Givens Foundation | Black Market Reads

Black Market Reads is a menu for Black literary consumption and all of its spin-offs. Featuring Black artists who love to read and write and engage in arts and culture.

To listen to episodes and find great additional content about our authors and their work, visit our website (https://blackmarketreads.com/).

Join the conversation! Follow us on Facebook (@GivensFoundationforAfricanAmericanLiterature), rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, and share us with all your friends.

PRODUCER: The Givens Foundation for African American Literature
PRODUCTION SERVICES: iDream.tv

SEASON TWO - FOUR: Hosted by Lissa Jones

SEASON ONE: BMR was originated by Tana Hargest on behalf of The Givens Foundation, HOSTED BY Erin Sharkey and Junauda Petrus of Free Black Dirt, and other guest hosts as introduced, MUSIC: Sarah White - Through People [M¥K Remix]

Black Market Reads is made possible through the generous support of our individual donors, Target Foundation, and the voters of Minnesota, through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

For more information about the Givens Foundation, visit their website. (http://www.givens.org)

Episode 105 - Michael Kleber-Diggs, Worldly Things

Apr 15, 2026

In this powerful episode of Black Market Reads, host Lissa Jones sits down with award-winning poet Michael Kleber-Diggs to explore the depth and intention behind his collection Worldly Things. Their conversation moves fluidly between poetry, fatherhood, community, and the responsibility of bearing witness, as Diggs...

Episode 104 - Vanessa Riley, Fire Sword & Sea

Mar 27, 2026

In this episode, recorded during Women's History Month, Lissa talks with author Vanessa Riley about her latest historical novel. Riley—whose works have received high praise from New York Times, NPR, Washington Post, and Entertainment Weekly, among others—pushes historical fiction into bold new territory. She...

Episode 103 -Antonio Michael Downing, Saga Boy and Black Cherokee

Mar 10, 2026

Antonio Michael Downing is an author, speaker, and musical artist. His memoir Saga Boy was called “singularly dazzling” by Kiese Laymon and “the triumph of Blackness everywhere” by Scotiabank Giller Prize–winner Ian Williams. He is also the author of the children’s picture book Stars in My Crown and his...

Episode 102 - Ethelene Whitmire, The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram

Feb 26, 2026

The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram by Ethelene Whitmire tells the true story of Reed Peggram, a brilliant Black, queer Harvard scholar who went to Paris in 1937 and stayed through World War II for love, eventually escaping Nazi-occupied Italy with his partner, Arne Gerdahn Hauptmann, with the help of an all-Black...

Episode 101 - C.J. Farley - Who Knows You By Heart

Feb 10, 2026

Kicking off Season 11 and Black History Month- This conversation could not be more timely.

Part social thriller, part modern love story, Who Knows You by Heart by CJ Farley is a sly, witty, and endlessly discussable tale of Big Tech, new money, relationships, race, and discovering what’s real in an age of artificial...