Tag: black-literature
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Not in Mixed Company 😭: The Role of Audience in Burn Down Master’s House by Clay Cane
This isn’t a review of Burn Down Master’s House by Clay Cane, a historical fiction novel, published by Penguin Random House in January 2026. The story itself is fine. This is a post that questions the novel’s position as a neoslave narrative when the novel centers the white gaze, something the genre rejects in both…
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“Deep Breaths”- A Short Story
This week’s post is an original speculative short story about Sarissa, a Black teenage girl who meets several versions of herself after meditating in an attempt to figure out her future. This story is inspired by a conversation with a friend about healing and speaking life into your inner child.
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28 Black Speculative Fiction Books For Black History Month
What is Black Speculative Fiction, anyway? For me, speculative fiction has two definitions. One overarching definition includes texts that use unreal elements in a story. This includes fantasy, alternative histories, magical realism, science fiction, some mysteries, and some horror. The second definition is more genre-specific and involves texts that propose a “what-if” scenario. I typically…
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Review: On Sundays She Picked Flowers by Yah Yah Scholfield
I finally have the words to describe one of my most anticipated and favorite reads of 2025. Yes, the literary horror novel On Sundays She Picked Flowers by Yah Yah Scholfield (they/ them) was traditionally published by Saga Press on January 27, 2026, but a version of the book had been circulating for some time.…
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Review: Timid by Jonathan Scott
The 2024 Scholastic Graphix, semi-autobiographical Timid is a coming-of-age story that follows Cecil Hall, a black middle schooler, as he navigates his new hometown of Boston, Massachusetts, and finds a friend group that appreciates his intersecting interests and beliefs. Originally from a predominantly black town in Florida, Cecil learns about code switching in predominantly white…
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The Dead Withheld by L.D. Lewis: A Sapphic Paranormal Neo-Noir Review
Neon Hemlock has another hit on its hands with The Dead Withheld by L.D. Lewis. Published in 2025, the sapphic paranormal neo-noir novella follows Desdemona “Dizzy” Carter in her quest to find the murderer of her wife, Lonnie, the Fallen Angels serial killer. Dizzy is a Private investigator and a deadwalker witch, one who can…
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Author Conversations in The Blerd Library: M.H. Ayinde and A Song of Legends Lost
Now that a few months have passed, I interviewed Ayinde again, after the well-deserved international praise to see how things have changed and possibly get a sneak peek into Book 2!!
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Next Stop: Grad School- Thoughts After the Black Book Bash
At the end of the Black Book Bash, a group of creators sat and ate one last meal together. Each of them ordered some variation of meals they enjoyed throughout the weekend, hoping to maintain the good vibes now imbued in their lemon pepper wings, mimosas, cheesecakes, and burgers. They talked about the event and…
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Your Bookshelves Tell Us Your Truth: Personal Ethics in Literature
Because who are we if not the art we consume? Literature is art. Art is political; therefore, literature is political.
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Hello God, Are You There?: The Intersection of Religion and Subversion in Godpunk
My parents weren’t particularly religious until it was time to place judgment on others. But that didn’t stop my aunt from trying to convince me otherwise. I remember one of the few times she took me to her church. We woke up before sunrise to make a trek from Brooklyn to the Bronx to an…
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‘Southern Hospitality’: A Graphic Representation of Racism and Revenge in Comics
Months later, the movie Sinners still sits with me, so I felt obligated to write about a comic short that reminded me of the film. Specifically Smoke’s last stand with the Ku Klux Klan. In “Southern Hospitality,” written by Mikhail Hardy with art and colors by Eli John and Robin L. Davis, the main character,…
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Why Beginner Fantasy Readers Should Read Eve and the Faders by Berneta L. Haynes and Lornett B. Vestal: Book Review
Eve and the Faders has a complex, amazingly depicted main character in Eve Cooper. Eve is a queer woman in a Black polyamorous relationship, and I LOVED it so much. The couple (Eve, Zoe, and Gabriel) are not perfect, yet the authors explore the difficulties that can come with being in a poly relationship in…
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Harmattan Season by Tochi Onyebuchi: A Unique Postcolonial Fantasy Noir- Book Review
I wouldn’t call myself an arc reader because I rarely get to them in time, but I have two arcs I will have read and reviewed before they release! It’s the small wins in life that bring me joy these days. This first ARC is from Tor Books and is slated to be published on…
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Return of the Sistah Samurai: A Champloo Novel by Tatiana Obey Exclusive Cover Reveal!!!!!
This year, Tatiana is blessing us with the sequel to Sistah Samurai, titled Return of the Sistah Samurai: A Champloo Novel on Juneteenth, and I am so excited to share the cover with you here!!!
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Exploring Grief and Revenge in ‘The Lady Widow: Death Among the Stars’: Book Review
I saw it in a TikTok video. C.M. Lockhart was talking about her upcoming release about a woman who travels through space to get revenge for the murder of the love of her life. Naturally, I was interested. It took a while to unpack my feelings about this book, but overall, it did a great…