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This episode features our conversation with Emely Rumble, LICSW, which was live-streamed on December 2, 2025.

Emely Rumble, LICSW is a distinguished licensed clinical social worker, school social worker, and seasoned biblio/psychotherapist with over 15 years of professional experience. Committed to making mental health services more accessible, Emely specializes in the transformative practice of bibliotherapy.

Rumble is passionate about advocating for the integration of creative arts in psychotherapy, mental well-being, and self-improvement. Emely champions the social model of disability and embraces a neurodiversity-affirming therapeutic approach. Emely’s work has been featured in respected publications such as Parents Magazine, ‘School Library Journal’, Dazed Magazine, Success Magazine, BronxNet News, The Bronx is Reading, Essence Magazine, CNN Health, The New York Times, Bustle Wellness and Therapy for Black Girls among other publications. Her debut book, Bibliotherapy in the Bronx (Row House Publishing, 2025), explores the modality of literature based therapy in healing practice.

In this transformative work, Rumble offers readers an intimate glimpse into her journey as a psychotherapist in the Bronx, where she has spent over 14 years using books to help clients navigate complex emotions, heal from trauma, and find their voices. Through vivid anecdotes and real-world case studies, she demonstrates how literature can serve as a bridge between personal pain and collective healing.

Rich with practical tips, reflective exercises, and book recommendations, Bibliotherapy in The Bronx is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the power of words to change lives. Whether you're a therapist, educator, bibliophile, or simply someone seeking deeper understanding and growth, this book offers a compassionate, culturally affirming guide to the transformative potential of storytelling.

Rumble's work is a testament to the enduring power of books to heal, empower, and liberate. In a time when the world feels increasingly divided, Bibliotherapy in The Bronx reminds us that the stories we tell—and the stories we read—can unite us in our shared humanity.

To learn more about Emely and her work, please visit LiterapyNYC.podia.com.

Find Emely on Instagram: @literapy_NYC

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This episode features our conversation with Jodi-Ann Burey, which was live-streamed on November 18, 2025.

Jodi-Ann Burey (she/her) is a writer and critic who works at the intersections of race, culture, and health equity. She is the author of Authentic: The Myth of Bringing Your Full Self to Work (Flatiron Books, 2025), which we discussed during this episode.

Beyond the written word, Jodi-Ann stands out as a catalytic orator, having conducted over 100 keynotes, panels, and interviews - including TEDx. Inspired by her personal journey and professional experience in public health, Jodi-Ann is also the creator and host of Black Cancer, a podcast about the lives of people of color through their cancer journeys. Jodi-Ann is the co-creator and host of Lit Lounge, a curated book collection and author interview series, and the creator and host of Lit Lounge: The People’s Art, a monthly prose and poetry salon.

An alum of Boston College and the University of Michigan, Jodi-Ann has over 15 years of entrepreneurial, corporate, non-profit and start-up professional experience. Her writing has been supported by Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation (VONA), The Hambidge Center for Creative Arts & Sciences, The Virginia Center for Creative Arts (VCCA) and the Vermont Studio Center.

She enjoys snowboarding, oil painting and prides herself on being a cool auntie and a reluctant dog owner.

Jodi-Ann was born in Jamaica, lives in Seattle, Washington and will always call New York City home.

Jodi-Ann’s Authentic delves into the dangers of disclosure in environments that aren’t built for our well-being. With insights from pop culture, academic research, and interviews with other professionals of color, Burey argues that we deserve better than shallow ploys for representation.

To learn more about Jodi-Ann, please visit https://jodiannburey.com/.

Purchase a copy of Authentic.

Watch Jodi-Ann's TED Talk.

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This episode features our conversation with Michael D. Whitney, which was live-streamed on November 9, 2025.

Michael D. Whitney is the author of Annetta's Michael: Living Life After Death Changes Everything. He is a new author on a path to share his profound individual and unrefined journey with the world. Michael's passion and deep love for creative writing evolved from an early adolescent age of 11, writing poetry and short stories, not knowing that his captivation by the power of words would one day be told with such vivid detail based on tragedy. Sustaining his own motivation, Michael's goal is to inspire and encourage the positive outlook on various challenges that individuals encounter throughout their lives.

His debut Memoir, Annetta's Michael: Living Life After Death Changes Everything, is a true testimony to survival, faith and the power of resilence. When not writing, Michael, this Louisville, Kentucky native and youngest of seven enjoys fishing, and cooking.

Find Michael on Instagram: @bookbrutha

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This episode features our conversation with Sherese Francis (poetry.), which was live-streamed on November 2, 2025.

Sherese Francis (she/they) describes themselves as an AlkyMist of the I-Magination, finding expression through poetry, interdisciplinary arts (collage, book and paper arts, sound and performance art, text art), workshop facilitation, editing, and literary curation. Their work takes inspiration from their Afro-Caribbean heritage (Barbados and Dominica), and studies in Afrofuturism and Black Speculative Arts, mythology and etymology. Some of their work has been published in Women’s Studies Quarterly, Furious Flower, Obsidian, Rootwork Journal, The Caribbean Writer, The Operating System, Cosmonauts Avenue, No Dear, Apex Magazine, Bone Bouquet, African Voices, Newtown Literary, and Free Verse.

Sherese has received grants and awards from Queens Council on the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, and The Caribbean Writer, residencies from WorksonWater, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Akademie Schloss Solitude, SeaSalted Honey in Senegal, Oroko Radio, and Powerhouse, and fellowships from Voodoonauts, Baldwin for the Arts and Anaphora Arts.

Additionally, Sherese has published four chapbooks, Lucy’s Bone Scrolls (Three Legged Elephant, 2017), Variations on Sett/ling Seed/ling (Harlequin Creature, 2018), Recycling a Why That Rules Over My Sacred Sight (DoubleCross Press, 2021) and Lady Liberty Smashing Stones (THRASH Press, 2022), and edited a poetry anthology/guided journal, Baby Suggs and a Purple Butterfly (Get Fresh Books, 2024). Sherese won Inverted Syntax’s 2024 Aggrey Book Prize for Poetry for PollyNation: A Seminary of Self, which will be published in 2027.

Find Sherese Francis online: https://futuristicallyancient.com/about-me/

Find Sherese Francis on Instagram: @afutureancient

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This episode features our conversation with Naomi Rivers.

Naomi Rivers writes lesbian romance and women’s fiction. Naomi Rivers is a wife writing team who believes in romance, fairy tales, and happily ever after. Their first novel, THIS: A Simple, Complex Love Story, was written over twenty years to maintain their connection during multiple deployments. They are both retired U.S. military veterans and reside with their two rescue dogs on the east coast. Naomi’s work has appeared in I Heart SapphFic’s anthology Favorite Scenes from Favorite Authors and From a Black Perspective: The Homeland. Their second book, Why Not Us? was released on November 11. 2025.

Learn more about their work: https://www.naomiriversbooks.com/

Purchase THIS: A Simple, Complex Love Story: https://bookshop.org/a/114101/9798987329702

Purchase Why Not Us?: https://bookshop.org/a/114101/9798987329733

Find Naomi Rivers on Instagram: @naomiriversbooks

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This episode features our conversation with Dorsía Smith Silva, which was live-streamed on October 19, 2025. We chatted about her debut poetry collection, In Inheritance of Drowning (CavanKerry Press, 2024).

In this striking debut, Dorsía Smith Silva explores the devastating effects of Hurricane María in Puerto Rico, highlighting the natural world, the lasting impact of hurricanes, and the marginalization of Puerto Ricans. These poems also focus on the multiple sites of oppression in the United States, especially the racial, social, and political injustices that occur every day. Smith Silva writes with a powerful, gripping voice, confronting the “drowning” of disenfranchised communities as they are displaced, exploited, and robbed of their identities, but remain resilient. Written with unflinching language and vivid imagery, In Inheritance of Drowning reveals the many facets of the lives of marginalized people.

To learn more about Dorsía and her work, please visit her website at dorsiasmithsilva.com.

Purchase your copy of In Inheritance of Drowning TODAY by clicking here.

Here's the list of Caribbean authors mentioned during the interview (information on each writer is hyperlinked in their names): Velma Pollard, Shara McCallum, Dionne Brand, Lorna Goodison, M. NourbeSe Philip, and V. S. Naipaul.

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This episode features our conversation with Tiriq Rashad, which was live-streamed on October 17, 2025 as a part of our National Black Poetry Day marathon. We chatted about his recently released spoken word album, Kiss My Art.

Tiriq Rashad, a proud native of “Atlantic-Ville” (Atlantic City and Pleasantville), blends his social work background with a gift for storytelling to create work rooted in resilience, authenticity, and healing. Author of A Diamond In God’s Dirt and shine through our shade: an evolution of self-love, his writing has earned praise from readers and icons like Nikki Giovanni for its powerful reflection of both universal and Black experiences.

Kiss My Art, which was released on October 17, 2025, is a soul-baring journey through grief, identity, and creative liberation. Merging spoken word with jazz and hip-hop, the album unfolds like a living memoir.

Purchase Kiss My Art, directly on Bandcamp.

Check out Nicole's spoken word album, IN/Put: Live from the Valley on Apple Music or Amazon Music

Find Tiriq Rashad on Instagram: @tiriq_rashad

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This episode features our conversation with Synnika Alek-Chizoba Lofton, which was live-streamed on October 17, 2025 as a part of our National Black Poetry Day marathon.

Synnika Alek-Chizoba Lofton is an award-winning poet, educator, Pushcart Prize nominee, and publisher. Lofton is the author of more than thirty-five collections of poetry and more than one-hundred and seventy spoken word albums. His poems have appeared in Clock House Journal, Revenge, UpStreet, Experience Reality Magazine, Quay, Dissident Voice, The Skinny Poetry Journal, Mid-Atlantic Review, and Blue-Collar Review. He earned both a B.A. in Creative Writing and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Goddard College. He has held teaching positions at Chesapeake Bay Academy, Norfolk State University, and Elizabeth City State University.

To learn more about Synnika and his work, please visit www.iamsynnika.com.

Special thanks to Dr. Khadijah Ali-Coleman (featured on Season Five, Episode Four) and Black Writers for Peace and Social Justice for introducing us to Synnika.

Find Synnika on Instagram: @i_am_synnika

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