“Black Woman Gossip” Update: More Essential Black Women’s Story Collections

"Black Woman Gossip" listed my favorite black women story collections, including Alice's IN LOVE AND TROUBLE: STORIES OF BLACK WOMEN. In particular I noted the transfer of African oral tradition to the printed word, with the necessity to shortcut African-American speech for varieties of oppressive reasons leading to virtues of expression and cadence, and, of course, secrets. Since then, today's publication of Deesha Philyaw's THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIES (West Virginia University Press, 2020) pinched me like a church lady would, to tell me it's time for an update.

Tales From a Women-Activated Universe: Author Lisa B. DuBois on her debut story collection, OF LOVE AND SOUND MIND

Mrs. DuBois is a young master of its form, with characters I appreciate and respect within mere paragraphs of her writings of them, and full-circled or open-ended tales I can explore my own life and relationships through. The depth and variety of her public introductory work is profound. And, she is not stopping anytime soon…

My story “There Were Six” appears in Per Contra: An International Journal of The Arts, Literature, and Ideas

The number of black women and girls who go missing without a manhunt or trace continues. I am grateful to share my fictionalization of the predicament of deprioritized black women and girls as the story "There Were Six" in Per Contra: An International Journal of The Arts, Literature and Ideas. I don't presume to do justice to the realistic situation in a story, but please find some helpful links and resources included in this post.

What Billie and Phyllis Sang About

Read my story "What Billie and Phyllis Sang About", about an abandoned black woman left to survive alone in Harlem, in the new issue of Atticus Review. My favorite Billie Holiday and Phyllis Hyman music is on the story's companion soundtrack Here. #BillieandPhyllis

A Story and a Mentor’s Memoir

Look into my new story just published in Crack the Spine Literary Magazine: "The Incredibly Short Love Affair of Sixo Reese"... and the memoir WHAT COMES NEXT AND HOW TO LIKE IT by Abigail Thomas, the magnificent writer and teacher who taught the workshop where the story was born.

My Story IN 21 DAYS as part of Winter Tangerine Review’s “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” Project

Proud for the beautiful opportunity to be featured in this project published by Winter Tangerine Review. My story "In 21 Days" appears. I wrote the story to provide my energy to the reality of a disproportionate number of Black Americans who are sentenced to hard time or who await the death penalty.

“Drinking Alone”…my story debuts in Intellectual Refuge

Just in time for Friday Happy Hour...My story "Drinking Alone" debuts in Intellectual Refuge literary journal...