Chosen as a Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by Oprah’s Book Club, Reader's Digest, The Rumpus, Kirkus Reviews, The Millions, Lit Hub, and more. “Fans of The Underground Railroad, The Water Dancer, and Let Us Descend will devour this lyrical and surreal saga.” – Oprah Daily From a writer of singular voice and vision, a mesmerizing epic that reimagines the past to explore the true nature of freedom In this ingenious, sweeping novel, Phillip B. Williams introduces us to an enigmatic woman named Saint, a fearsome conjuror who, in the 1830s, annihilates plantations all over Arkansas to rescue the people enslaved there. She brings those she has freed to a haven of her own creation: a town just north of St. Louis, magically concealed from outsiders, named Ours. It is in this miraculous place that Saint’s grand experiment—a truly secluded community where her people may flourish—takes root. But although Saint does her best to protect the inhabitants of Ours, over time, her conjuring and memories begin to betray her, leaving the town vulnerable to intrusions by newcomers with powers of their own. As the cracks in Saint’s creation are exposed, some begin to wonder whether the community’s safety might be yet another form of bondage. Set over the course of four decades and steeped in a rich tradition of American literature informed by Black surrealism, mythology, and spirituality, Ours is a stunning exploration of the possibilities and limitations of love and freedom by a writer of capacious vision and talent.

Every pre-ordered copy of Lift Every Voice will be signed.

From award-winning poet and novelist Phillip B. Williams, an astonishing new collection that revels in the possibility of creating one's own light

Captivating for both its grandeur and intimacy, Lift Every Voice explores the capacity for the past to be both a source of dread and empowerment, an unshakable reminder of violence and an indelible testament to the endurance of love. In virtuosic poems that are wise, musical, richly layered, and saturated with vivid imagery, Williams honors a mother "who knew seven ways to say bitch under her breath," a grandma whose smile "reflects the world," and wonders at "the impossible lift" of forgiveness. Lift Every Voice is a staggering tribute to personal and collective evolutions, a vital chorus that answers only to God, community, and the empowered self.

Winner of the 2022 American Book Award
Finalist for the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry 
Longlisted for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award
Finalist for Publishing Triangle’s Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry
Named one of the Best Books of 2021 by The Boston Globe and Lit Hub

From the critically acclaimed author of Thief in the Interior who writes with "a lucid, unmitigated humanity" (Boston Review), a startling new collection about revolt and renewal

Mutiny: a rebellion, a subversion, an onslaught. In poems that rebuke classical mythos and western canonical figures, and embrace Afro-Diasporanfolk and spiritual imagery, Phillip B. Williams conjures the hell of being erased, exploited, and ill-imagined and then, through a force and generosity of vision, propels himself into life, selfhood, and a path forward. Intimate, bold, and sonically mesmerizing, Mutiny addresses loneliness, desire, doubt, memory, and the borderline between beauty and tragedy. With a ferocity that belies the tenderness and vulnerability at the heart of this remarkable collection, Williams honors the transformative power of anger, and the clarity that comes from allowing that anger to burn clean.

Celebrate the release of Lift Every Voice with Phillip B. Williams!

EVENT DEETS

When: Tuesday, July 14 @ 7PM

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin Street, Houston, TX 77004)

How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to get a copy of Lift Every Voice and our store programming. 

Please note that copies of Lift Every Voice that were not purchased at Kindred Stories will not be allowed in the event and you will not be eligible for the signing/photo line. You must buy a book from Kindred Stories.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Captivating for both its grandeur and intimacy, Lift Every Voice explores the capacity for the past to be both a source of dread and empowerment, an unshakable reminder of violence and an indelible testament to the endurance of love. In virtuosic poems that are wise, musical, richly layered, and saturated with vivid imagery, Williams honors a mother “who knew seven ways to say bitch under her breath,” a grandma whose smile “reflects the world,” and wonders at “the impossible lift” of forgiveness. Lift Every Voice is a staggering tribute to personal and collective evolutions, a vital chorus that answers only to God, community, and the empowered self.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Phillip B. Williams is the author of the novel Ours and two collections of poetry: Thief in the Interior, which was the winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and a Lambda Literary Award; and Mutiny, which was a finalist for the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry and the winner of a 2022 American Book Award. Williams is also the recipient of a Whiting Award and fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and the National Endowment for the Arts. Raised in Chicago, he is currently a professor of creative writing at Rice University and founding faculty of the Randolph College Low-res MFA.

Join us to commemorate Phillip B. Williams's first novel, Ours: A Novel!

EVENT DEETS

When: Sunday, October 27 @ 3PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2304 Stuart Street, HTX, 77004)

How: RSVP ONLY to reserve you seat (and bring your own copy) or RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your copy. 

If you are student or in financial need, please reach out to inquire about a free ticket.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In this ingenious, sweeping novel, Phillip B. Williams introduces us to an enigmatic woman named Saint, a fearsome conjuror who, in the 1830s, annihilates plantations all over Arkansas to rescue the people enslaved there. She brings those she has freed to a haven of her own creation: a town just north of St. Louis, magically concealed from outsiders, named Ours.

It is in this miraculous place that Saint’s grand experiment—a truly secluded community where her people may flourish—takes root. But although Saint does her best to protect the inhabitants of Ours, over time, her conjuring and memories begin to betray her, leaving the town vulnerable to intrusions by newcomers with powers of their own. As the cracks in Saint’s creation are exposed, some begin to wonder whether the community’s safety might be yet another form of bondage.

Set over the course of four decades and steeped in a rich tradition of American literature informed by Black surrealism, mythology, and spirituality, Ours is a stunning exploration of the possibilities and limitations of love and freedom by a writer of capacious vision and talent.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Phillip B. Williams is from Chicago, Illinois, and is the author of two collections of poetry: Thief in the Interior, which was the winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and a Lambda Literary Award, and Mutiny, which was a finalist for the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry Collection and the winner of a 2022 American Book Award. Williams is also the recipient of a Whiting Award and fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and the National Endowment for the Arts. He currently teaches in the MFA in creative writing program at New York University and the Randolph College low-residency MFA.

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

Kiese Laymon is a Black southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi. Laymon is the Libbie Shearn Moody Professor of English and Creative Writing at Rice University. Laymon is the author of Long Division, which won the 2022 NAACP Image Award for fiction, and the essay collection, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, named a notable book of 2021 by the New York Times critics. Laymon’s bestselling memoir, Heavy: An American Memoir, won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, the Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose, the Barnes and Noble Discovery Award, the Austen Riggs Erikson Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media, and was named one of the 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years by The New York Times. The audiobook, read by the author, was named the Audible 2018 Audiobook of the Year. Laymon is the recipient of 2020-2021 Radcliffe Fellowship at Harvard. Laymon is at work on the books, Good God, and City Summer, Country Summer, and a number of other film and television projects. He is the founder of “The Catherine Coleman Literary Arts and Justice Initiative,” a program based out of the Margaret Walker Center at Jackson State University, aimed at aiding young people in Jackson get more comfortable reading, writing, revising and sharing on their on their own terms, in their own communities. Kiese Laymon was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2022.

“This Great Hospital Fight” – Dr. Drake

At the height of racial and political tensions in early twentieth-century Houston, two unlikely figures became allies. Dr. William M. Drake, a pioneering surgeon and Black community leader, and Joseph Cullinan, a White oil magnate and founder of the company that became Texaco, united in a desperate effort to save a hospital that symbolized hope. The Houston Negro Hospital was born from America’s Black Hospital Movement. Dedicated Juneteenth 1926, it embodied a bold experiment to bring dignity and healthcare access to a community systematically denied both in the Jim Crow south.

Journalist and storyteller Carlton Houston―whose ancestors played a role in this remarkable heritage―reveals the untold, human drama behind the institution that would become Riverside General. Recount the vision, conflict, and resilience that shaped a century of healthcare through the struggle of those determined to save lives.

Celebrate the release of The Houston Negro Hospital with Carlton Houston!

EVENT DEETS

When: Monday, June 15 @ 6PM

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

How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to get your copy of The Houston Negro Hospital and to support our store programming. If you already have a copy of the book that you bought from Kindred Stories, please use RSVP BUT I BOUGHT FROM KINDRED STORIES. If you bought your book from another retailer, you are required to register using RSVP BUT I BOUGHT THE BOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE.

Please note that copies of The Houston Negro Hospital not purchased at Kindred Stories will not be allowed in the event unless you register using RSVP BUT I BOUGHT THE BOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE.

ABOUT THE BOOK

At the height of racial and political tensions in early twentieth-century Houston, two unlikely figures became allies. Dr. William M. Drake, a pioneering surgeon and Black community leader, and Joseph Cullinan, a white oil magnate and founder of the company that became Texaco, united in a desperate effort to save a hospital that symbolized hope. The Houston Negro Hospital was born from America’s Black hospital movement. Dedicated on Juneteenth 1926, it embodied a bold experiment to bring dignity and health care access to a community that was systematically denied both in the Jim Crow South.

Journalist and storyteller Carlton Houston—whose ancestors played a role in this remarkable heritage—reveals the untold, human drama behind the institution that would become Riverside General. Discover the vision, conflict, and resilience that shaped a century of health care through the struggle of those determined to save lives.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carlton Houston is an Emmy Award–winning journalist and storyteller whose work is distinguished by its clarity, restraint, and cinematic precision. A former television reporter and anchor, he is known for transforming complex histories into narratives that reveal both human vulnerability and structural truth. Shaped in part by a family legacy tied to Houston’s historic medical community, Houston's writing is marked by a commitment to illuminating stories that have long existed in the margins of American history. Houston Negro Hospital, the Untold Legacy of Riverside General is his debut work of long-form narrative nonfiction.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

Dr. Michelle Watts is a native Houstonian and humanities educator who is committed to using humanist literature to bring diverse groups of people together to find common ground. Over the years, Dr. Watts has taught a full range of students – from Kindergarten to graduate school- and delights in her students’ achievements and efforts to effect substantive change in the world around them.

Mount Holyoke College which was fertile ground for her interests and activism and while there, she began her lifelong journey with the theory and practice of Black feminism. After graduating from Mount Holyoke College, Michelle returned to Houston to study American Literature and Culture at Rice University, where she earned both a Master’s and Doctorate. She went on to teach at Miami University in Oxford, OH and the University of Cincinnati. While at Miami, she was recognized as an Honored Professor for her ‘remarkable commitment to students.’ She has extensive experience in the public sector where she has worked to advance educational equity and social justice causes in youth-serving organizations. She is currently at work on a research project on African American children’s and young adult literature, and is the New Member Coordinator for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Houston Chapter.

From the two-time Emmy Award–winning producer and host of the Black and Published podcast comes a sweeping multi-generational epic following seven generations of Dupree women as they navigate love, loss, and the unyielding ties of family in the tradition of Homegoing and The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois.

It’s 1995, and fourteen-year-old Tati is determined to uncover the identity of her father. But her mother, Nadia, keeps her secrets close, while her grandmother Gladys remains silent about the family’s past, including why she left Land’s End, Alabama, in 1953. As Tati digs deeper, she uncovers a legacy of family secrets, where every generation of Dupree women has posed more questions than answers.

From Jubi in 1917, whose attempt to pass for white ends when she gives birth to Ruby; to Ruby’s fiery lust for Sampson in 1934 that leads to a baby of her own; to the night in 1980 that changed Nadia’s future forever, the Dupree women carry the weight of their heritage. Bound by a mysterious malediction that means they will only give birth to daughters, the Dupree women confront a legacy of pain, resilience, and survival that began with an enslaved ancestor who risked everything for freedom.

The Seven Daughters of Dupree masterfully weaves together themes of generational trauma, Black women’s resilience, and unbreakable familial bonds. Echoing the literary power of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis, Nikesha Elise Williams delivers a feminist literary fiction that explores the ripple effects of actions, secrets, and love through seven generations of Black women.

Everyone can be an activist with the guidance of Omkari Williams, a life coach who guides readers in identifying their "activist archetype" and mapping a personal action plan for engaging in small, change-making activities with potentially big impacts.

A late bloomer thought a visit to a sex club might jump start her love life, but instead makes an instant connection that turns her whole world upside down, in this adult debut from author Zakiya N. Jamal.

When Stella Renee Johnson's roommate invites her to a sex club party but bails at the last minute, Stella decides to use the opportunity to finally cash in her V-card. But just when things are heating up between Stella and a sexy stranger, they realize they don’t have protection and Stella, taking it as a sign this wasn't meant to be, flees.

Frustrated in more ways than one, Stella is shocked to learn that the digital media website where she works is partnering with an AI company. She's even more shocked when the alluring man from the previous night walks in. Max Williams is the CEO's brother and the creator of the AI program now threatening her job.

Despite the conflict of interest, Stella and Max can't resist their magnetic attraction toward each other, and agree to keep their personal lives separate from what’s happening at work. But the more similarities they discover at home—both Black, book smart, and bisexual—the more they butt heads at work. Stella and Max must decide whether to think with their heads and walk away from their budding relationship, or follow their hearts and take a chance on love, no matter the cost.

There’s more than one way to love and more than one place to call home in this rousing small-town romantic comedy that’s sure to charm fans of Hannah Bonam-Young’s Next to You and Ashley Herring Blake’s Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date

There’s no fix for a lonely heart like a little TLC…

Jessica Jae-un Miller came to Peach Blossom, Georgia, for a visit, not a breakdown. But when her rental car dies on the outskirts of town, mechanic Lavenia “Vini” Williams provides a tow—and a very welcome jump start to Jessica’s heart. It’s been a minute since Jessica’s last fling—her relationship specialty—and Vini checks all the right boxes. If only the sexy car whisperer seemed interested…

Vini knows herself and what she wants. She loves her job, her family, her hometown—but she’d love to fall in love. Jessica stirs up all the right feelings, but the city girl has no intention of staying in Peach Blossom. Why sign up for a broken heart?

But the temptation is real as Vini goes out of her way to drive a carless Jessica around town. The pair can’t seem to keep their distance—or their hands to themselves. With only six weeks to figure out where their red-hot chemistry might lead, Vini and Jessica will have to decide if home can be where the heart is when the heart only knows how to run.

From showing up to glowing up, the characters in Afterglow Books are on the path to leading their best lives and finding sizzling romance along the way. Don’t miss any of these other fun titles…

Peach Blossom

Book 1: The 7-10 Split
Book 2: The Relationship Mechanic
Book 3: The Secret Crush Book Club