A celebration of the many ways we make art, spanning mediums, geography, and resources from author-artist Diana Ejaita.

Art is for everyone! From found objects to sidewalk chalk, from homemade instruments to breakdancing, from building with blocks to molding clay, art is natural and healing. Readers will be encouraged by the invitation to create anything, anywhere, with any materials. Inclusive and expansive, Ejaita portrays a wide cast of characters exploring their own feelings and ideas, accompanied by a poignant, yet easily understood, text. This deceptively simple and stunningly composed picture book offers children a sense of what art can be, and the ways in which it adds beauty to our lives.

A First Folktale from the creators of Magnolia Flower, Zora Neale Hurston and Ibram X. Kendi, about the power of sharing.

There was a cat. And there was a dog. And only one piece of pineapple…

Find out if the two animals can overcome this conundrum in Zora Neale Hurston's humorous and charming folktale retold by #1 New York Times bestselling and National Book Award–winning author Ibram X. Kendi and illustrated by New York Times honored artist, Diana Ejaita. This accessible and sizable board book is perfect for introducing the youngest of readers to the beauty of Hurston's storytelling and will lightly teach children that everything is better shared when with friends.

In honor of Bookstore Romance Day, we have gathered some of our favorite Black contemporary Romance authors, traditionally and indie published.

EVENT DEETS

WHEN: August 17 at 6:30PM

WHERE: Virtual Via Zoom

HOW: Be sure to purchase your $5 ticket or choose one of the bundles to gain entry to this virtual event. 

ROMANCE BOOK BUNDLES

Forbidden Love: The Perfect Find, Forbidden Promises - $26

Second Chance Romance: All I've Ever Want All I've Ever Needed , Seven Days in June - $31

Opposite Attract: Mickey Chambers Shakes It Up, The Secret to a Southern Wedding - $36

Meet Queer: D'Vaughn & Kris Plan A Wedding, Can't Let Her Go , A Dash of Salt & Pepper- $45

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Tia Williams had a fifteen-year career as a beauty editor for magazines including Elle, Glamour, Lucky, Teen People, and Essence. In 2004, she pioneered the beauty-blog industry with her award-winning site, Shake Your Beauty. She wrote the bestselling debut novel The Accidental Diva and penned two young adult novels, It Chicks and Sixteen Candles. Her award-winning novel The Perfect Find is a Netflix movie starring Gabrielle Union. Her latest novel is New York Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick, Seven Days in June, published by Grand Central. Tia currently lives with her daughter and her husband in Brooklyn.

Like any good Southern belle, Kianna Alexander wears many hats: doting mama, advice-dispensing sister, fun aunt and gabbing girlfriend. She's a voracious reader, an amateur seamstress and occasional painter in oils.She has a passion for history and an endless curiosity. Kianna is proud to tell stories where Black women are loved, valued, and thriving. A native of the TarHeel state, Kianna still lives there while maintaining her collection of well-loved vintage 80's Barbie dolls.

Chencia Higgins hails from the big city of Houston in the greatest state of Texas. Writing has been her my passion since she was a young girl, when her subject matter were visions of middle school drama with her group of girlfriends. She entered the world of publishing in May 2016 with an erotic novella that set the stage for a career in which she would craft engaging tales of Black women being loved up on. She continues to write for women who love to read but are tired of never seeing themselves in the story. Higgins proud to be a part of an indie and self-published author community. When she's not writing, you can find her reading a book (or two, or three), saving recipes that she'll never make on Pinterest, and traveling as much as possible with her family.

A.E. Valdez published her first book, All I’ve Wanted, All I’ve Needed, in 2021. She has continued to write stories with endearing and relatable characters centered firmly around Black love. Readers have described her work as sweet and spicy, deeply emotional, and healing.

She currently resides in the Pacific Northwest with the love of her life and their two sons. When she’s not typing away on a keyboard, she enjoys spending time with her family, going on hiking trips, gaming, or curling up with a good book.

Kosoko Jackson is a digital-media specialist, who lives in the New York Metro Area and spends too much time listening to Halsey and Taylor Swift.

Charish Reid is a fan of sexy books and disaster films. When she's not grading papers or prepping lessons for college freshmen, she enjoys writing romances that celebrate quirky black women who deserve HEAs. Charish currently lives in Sweden, with her husband, avoiding most forms of exercise.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

Register at https://www.crowdcast.io/e/an-evening-with-zora

We're celebrating the release of the boxed set of Zora Neale Hurston's collection of works, all with reimagined covers illustrated by incredible Black artists, and her newest release of essays, You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays.

NYT bestselling author, Morgan Jerkins, will moderate a conversation with Lucy Ann Hurston (scholar and niece of Zora Neale Hurston), Patrick Dougher (cover artist for Their Eyes Were Watching God), and Genevieve West (co-editor of You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays).

About the Boxed Set:

Available for the first time, this amazing boxed set includes 10 repackaged Zora Neale Hurston classics--each with a newly imagined cover by a popular contemporary Black artist. It's a beautifully-imaged package at a very affordable price point.

Cover artists are: Charly Palmer, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Jerome Lagarrigue, Patrick Dougher, Diana Ejaita, Jeff Manning, Samira Addo, Terry Lynn, Jamilla Okubo, and Tizta Berhanu.

Books included in the set:

• Dust Tracks on a Road
• Jonah's Gourd Vine
• Mules and Men
• Tell My Horse
• The Complete Stories
• Every Tongue Got to Confess
• Moses, Man of the Mountain
• Seraph on the Suwanee
• Mule Bone
• Their Eyes Were Watching God

About You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays:

Spanning more than 35 years of work, the first comprehensive collection of essays, criticism, and articles by the legendary author of the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston, showcasing the evolution of her distinctive style as an archivist and author.

“One of the greatest writers of our time.”—Toni Morrison

One of the most acclaimed artists of the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston was a gifted novelist, playwright, and essayist. Drawn from three decades of her work, this anthology showcases her development as a writer, from her early pieces expounding on the beauty and precision of African American art to some of her final published works, covering the sensational trial of Ruby McCollum, a wealthy Black woman convicted in 1952 for killing a white doctor. Among the selections are Hurston’s well-known works such as “How It Feels to be Colored Me” and “My Most Humiliating Jim Crow Experience.” 

The essays in this essential collection are grouped thematically and cover a panoply of topics, including politics, race and gender, and folkloric study from the height of the Harlem Renaissance to the early years of the Civil Rights movement. Demonstrating the breadth of this revered and influential writer’s work, You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays is an invaluable chronicle of a writer’s development and a window into her world and time.

“The life and teachings of Swamini Turiyasangitananda are precious spiritual jewels waiting to be discovered. This book reveals many inspiring and unknown parts of Swamini’s life. Numerous personal accounts of divine healings enhance her quiet yet determined focus to be of service locally and globally. Perhaps most moving is this servitor’s willingness to take on herself, the effects of others’ negative karma. Portrait of Devotion is a doorway that leads to the life of a modern saint. If we pass through this door, there is a good chance that our own life will change for the better.” — Purushottama Hickson, H.Y.T.

“A.C. Swami Turiyasangitananda is a bhakti yogi who practiced karma yoga, a spiritual guru who, with dedication, followed the footsteps of her Satguru. She was a living example of true mental detachment ...while still physically being in the midst of society. She is spiritually evolved in the truest sense.” — Sai Ram Iyer of Mumbai

“Many of us are aware of the musical talents of Alice Coltrane, a gifted pianist, harpist and composer. In this beautiful book, the author takes us on a journey of the spiritual transformation of the artist, Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda, who became a teacher of life with feminine strength and conviction. The author brings out what a pure relationship is like between a Guru and student, and most important how a spiritual journey may be straight and narrow at any moment, but that moment will pass on to the next moment of joy. Lastly, the story and lessons of Clarity, Compassion, and Courage, which Alice taught day in and day out to her students will call us to embrace our own spiritual journey.”
— Stephen Rosen, Ph.D

For all the girls in your life who are inspired, deserving, and worthy, bestselling author Marshawn Evans Daniels’ debut picture book Worthy Girl offers a lyrical, inspirational message about believing in yourself and realizing God’s higher purpose for your life.

From early on, young girls seek to find their place and voice in a complex world that tells them who they’re supposed to be. Worthy Girl uses soaring language to combat the forces trying to keep girls small and instead awaken their ambition and instill in them an unshakeable sense of self-worth, confidence, and identity bathed in possibility. This beautifully illustrated picture book anchors girls in God’s promises and challenges them to believe—even at a young age—that God made them for such a time as this.

Worthy Girl is perfect for:

* Any girl at any time, but especially for birthdays, graduations, and milestones that celebrate a girl’s life and potential.
* Parents desiring to inspire their daughters to embrace their uniqueness.
* Reassuring girls that God has a plan for their lives and there are limitless possibilities ahead of them.

Celebrate D is for Dance: Dancing Through the Diaspora with Stacey Allen and Brynne Hentry! Come meet the author and illustrator, hear a beautiful story about dance and culture, and enjoy a dance demonstration by Nia's Daughters Movement Collective!

EVENT DEETS

When: Saturday, August 2 @ 1 PM

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St #2, Houston, TX 77004)

How: RSVP ONLY to let us know you're coming or RSVP WITH BOOK to secure your copy of D is for Dance: Dancing Through the Diaspora.

ABOUT THE BOOK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stacey Allen is an award-winning dancemaker, curator, and advocate for arts education, equity, and reproductive justice. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of Nia’s Daughters Movement Collective, a professional dance company committed to creating and supporting art and wellness initiatives through the lens of Black women and girls. Stacey is the author of two children’s books, A Little Optimism Goes a Long Way—recipient of the 2024 Children’s Publication Award from the National Association of Multicultural Education—and D is for Dance: Dancing Through the Diaspora. She also created The Fairytale Project, a touring dance-theater production inspired by Texas Freedom Colonies.

Stacey lives in the Greater Houston area with her husband, Chase Allen, and their three children: Chase Jr., Zora, and John. Learn more about her work at www.niasdaughters.com and follow her on Instagram at @theblackartsymom and @niasdaughters.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Brynne Henry is a Houston-based illustrator, mixed-media artist, researcher, and K-12 instructor. She graduated from the University of North Texas with a B. F. A. in Art Education and has held multiple positions in research spanning across the African-American arts and humanities. Her interest in African-American humanities was sparked in her college art history classes and fueled by a research fellowship she received from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library. Her love for art was passed down generationally and she sincerely hopes to inspire the next generation of artists to continue using art as a vehicle for information exchange and self-expression. View more of her work at www.brynnehenry.com

Join us for the official launch event of Black Chameleon: Memory, Womanhood & Myth with author, Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton and artist, Delita Martin. 

Event DEETS

When: March 7, 2023 at 7PM CST

Where: Project Row House Community Gallery (2521 Holman Street, HTX 77004)

How: Please RSVP reserve your spot. Checkout for RSVP with Book to support our store and the author/artists. 

About Black Chameleon

In the literary tradition of Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House, Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior, and Jesmyn Ward’s Men We Reaped, this debut memoir confronts both the challenges and joys of growing up Black and making your own truth.

Growing up as a Black girl in America, Deborah Mouton felt alienated from the stories she learned in class. She yearned for stories she felt connected to—true ones of course—but also fables and mythologies that could help explain both the world and her place in it. What she encountered was almost always written by white writers who prospered in a time when human beings were treated as chattel, such as the Greek and Roman myths, which felt as dusty and foreign as ancient ruins. When she sought myths written by Black authors, they were rooted too far in the past, a continent away.

Mouton writes, “The phrases of my mother and grandmother began to seem less colloquial and more tied to stories that had been lost along the way. . . . Mythmaking isn’t a lie. It is our moment to take the privilege of our own creativity to fill in the gaps that colonization has stolen from us. It is us choosing to write the tales that our children pull strength from. It is hijacking history for the ignorance in its closets. This, a truth that must start with the women.”

Mouton’s memoir is a song of praise and an elegy for Black womanhood. With a poet’s gift for lyricism and poignancy, Mouton reflects on her childhood as the daughter of a preacher and a harsh but loving mother, living in the world as a Black woman whose love is all too often coupled with danger, and finally learning to be a mother to another Black girl in America. Of the moment yet timeless, playful but incendiary, Mouton has staked out new territory in the memoir form.

About Deborah DEEP Mouton

Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton is an internationally known writer, educator, activist, and performer and the first Black poet laureate of Houston, Texas. She was formerly ranked the #2 Best Female Performance Poet in the World (PSI). Her recent poetry collection, Newsworthy, garnered her a Pushcart nomination, was named a finalist for the 2019 Writers’ League of Texas Book Award, and received an honorable mention for the Summerlee Book Prize. Its German translation, under the title Berichtenswert, was released in Summer 2021 by Elif Verlag. The opera Marian’s Song, for which she wrote the libretto, debuted in 2020. 

About Delita Martin

Delita Martin is an artist currently based in Huffman, Texas. She received a BFA in drawing from Texas Southern University and an MFA in printmaking from Purdue University. Formerly a member of the fine arts faculty at UA Little Rock in Arkansas, Martin currently works as a full-time artist in her studio, Black Box Press. Martin’s work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. Most recently Martin’s work was included in the State of the Arts: Discovering American Art Now, an exhibition that included 101 artists from around the United States. Her work is in numerous portfolios and collections.

*ZOOM LINK*

Join us as we celebrate the release of Golden Ax with Rio Cortez and poet author, Ariana Brown. 

EVENT DEETS

When: September 25 @7PM CST

Where: Virtual via Crowdcast

How: Register on this page or head over to register on Crowdcast directly using this link.  If you register using our website (with or without purchasing the book) and not Crowdcast, you will register a Crowdcast watch link at least 24 hours before the start of the event.

About the Book 

“Outstanding . . . the poetry in these pages is intelligent, lyrical, as invested in the past as the present and future with witty nods to pop culture.” —Roxane Gay, author of Hunger
 
“I’ve never read anything like it. Truly a sublime experience.” —Jason Reynolds, author of Ain’t Burned All the Bright

A groundbreaking collection about Afropioneerism past and present from Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and New York Times bestselling author Rio Cortez

From a visionary writer praised for her captivating work on Black history and experience, comes a poetry collection exploring personal, political, and artistic frontiers, journeying from her family's history as "Afropioneers" in the American West to shimmering glimpses of transcendent, liberated futures. 
 
In poems that range from wry, tongue-in-cheek observations about contemporary life to more nuanced meditations on her ancestors—some of the earliest Black pioneers to settle in the western United States after Reconstruction—Golden Ax invites readers to re-imagine the West, Black womanhood, and the legacies that shape and sustain the pursuit of freedom. 

About the Author 

Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, Rio Cortez is the New York Times bestselling author of The ABCs of Black History (Workman, 2020) and I Have Learned to Define a Field As a Space Between Mountains, winner of the 2015 Toi Dericotte and Cornelius Eady Chapbook Prize. Her honors include a Poets & Writers Amy Award, as well as fellowships from Cave Canem, Canto Mundo, The Jerome Foundation, and Poet’s House. Rio holds an MFA in Creative Writing from New York University.

About the Conversation Partner

Ariana Brown is a queer Black Mexican American poet from San Antonio, TX, currently based in Houston. She is the author of We Are Owed. (Grieveland, 2021) and Sana Sana (Game Over Books, 2020). Ariana’s work investigates queer Black personhood in Mexican American spaces, Black relationality and girlhood, loneliness, and care. She holds a B.A. in African Diaspora Studies and Mexican American Studies, an M.F.A. in Poetry, and is pursuing an M.L.S. in Library Science. Ariana is a 2014 national collegiate poetry slam champion and owes much of her practice to Black performance communities led by Black women poets from the South. She has been writing, performing, and teaching poetry for over ten years. Follow Ariana online @ArianaThePoet.