Givens Foundation | Black Market Reads

Minnesota-based writer Debra J. Stone sits down with Lissa Jones for a wide-ranging conversation about writing the stories she wants to read, her upbringing in the Rondo Neighborhood and the Northside, and what it means to be a black woman who loves to bike and camp. Stone’s poetry, short-fiction and essays have appeared in many publications and literary journals including About Place, Wild Age Press, and Random Sample Review. Stone co-founded and co-facilitates the Northside Writers Group, and is currently a fellow at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. She has received grants from Intermedia Arts, Beyond the Pure Fellowship, Jerome Foundation for Emerging Writers and the Minnesota State Arts Board. Currently, Debra serves as Board Member and Engagement Committee Chair for the non-profit independent publisher Graywolf Press.

On this episode, a reading and interview with poet, essayist, educator and avid gardener Ross Gay.  Ross Gay is the author of three books of poetry: Against Which; Bringing the Shovel Down; and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, which was awarded the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. The Book of Delights, released earlier this year, is his first collection of essays. Ross has co-authored, two chapbooks "Lace and Pyrite: Letters from Two Gardens," and "River."  He is a founding editor, with Karissa Chen and Patrick Rosal, of the online sports magazine Some Call it Ballin', in addition to being an editor with the chapbook presses Q Avenue and Ledge Mule Press.  Ross is a founding board member of the Bloomington Community Orchard, a non-profit, free-fruit-for-all food justice and joy project. He has received fellowships from Cave Canem, the Bread Loaf Writer's Conference, and the Guggenheim Foundation. Ross teaches at Indiana University.   This podcast was recorded as

On this episode of Black Market Reads, the acclaimed poet Danez Smith. Smith is the author of two award-winning collections of poetry: 2014’s [insert] boy which was awarded the winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry; and their most recent collection, Don’t Call Us Dead, published by Graywolf Press in 2017, which was winner of the Forward Prize for Best Collection, the Midwest Booksellers Choice Award, and a finalist for the National Book Award. Smith is the recipient of fellowships from the Poetry Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the Montalvo Arts Center, Cave Canem, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Smith is a member of the Dark Noise Collective and is the co-host of  VS, a podcast sponsored by the Poetry Foundation and Postloudness. To learn more about Smith's work, visit their website: http://www.danezsmithpoet.com/

In this episode we honor the late Ntozake Shange -- poet, author, playwright, artist. Her seminal work, the choreo-poem For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow is Enuf inspired generations of black women to see themselves differently and to question structures of power that tried to limit their boundless potential. The episode features excerpts of Shange's 2009 conversation with Alexs Pate as part of the NOMO series, a partnership between The Givens Foundation for African American Literature and the University of Minnesota Libraries. It also features Lissa's conversation with Penumbra Theatre Artistic Director Sarah Bellamy, who directed Shange's Choreo-poem in the fall of 2018, about the legacy of Shange's work and the importance of creating space in theatre that celebrates the work of Black artists. To listen to the full audio of Ntozake Shange's NOMO reading and conversation, visit blackmarketreads.com

On this episode, Lissa talks with poet Julian Randall  about his impressive debut collection Refuse. Julian is a Living, Queer, Black poet from Chicago. He has received fellowships from Callaloo, BOAAT and the Watering Hole and was the 2015 National College Slam (CUPSI) Best Poet, as well as being the recipient a Pushcart Prize. Julian is the curator of Winter Tangerine Review’s Lineage of Mirrors. He is a candidate for his MFA in Poetry at Ole Miss. His first book, Refuse, is the winner of the 2017 Cave Canem Poetry prize and will be published by University of Pittsburgh Press in Fall 2018.

Education, justice, innocence, and public policy on this very special episode. First, Lissa speaks with civil right activist, and now author, DeRay Mckesson about his new book On the Other Side of Freedom: the Case for Hope. Then we revisit our interviews with Dr. Artika Tyner and Alexs Pate discussing their work toward greater equity and justice in education.   (0:00) DeRay Mckesson became a leading voice in the Black Lives Matter movement during the 2014 protests in Ferguson, MO when he used social media to document and share with the world what was happening there. He is a civil rights activist and community organizer advocating for victims of police violence and an end to mass incarceration. Mckesson is the co-founder of Campaign Zero – a policy platform to end police violence – and is the host of the award-winning podcast Pod Save the People. He has been named one of Time magazine’s 30 most influential people on the Internet and was #11 on Fortune magazine’s world’s greatest leaders list. This episode wa

On this bonus episode, we're sharing a series of interviews we recorded live from the 2018 Twin Cities Book Festival at the Minnesota State Fair grounds. Interviews with: Archie Givens (The Givens Foundation), Mary Taris (Publisher, Strive Publishing), Donna Gingery (author), LaBelle Nambangi (author), Amber James (author), Lehman Riley (author), Jasmine Brett Stringer (author), A. Raphael Johnson (author), Eric Lorberer (Editor, Rain Taxi), Tiffany D. Jackson (author), Maasia Si-Asar, Rekhet Si-Asar (Publisher, In Black Ink), and Ricardo Peters (author)

In the Season Four Premier Lissa speaks with award-winning poet and spoken word artist Patricia Smith. Smith is the author of eight books of poetry, most recently Incendiary Art which was awarded the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, Los Angeles Times Book Prize, NAACP image award, and was a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize. She is a professor of English at the College of Staten Island and in the MFA program at Sierra Nevada College, and serves as a Cave Canem Faculty member. Special thanks to the Department of English at the University of Minnesota. Visit blackmarketreads.com for additional content related to the episode.

On this episode, Lissa Jones sits down with author A. Rafael Johnson. He was named a Kimbilio Fellow in African American Fiction in 2014. Last year he published his first novel, The Through, which was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award in Fiction. Johnson co-owns TerraLuna Collaborative, a social justice-focused consulting firm based in Minneapolis. He has co-produced Writer’s Resist – Twin Cities and Banned Together. He currently teaches Magical Realism at The Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Dr. Artika Tyner, educator, author, speaker and advocate, speaks with host Lissa Jones about what led her to dedicate her career to fighting for justice and empowering others to be leaders in their communities. She shares with us why she decided to focus her efforts on children, writing the book Justice Makes a Difference: The Story of Miss Freedom Fighter, Esquire, and how traveling to Africa has impacted the way she understands racism in America. Dr. Tyner serves as the associate vice president of diversity and inclusion at the University of St. Thomas and is the author of several books for adults including The Leader’s Journey. To learn more about Dr. Tyner's work, visit her website www.artikatyner.com

In this episode, recorded at a live event at Jefferson Community School in Minneapolis, MN, Lissa Jones hosts a fascinating conversation with Sonya Renee Tayor the activist and author at the center of the global movement The Body Is Not an Apology, which advocates radical self-love as tool for political resistance and social justice. Sonya is an activist, award-wining performance poet, radical executive officer of The Body is Not an Apology, and now author of a book by the same name. Her website, theBodyIsNotanApology.com  reaches over a million readers each month in over 140 countries. Special thanks to our friends at Magers & Quinn Booksellers, one of Minneapolis's great independent bookstores, for organizing the event.   

Desiree Cooper, author of the award-winning short fiction collection Know the Mother talks with host Lissa Jones about the complexities of motherhood and the ways that motherhood interacts, and at times conflicts, with the many other roles that women take on.  Desiree Cooper is a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, community activist, and a former attorney. She was also a founding board member of Cave Canem, the national residency for emerging black poets. Copies of her book can be purchased from on Amazon or from her publisher: http://www.wsupress.wayne.edu/books/detail/know-mother  

In this episode, Lissa Jones talks with writer Mary Moore Easter about history, family, poetry, and her newly published poetry collection titled The Body of the World (Mad Hat Press).  Copies of The Body of the World can be purchased here: https://madhat-press.com/collections/our-books/products/the-body-of-the-world-by-mary-moore-easter

On this episode, host Lissa Jones talks with author and educator Alexs Pate. Pate Is the author of five novels, including the New York Times Bestseller Amistad, as well as a collection of poetry, and the non-fiction work In the Heart of the Beat: The Poetry of Rap. He edited the 2015 anthology Blues Vision: African American Writing from Minnesota which highlights Black Minnesota writers of the last century. Pate is also the founder and president of Innocent Classroom.

Michael Starburry is a screenwriter and actor known for the film The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete, which starred Jennifer Hudson and Anthony Mackie, and the animated series Legends of Chamberlain Heights which has run for two seasons on Comedy Central and for which Michael voices one of the characters. In 2014, First Lady Michelle Obama screened The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete at the White House.

Host Lissa Jones sits down with Dr. Damani Phillips. Dr. Phillips is an active performer, educator and composer. He currently serves as associate professor of jazz Studies and African-American studies at the University of Iowa, where he teaches applied jazz saxophone, directs jazz combos and teaches courses in African-American music, African-American Culture, jazz education and improvisation. In 2009, Phillips completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in jazz studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder becoming one of the first African-Americans in the country to do so. Phillips recently published his first book titled “What is This Thing Called Soul: Conversations on Jazz and Black Culture.”

In this episode, Lissa Jones speaks with Twin Cites based actress, comedian, and educator Joy Dolo of Blackout Improv. Dolo is a founding member of Blackout, Minnesota’s first and only all-Black improv ensemble whose performances use sketch comedy, improv, and stand-up to tackle current events, race, and social justice issues.  This podcast is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board operating support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. Black Market Reads is a production of the Givens Foundation for African American Literature. Production services provided by iDream.tv.

In the season three premier, host Lissa Jones sits down with retired Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page to discuss his children's books, advocacy work, and optimism. Justice Alan Page is widely recognized for his groundbreaking legal career, as well as for his time in the NFL. Page played for the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears before his retirement to practice law full time; he was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame. In 1992 Page became the first African American elected to Minnesota’s supreme court, where he served as an Associate Justice until his retirement from the court in 2015. Along with his wife Diane Sims Page, he founded the Page Education Foundation which provides scholarships and mentoring for students of color to help them pursue post-secondary education. Now, Page has taken on another role: Children’s book author, releasing three books--most recently Grandpa Alan's Sugar Shack--co-authored with his daughter Kamie Page and illustrated by Minnesota artist Dave Geister. For more inform

Author and Historian Duchess Harris returns to Black Market Reads, this time to speak with host Lissa Jones to discuss her newest book Race and Policing which will be published in September by Abdo Publishing. Duchess and Lissa discuss the complex history of race, policing, and force in america, and Duchess shares exciting news about her upcoming collection from Abdo. This episode also features 'Blank,' an original spoken word piece from local poet Ashley Oliver.

In this episode, host Lissa Jones speaks with Erica Armstrong Dunbar about her recent work, Never Caught: The Washington's Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave Ona Judge. Dunbar is an author and historian focusing on the experiences of African American women in the context of slavery, racial injustice, and gender inequality. Today, she is a professor of History at Rutgers University.