in the text are the best option to show people a new narrative of democracy. Plus, the reason she advocates for anarchy. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

Unruly with Jodi-Ann Burey

Mar 3, 2026 51 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Jodi-Ann Burey, author of the book Authentic: The Myth of Bringing Your Full Self to Work. Part memoir, part sociological study of how women, queer, disabled, and minoritized people are discriminated against in the workplace, the book is an outgrowth of Jodi-Ann’s 2020 Ted Talk on the same subject that’s been viewed nearly two million times. In our conversation, Jodi-Ann shares the life-threatening health diagnosis that shifted her relationship with work, the predatory publishing offers she received after internet virality, and why she says the future of work depends on other people. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

BONUS: Surrendering to the Story with Tayari Jones

Feb 26, 2026 51 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Tayari Jones, author of the novel Kin. Kin, is Tayari’s fifth novel and her second Oprah’s book club pick after 2018’s An American marriage. In our conversation, she explains why she’s grateful for her “slow burn career" and how she surrendered to the story that wanted to be written … even though it was not the novel she planned. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

Love and Reverence with Donika Kelly

Feb 24, 2026 49 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Donika Kelly, author of the poetry collection, The Natural Order of Things. It’s a collection of poems paying homage to Donika’s wife, her friends, and especially her family. In our conversation, we discuss how she uses poetry to imagine a future that doesn’t feel possible, the comfort she finds in the natural world, and why she says she’s never writing toward a book. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Mahogany Books Rate & Review 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

The Limitlessness of Black Humor with Damon Young

Feb 17, 2026 51 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Damon Young, author and editor of That’s How They Get You: An Unruly Anthology of Black American Humor. The anthology features essays and stories from 24 acclaimed Black writers whose words do work on the page but are also funny AF. In our conversation, we discuss how humor is a vehicle to explore human vulnerabilities, the reason Damon believes Black American humor is the best humor, and the reason he’s got sex on his mind for his future projects. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Mahogany Books Rate & Review 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

Black in Love with Ebony LaDelle

Feb 10, 2026 48 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Ebony LaDelle, editor of the YA Romance Collection: You’ve Got a Place Here too: An Anthology of Black Love Storie set at HBCUs. The collection provides a gathering place for 11 authors to share stories of all representations of love within the HBCU ecosystem. In our conversation, we discuss why it’s necessary to give teens the tools we all need to navigate healthy love relationships, what a platonic soul mate taught her about romantic love, and how the death of her best friend propelled her into her purpose. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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 Mahogany Books

The Truthtellers - Season 6

Feb 3, 2026 4 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This season on Black & Published, guests help answer the question: What does it mean to be a Black writer? Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

Free Puerto Rico with Dorsía Smith Silva

Feb 3, 2026 49 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black and Published, Nikesha speaks with Dorsía Smith Silva, author of the poetry collection, In Inheritance of Drowning. The collection was born out of Dorsía’s experience of living through Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, becoming a mother, and witnessing the racial reckoning of 2020. In our conversation, we discuss the reason she shays she cannot write light verse, how long she had to put her creative dreams aside to secure her career, and why she believes poetry is the form that offers the most freedom. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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 Mahogany Books

A "Transcendent" Experience with Jamise Harper and Edrick Scarver

Jan 27, 2026 1 hr 15 min

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha celebrates the publication of her latest novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree, with Bookstagram and Book Tok favorites, Jamise Harper (@diversespines, @spinesvines) and Edrick Scarver (@edrickreadit). They discuss the original title of the novel that informed the whole story line, the greatest takeaway Nikesha wants readers to have when they finish the novel, and the experience of going from an indie to trad author. Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! See Nikesha on Tour Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: The Seven Daughters of Dupree Pre-Order Offer Nikisha Elise Williams, the host of the Black and Published podcast, is celebrating the release of her forthcoming novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree. This historical fiction novel is about the secrets kept between mothers and daughters over the course of seven generations and is told backwards in time from 1995 to 1860. The Seven Daughters of Dupree will be released on January 27th, 2026, but is available for pre-order now at MahoganyBooks.com. Please consider pre-ordering The Seven Daughters of Dupree today. Mahogany Books Rate & Review 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

The Eye of an Editor with Alison Callahan

Jan 20, 2026 46 min

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with her editor, Alison Callahan who has been working as an editor for 20+ years. They discuss why their editor-author relationship was always destined to be. Plus, the deep dive Alison and her team did into Nikesha's background before making the deal. And why she feels intimidated every time she takes off her editorial hat and tries to approach the page as a potential author. Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! See Nikesha on Tour Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

Agent of Record with Peter Steinberg

Jan 13, 2026 49 min

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with her literary agent, Peter Steinberg. An agent since 1996, Peter explains the one thing that remains true in publishing even after all these years. Plus, the importance of rejection to an author's career, and what he thinks is the death of good fiction. Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! See Nikesha on Tour Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

Introducing The Seven Daughters of Dupree

Jan 6, 2026 3 min

Black & Published is back for season 6, but before we dive into our regularly scheduled episodes, we're having a mini series all about Nikesha's forthcoming novel The Seven Daughters of Dupree. Over these next four weeks she'll discuss: the writing processhow she got her agenthow the novel sold in a weekthe themes already resonating with early readers. Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! See Nikesha on Tour Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

The Seven Daughters of Dupree and Me

Jan 6, 2026 39 min

This week on Black & Published, Nikesha dives into how she wrote her forthcoming novel The Seven Daughters of Dupree. From starting the book for a publishing contest just days before she gave birth, to writing and revising as her life fell apart Nikesha breaks down how her novel kept her from a break down, and the kismetic happenstance that occurred between she, her agent, and editor. Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! See Nikesha on Tour Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

Let's Talk About Publishing with Deesha Philyaw

Sep 2, 2025 1 hr 8 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with author Deesha Philyaw about the new writing resource she created with graphic designer Diamonde Williamson, Writer Beware. The 20 page infographic takes a look at the distinctions among different publishing paths in order to dispel misinformation and help writers avoid predatory publishers. The resource is a compliment to Jane Friedman’s, Key Book Publishing Paths chart which breaks down all the avenues writers can take to publication. Mentioned in this episode: The Seven Daughters of Dupree Pre-Order Offer Nikisha Elise Williams, the host of the Black and Published podcast, is celebrating the release of her forthcoming novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree. This historical fiction novel is about the secrets kept between mothers and daughters over the course of seven generations and is told backwards in time from 1995 to 1860. The Seven Daughters of Dupree will be released on January 27th, 2026, but is available for pre-order now at MahoganyBooks.com. Please consider pre-ordering The Seven Daughters of Dupree today. Mahogany Books Rate & Review 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

Everyone Has a Mystery with Rachel Howzell Hall

Aug 26, 2025 56 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published Nikesha speaks with Rachel Howzell Hall, the author of the thriller Fog and Fury. The publication of this books marks twenty three years since Rachel’s publishing debut. In our conversation, Rachel discusses why it’s important for authors to know and lean into their brand. Plus, what she found to be the true secret sauce to go from writer to published author. And the reason she says even when you achieve all your writer dreams, your life still doesn’t change. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

Keep on Singing with Laura Pegram

Aug 19, 2025 46 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Laura Pegram, the editor of Sing The Truth: The Kweli Journal Short Story Collection. The anthology comes 15 years after Kweli debuted as the premier online literary journal focused on nuturing the voices of emerging writers who identify as Black, indigenous, or as other people of color. In our conversation, Laura explains how she got the idea to start the journal when she was in the hospital and could barely move. Plus, why at her weakest moments she held tight to creating a life of literary arts. And how she’s reframing the notion that for writers, rejection is the rule. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

Different Ways of Being Black with Nancy Johnson

Aug 12, 2025 51 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with Nancy Johnson, author of People of Means. It's a dual timeline historical fiction novel about the choices a mother and daughter make as they pursue excellence in a time of intense activism. In our conversation, Nancy discusses what triggered her to start telling stories of her own. Plus, the hidden history she learned on a phone call with the late great Nikki Giovanni that inspired one timeline in the novel. And the challenge she faces as a Black author as she tries to get her work in front of more Black readers. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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

Family Values with James Stewart III

Aug 5, 2025 42 min

Order Your Copy of The Seven Daughters of Dupree! This week on Black & Published, Nikesha speaks with James Stewart, III, the author of the novel, Defiant Acts. It’s a non linear story about an interracial family that couples the mundanity of everyday life with the incendiary explosiveness of racial reckoning out in the world. In our conversation, James discusses how he recreated his life from what was expected of him as a working class man. Plus, how he allowed his personal values guide his craft and bridge the gaps in his memory in this work of auto-fiction. And in working 10 years to publish this book James explains why his first publisher canceled his book deal. Mahogany Books Mentioned in this episode: Rate & Review 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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Podcast details

Created by: Nikesha Elise Williams
Status: Active
Latest episode: Nov 10, 2026
Episodes: 229
Release period: Weekly
Avg. episode length: 45 min
Explicit: No
Language: English

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