Tag Archives: black

01May/26

O’labumi Brown

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May 1, 2026

It gives us great pleasure to present Season 11, Episode 15: O’labumi Brown!

O’labumi Brown joins us to share her memoir Hairalujah. We discuss the art of moving between hardship and joy in memoirs. O’labumi shares some of her anecdotes and how the evolution of her hair marks the different points of her life.

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Bio:
O’labumi Brown was born and raised in New York City, where she studied with Michel Marriott, whose memoir workshops were legendary. Brown, a memoirist, loves using metaphor to set a mood. Her short story “Romance on the Iron Horse” was published in Between the Covers: An Adult Romance Anthology, and her short story “Dragon Della” was published in ThereAfter Magazine. Her debut memoir Hairalujah traces the author’s journey of queer identity in the 80s and steps through allegory’s shadow to tell a story about the lessons she’s learned and how she rose from the rubble. O’labumi currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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13Mar/26

Geoffrey Newman

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March 13, 2026

It gives us great pleasure to present Season 11, Episode 9: Geoffrey Newman!

Geoffrey Newman shares his memoir, Better to Cry Now. We discuss living a blessed life in defiance of those who say you won’t make it, and how Geoffrey found the flow of his life that helped him be a proud, gay, black man so he could then help his students overcome any obstacle with creativity, tenacity, and love.

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Geoffrey Newman, PhD, is dean emeritus of the College of the Arts at Montclair State University in New Jersey. He was the first holder of the Owen Duston Distinguished Professorship from Wabash College in 1987 and received the prestigious Amoco Award for Theatrical Excellence from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in 1979. He helped establish the Department of Theater at Wabash College in 1970 and served on the faculty of the drama department from 1975 to 1986, during which time he was appointed chairman of drama (1982–1986). He then served as the founding dean of the College of Arts at Montclair State University from 1988 to 2011. He now resides in Palm Springs, California, with Ed, his husband and soulmate of forty-seven years.

This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
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16Jan/26

S.M. Stevens

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January 16, 2026

It gives us great pleasure to present Season 11, Episode 3: S.M. Stevens!

S.M. Stevens shares her novel Beautiful & Terrible Things. We discuss this amazing diverse cast of friends, their social justice activities in immigration, racism, and mental health, and what it’s like to write about living in today’s America. She then shares how to get a free short story and novelette about her characters that were cut from the book.

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After many years as a business writer, S.M. Stevens found the time to pen her first novel when a pelvis broken in 3 places absolved her from housework and chauffeuring the kids around for several months. The result was her middle-grade novel Shannon’s Odyssey, written for adventurous animal-lovers.

A year later, while in treatment for cancer, she wrote the first of the Bit Players series to fill the void of fiction for music and theatre-loving teens. The YA series now has three books, and appeals to all teens not just drama-loving ones.

Her first adult novel (thankfully not prompted by another health crisis!) was Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, published in 2019. The story is a coming-of-age tale about two young women starting their careers in Boston while dealing with past and present demons.

Her latest novel, Beautiful & Terrible Things, was released by Black Rose Writing in Summer 2024 and has won numerous awards, including Indies Today Best Literary Book of 2024. The same characters are featured in her award-winning novelette, The Wallace House of Pain (available on Amazon).

This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
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19Aug/22

Victor Evans

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August 19, 2022

It gives us great pleasure to present Season 7, Episode 33 – Victor Evans + Our Review of The Sandman!

Victor D’Shawn Evans introduces us to his middle school mystery, The Case of the Missing Lightning Bat. We discuss why it’s so importance to support works with characters of color and different sexualities, especially for young teens who are just starting to question. Then Baz and Vance review The Sandman and share who won the week for them!

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Victor D’Shawn Evans has been teaching communications in higher education for the past 20 years. Prior to teaching, he was an entertainment journalist. When he noticed there weren’t many places for gay black teens to see themselves represented, he started writing and a documentary film production company. When he’s not teaching or working on film projects, he can be found on his farm with his partner where they wrangle goats, pigs, and chickens.

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