Talking With Authors Podcast

Kenesha Williams is an author, editor and publisher who’s every work truly captures the meaning of magic. Kenesha is the publisher of “Black Girl Magic Lit Magazine”. A magazine dedicated to showcasing speculative fiction that feature black women as the central character. Like Ms. Williams shares in the interview, the stories in the magazine truly do have “black girls who are magical”. Kenesha Williams is also the author of “Do for Love”. A magical realism story that features Virginia Bridgeforth, a young lady who is pushed into the role of being a detective thanks to her magical power.

In this interview with Kenesha Williams we discuss the following:

  • A little bit about Kenesha’s background and how it set the stage for the work she is doing now
  • Kenesha’s motivation for writing “Do for Love” and what she wanted to explore in this story
  • How the story in “Do for Love” illustrates the dramatic difference in the lives of black people today vs black people who lived in the late 40s and early 50s
  • Kenesha’s interest in the magical realism genre and how this genre helps her create a story that is relatable to more people
  • We drift off into a brief discussion of how grandmothers will brag on their grandchildren even from the spirit world
  • Kenesha shares a list of African American mystery authors she reads and how Walter Mosley inspires her
  • The motivation for the creation of “Black Girl Magic Lit Magazine”
  • The need for “Black Girl Magic Lit Magazine” and the process of creating the magazine
  • A brief discussion of the speculative fiction genre
  • A brief discussion of the five published issues and news about the next issue
  • A funny discussion on the relationship black people have with the horror genre
  • Kenesha Williams’ work with WriteAhead Publishing(www.writeaheadpub.com) and the box sets they are producing
  • And so much more…

More about Talking With Authors Podcast

It’s a Great Time for Black Creatives: An Interview with Black Girl Magic Magazine’s Founder (Black Nerd Problems)

Black Nerd Problems: What’s your favorite song or scene from Lemonade. And “I prefer Rhianna’s Anti” is a valid answer. Is there a song there that fits to your style of activism?

Kenesha Williams: My favorite song from Lemonade has to be “Don’t Hurt Yourself” with “Freedom” coming in at a very close second, almost a tie. In fact I wrote an article about the song and it’s parallels to Zora Neale Hurston’s short story “Sweat” on Medium, but never hit Publish because I felt like there were so many think pieces out on the album. I had written it a week after the album dropped, after 1 million articles have been written on it and then the Lemonade syllabus came out. I feel like the song, like Hurston’s story, is one about a singular marriage but it’s infused with universal truths about the relationship dynamics between men and women. And like the song, the woman Delia in “Sweat” is also a woman that can take a care of herself in a financial sense and doesn’t need a man for her survival. I think the idea of a woman having her own agency is both revolutionary and necessary.

BNP: What was the 1st piece of media that reinforced your own personal Black Girl Magic?

KW: I would say the first piece of media that reinforced my own personal Black Girl Magic had to be Alice Walker’s book The Temple of my Familiar. It was the first piece of adult spec fiction I’d ever read and the character of Miss Lissie, who was an ancient goddess who’d been reincarnated hundreds of times, was a revelation to me. This book taught me history in a way that no history class ever taught me and the character was once again a woman who had her own agency. The other main character of the book was a young woman named Fanny who finds herself by listening to her dreams, and journeys back to Africa to meet the descendants of her ancestors. It was one of the first books I read that spoke of women who look like me and had them doing fantastic and important things.

Read More at Black Nerd Problems.

Katara's Cafe

Ladies & Gents, this month is a special month on Katara's Cafe! I am celebrating the paranormal/horror authors this month! My first show this month I am going to be chatting with Founder of Black Girl Magic Literary Magazine Kenesha Williams !! As this month is Black Speculative Fiction we will discussing the origins of this and why is it so important that we start recognizing these authors. So grab your hot apple cider and ...................... TURN ON , TUNE IN, and TURN UP!!!!!!!!!