#bil wright

[lgbtqreads]

Black History Month 2021

Black History Month 2021

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[julianwinters]

8 LGBTQIAP+ Books By Black Authors

by Kaitlin Mitchell As LGBTQIAP+ literature has become more prominent in the past years, there is still a serious lack of black LGBTQIAP+ voices being highlighted in publishing. We’re featuring 8 …

I am beyond honored to have my debut book, Running with Lions, included in this list of future LGBTQIAP+ books by incredibly talented black authors! Thank you @ya-pride for creating this list in celebration of Black History Month!

[lgbtqreads]

This is an annual feature that runs a little differently from the rest on LGBTQReads, as the post builds on itself each year and new titles/sections are added with asterisks. These books are all queer titles by Black authors, the vast majority of which star Black main characters. (Obviously this isn’t remotely exhaustive.)

Sites

Sistahs on the Shelf – SotS is run by Rena, a Black lesbian who reviews Black lesbian books. You can also follow on Twitter at @SotS!

WoC in Romance – this is a site highlighting all Romance written by WoC, but there’s a page just for LGBTQ Romances. It’s run by Rebekah Weatherspoon, whose name you may recognize as being a prolific author of LGBTQ lit herself! You can follow on Twitter at @WOCInRomance, and make sure you check out their Patreon; link is in the pinned tweet!

Black Lesbian Literary Collective – To nab from their site, “The Black Lesbian Literary Collective creates a nurturing and sustainable environment for Black lesbian and queer women of color writers.” Looking for more reviews of Black lesbian fic? Ta da! The site is new, so it’s not packed with posts just yet, but there is already an active radio show linked to it. Find them on Twitter at @LezWriters.

The Brown Bookshelf – this is a site dedicated to Black kidlit; here are the posts that come up if you search LGBT.

Books

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*=new additions this year

Middle-Grade

Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender (Stonewall Award Winner)

King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender

The House You Pass on the Way by Jacqueline Woodson

Young Adult

The Wicker King by K. Ancrum*

The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum

The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta* (Stonewall Award winner)

This is What it Feels Like by Rebecca Barrow

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron*

A Phoenix First Must Burn ed. by Patrice Caldwell

This is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender*

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert (Stonewall Award winner)

Until You Came Back by Jay Coles

Jake in the Box by Ryan Douglass

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi (National Book Award finalist)

The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons

Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

The Secrets of Eden by Brandon Goode

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Yesterday is History by Kosoko Jackson*

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson*

Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson*

Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann

If it Makes You Happy by Claire Kann

37 Things I Love (in No Particular Order) by Kekla Magoon

A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney

Escaping Mr. Rochester by L.L. McKinney*

Home and Away by Candice Montgomery (Bi LI)

By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery

The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus (CSK Nominee)

Odd One Out by Nic Stone

Running with Lions by Julian Winters

How to Be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters

The Summer of Everything by Julian Winters*

The Beauty that Remains by Ashley Woodfolk

Black Enough ed. by Ibi Zoboi

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NA/Adult Contemporary

The Way Back List by Lily Anderson*

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole

A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole*

Hamilton’s Battalion by Alyssa Cole, Courtney Milan, and Rose Lerner

A Hundred Thousand Words by Nyrae Dawn*

Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn

Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn

For Sizakele by Yvonne Fly Onakeme Etaghene

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo*

Work For It by Talia Hibbert*

Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala

The Spies Who Loved Her series by Katrina Jackson

The Welcome to Seaport series by Katrina Jackson

Neighborly by Katrina Jackson*

The Summer We Got Free by Mia McKenzie*

She Called Me Woman ed. by Azeenarh Mohammed, Chitra Nagarajan, and Aisha Salau

Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

When We Speak of Nothing by Olumide Popoola

You Make Me Wanna by Nikki Rashan*

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers*

Real Life by Brandon Taylor*

F*ths by G.L. Thomas

Sugar and Ice by Brooklyn Wallace

Tailor-Made by Yolanda Wallace

Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon

So Sweet by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Xeni by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Bliss by Fiona Zedde*

NA/Adult (Speculative)

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James*

To Terminator, With Love by Wes Kennedy

Shatterproof by Xen Sanders

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

The Deep by Rivers Solomon*

The Root by Na’amen Gobert Tilahun

Better off Red by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Every Dark Desire by Fiona Zedde

Comics/Graphic Novels*

Bingo Love by Tee Franklin

Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu

Memoirs*

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson (YA)

How We Fight for Our Lives by Saeed Jones

Redefining Realness by Janet Mock

Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me by Janet Mock

Poetry*

The Tradition by Jericho Brown

When the Only Light is Fire by Saeed Jones

Black Queer Hoe by Britteney Black Rose Kapri

Reacquainted With Life by KOKUMỌ

The Black Unicorn by Audre Lord

[insert] boy by Danez Smith

Homie by Danez Smith

Featured Authors

Katrina Jackson

Candice Montgomery

Julian Winters

Kayla Ancrum

Rebecca Barrow

Kacen Callender

Brandon L.G. Taylor

Rebekah Weatherspoon

Discussion Posts

Where is the Queer Black Male Voice in YA Lit?

Have more to share? Add them in the comments!

Black History Month 2020 This is an annual feature that runs a little differently from the rest on LGBTQReads, as the post builds on itself each year and new titles/sections are added with asterisks.

[lgbtqreads]

Last year, I posted this on the last day of Black History Month as part of the Around the Blogosqueer feature. This year, I thought it’d be nice to start a tradition of just adding to it every year as a BHM staple, keeping the old stuff but continuously providing new content, and posting it in th middle of February. Living history FTW.

Sites

Sistahs on the Shelf – SotS is run by Rena, a Black lesbian who reviews Black lesbian books. You can also follow on Twitter at @SotS!

WoC in Romance – this is a site highlighting all Romance written by WoC, but there’s a page just for LGBTQ Romances. It’s run by Rebekah Weatherspoon, whose name you may recognize as being a prolific author of LGBTQ lit herself! You can follow on Twitter at @WOCInRomance, and make sure you check out their Patreon; link is in the pinned tweet!

Black Lesbian Literary Collective – To nab from their site, “The Black Lesbian Literary Collective creates a nurturing and sustainable environment for Black lesbian and queer women of color writers.” Looking for more reviews of Black lesbian fic? Ta da! The site is new, so it’s not packed with posts just yet, but there is already an active radio show linked to it. Find them on Twitter at @LezWriters.

The Brown Bookshelf – this is a site dedicated to Black kidlit; here are the posts that come up if you search LGBT.

Books

*=new additions this year

Middle-Grade

Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender (Stonewall Award Winner)

The House You Pass on the Way by Jacqueline Woodson

Young Adult

The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum*

This is What it Feels Like by Rebecca Barrow

A Phoenix First Must Burn ed. by Patrice Caldwell*

This is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kheryn Callender

Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert (Stonewall Award winner)

Until You Came Back by Jay Coles*

Jake in the Box by Ryan Douglass*

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi*

The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons*

Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett*

The Secrets of Eden by Brandon Goode

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland*

A Place for Wolves by Kosoko Jackson

Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann

If it Makes You Happy by Claire Kann*

37 Things I Love (in No Particular Order) by Kekla Magoon*

A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney*

Home and Away by Candice Montgomery (Bi LI)

By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery*

The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus*

Odd One Out by Nic Stone*

Running with Lions by Julian Winters

How to Be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters*

The Beauty that Remains by Ashley Woodfolk*

Black Enough ed. by Ibi Zoboi*

NA/Adult Contemporary

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole*

Hamilton’s Battalion by Alyssa Cole, Courtney Milan, and Rose Lerner

Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn

Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn*

For Sizakele by Yvonne Fly Onakeme Etaghene*

Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala*

The Spies Who Loved Her series by Katrina Jackson*

The Welcome to Seaport series by Katrina Jackson*

She Called Me Woman ed. by Azeenarh Mohammed, Chitra Nagarajan, and Aisha Salau*

Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

When We Speak of Nothing by Olumide Popoola*

F*ths by G.L. Thomas

Sugar and Ice by Brooklyn Wallace*

Tailor-Made by Yolanda Wallace

Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon*

So Sweet by Rebekah Weatherspoon

NA/Adult (Speculative)

To Terminator, With Love by Wes Kennedy*

Shatterproof by Xen Sanders

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon*

The Root by Na’amen Gobert Tilahun*

Better off Red by Rebekah Weatherspoon*

Every Dark Desire by Fiona Zedde

Comics

Bingo Love by Tee Franklin*

Featured Authors

Rebecca Barrow

Kheryn Callender

Brandon L.G. Taylor

Rebekah Weatherspoon

Posts and Featured Authors

Where is the Queer Black Male Voice in YA Lit?

Have more to share? Add them in the comments!

  Black History Month 2019 Last year, I posted this on the last day of Black History Month as part of the Around the Blogosqueer feature.

[lgbtqreads]

Around the Blogosqueer: Queer Black Sites, Books, and Posts

Around the Blogosqueer: Queer Black Sites, Books, and Posts

On this final day of Black History Month of 2018, here are some books, sites, and posts to read, enjoy, promote, support, review, and share: Sites Sistahs on the Shelf – SotS is run by Rena, a Black lesbian who reviews Black lesbian books. You can also follow on Twitter at @SotS! WoC in Romance – this is a site highlighting all Romance written by WoC, but there’s a page just for LGBTQ Romances.…

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[blackchildrensbooksandauthors]

When the Black Girl Sings

Lahni Schuler is the only black student at her private prep school. She's also the adopted child of two loving, but white, parents who are on the road to divorce. Struggling to comfort her mother and angry with her dad, Lahni feels more and more alone. But when Lahni and her mother attend a local church one Sunday, Lahni hears the amazing gospel choir, and her life takes an unexpected turn.

It so happens that one of Lahni's teachers, Mr. Faringhelli, has nominated her for a talent competition, and she is expected to perform a song in front of the whole school. Lahni decides to join the church choir to help her become a better singer. But what starts out as a way to practice singing becomes a place of belonging and a means for Lahni to discover her own identity.

In this moving book, acclaimed author Bil Wright, tells the story of one girl's search to find a home where she truly belongs.

Bil Wright…

is an award-winning novelist and playwright. His novels include Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy (Lambda Literary Award and American Library Association Stonewall Book Award), the highly acclaimed When the Black Girl Sings (Junior Library Guild selection), and the critically acclaimed Sunday You Learn How to Box. His plays include Bloodsummer Rituals, based on the life of poet Audre Lorde (Jerome Fellowship)…read more

[cambridgeteenroom]

"Crooked eyeliner is so whack, it makes me nuts." -Carlos Duarte

Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy by Bil Wright Carlos Duarte is sixteen and has an amazing talent. Carlos has been applying makeup since he was a little kid. On his sister, on his sister's dolls, on his friends and on himself. By the time he's reached high school he's practically a professional. Even the emo rocker guys at his school ask him for advice. When Carlos gets the opportunity to work at the makeup counter for a high-end line at Macy's he's through the roof -- but of course, nothing is ever as easy as it seems. Carlos' family and friends support him in amazing (and hilarious) ways, but the other guys in the neighborhood seem to have trouble grasping his larger than life talents and personality. Throw in a horrific diva of a boss, a pair of "borrowed" (and ruined) Stella McCartney thigh-high boots, and his sister's increasingly violent boyfriend... and all the sudden Carlos' dream job looks like a nightmare. This book was great. The characters were funny but flawed, and the ending was the perfect combination of fairytale and realistic. I found myself shaking my head at Carlos from time to time, but ALWAYS cheering for him. And I picked up a few makeup tips. Think: Tiny Cooper from Will Grayson, Will Grayson meets The Devil Wears Prada.

[cbcdiversity]

Creating Book Covers As Both Mirror and Window

An It’s Complicated! — Book Covers guest post by Laurent Linn, Art Director at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Laurent LinnIt’s simply a fact. We judge books—like people—by their appearance.

  When looking for books, we like covers that have attractive/intriguing images and type, suggest genres we like, resemble books we’ve already enjoyed (but don’t resemble them too much as to feel derivative), and look new/current. Also extremely important is, for young readers, “Is this book about someone like me?” One little cover must carry a lot of weight.

  Children’s publishing is an ongoing experiment. There are no formulas, no set rules, and no guidebooks to successful covers. (If there were, all our books would be bestsellers I suppose.) But this challenge makes it fun. As an art director portraying diversity through design, I mainly rely on my own expertise, but also consider the informed opinions of sales and marketing colleagues. In addition to being an art form, publishing is a business, after all. Designing a book dealing with diversity can be a complex art/commerce balancing act.

  In Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy, by Bil Wright, Carlos faces discrimination for being gay, overweight, and Hispanic. However, he’s also out and proud. I knew an important consideration was to make sure the book, while about a specific character, appeal to a wide range of readers. So, how to create a cover that says “hey, this book is about someone like you” while also saying “hey, this book is about a guy who’s not like you but has similar problems”? The title is intriguing and says a lot already, so, for the image, I wanted to show a proud, sassy kid without literally showing him. By using a silhouette, readers can impose their own image of who they think that character is. In essence, encouraging a reader to know Carlos first before potentially judging him by his appearance. Just what most kids yearn for every day.

  For the powerful novel A Certain October, by Angela Johnson, I wanted to show the main character but, more than that, I wanted to portray a feeling that all kids relate to: hope. Scotty is an African-American girl, but the book is much more about surviving tragedy—something shared by everyone in varying degrees. By focusing on a universal emotion first, then a specific character second, my hope is that this cover satisfies the dual need of appealing to African-American girls specifically while appealing to all other readers as well.

  Gay. Lesbian. Bi. Questioning. Hispanic. Asian. White. Boyfriends with Girlfriends, by Alex Sanchez, has it all. Creating the cover for this wonderful novel was quite the challenge. How to show a diverse group of friends discovering their sexualities in a way that would (hopefully) satisfy all the gate-keepers and potential readers? Look sexy but not too sexy? Be commercial and literary? Appear polished but also make an emotional connection to kids who need a book like this?

  To achieve these goals (or as many as possible in one image), I aimed to create a cover that looks “hot”, like a movie poster, but shows the characters interacting in ways that suggest the story’s complexities. Casting models who resemble the characters was key, of course, as was posing them to be true to their relationships (it was quite a photo shoot)!

  Judging by appearance also includes clothes. I dressed the models in character appropriate costumes, but decided in the end to make them gray. This way, you first notice the overall similarities of the characters—the diverse yet alike warm skin tones and cool clothing tones—then, as you look closer, you see the differences.

  You can’t please everyone. But if you can create a cover that first appeals to the adult gate-keepers, then connects with enough kids (whether looking in a mirror or seeing through a window), so that a book not only sells many copies but also makes a difference in many lives, then I consider that a success.