Kalisha Buckhanon's Blog, page 2

Hurston-Wright Foundation nominates SPEAKING OF SUMMER for Best Fiction

SPEAKING OF SUMMER is nominated for a Hurston-Wright Foundation Legacy Award in Fiction. The Legacy Awards were established in 2001 to award books by Black writers. Kalisha’s first novel UPSTATE was a Debut Fiction Finalist in 2006. The Foundation will host authors for virtual readings and events on October 17th before the announcement of winners.

See all the nominees here: https://www.hurstonwright.org/announc....

Summer buzz for SPEAKING OF SUMMER...

Thank you readers and book buyers for all your ratings, reviews and sharing for SPEAKING OF SUMMER. You made another season of interest for the novel's paperback! Here were the July highlights.

JULY
Pop Sugar added the novel to its "2020 Summer Reading Challenge" as 1 book to read with "summer" in the title. Join the challenge here: https://www.popsugar.com/entertainmen....

Buzzfeed named the novel as 1 of "The Best Paperback Releases of July." Article here: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/....

Off the Shelf named the novel 1 of "11 of the Hottest Books New in Paperback." See it here: https://offtheshelf.com/2020/07/new-p....

Book People named the novel 1 of "Summer Reads 2020." View their selections here: https://www.bookpeople.com/summer-rea....

Oak Park Public Library selected it as 1 of "Dark thrillers for a not-so-typical summer." Check it out: https://www.oppl.org/news-events/auth....

Kalisha's hometown Kankakee Public Library read the novel as its first selection upon re-opening for the "Soul Collections Book Club." Check them out here: https://www.lions-online.org/.

SPEAKING OF SUMMER arrives in paperback.

Thank you for reviewing, rating and following SPEAKING OF SUMMER here! The paperback released today. Re-read at the beach, give as a gift or choose for your book clubs and organizations.

Opening of SPEAKING OF SUMMER premieres in Kweli Journal

If you have yet to get SPEAKING OF SUMMER, start reading now at Kweli Journal, where publisher Laura Pegram premieres the novel's opening.

Kweli's mission and programming includes the journal, workshops, conferences, keynoted events and partnerships with Poets House, Word Up Bookstore, Black@NYT and more. In 2015, Kalisha's story "Tatiana" appeared in the Fall Issue.

SPEAKING OF SUMMER's Pub Month Highlights: Reviews, Interviews, Events and More...

Speaking of Summer's July 30 release continued a streak of events, media and praise as one of the most anticipated novel releases of 2019. Thank you for following here, rating and reviewing. Here are a few highlights to enjoy:

Look for Event Photos on Kalisha's Instagram and Facebook.

Kalisha appears next in Chicago (9/18), St. Louis (9/21) and Minneapolis (9/26). Check out Event Listings.

Interviews:
All of It with Alison Stewart (radio)
Dreamleapers with Harriette Cole (radio)
Write or Die Tribe
Chicago Review of Books

Reviews:
Chicago Defender
Audiofile Magazine
Write or Die Tribe
Shelf Awareness
Pen America
New City

More nice listings in Chicago Sun-Times, The Skimm, Bustle and The Booklist Reader.

Buy the August O: The Oprah Magazine to see SPEAKING OF SUMMER's review by Tayari Jones.

On newsstands now! The August 2019 issue of O: The Oprah Magazine featuring SPEAKING OF SUMMER as a featured book this summer. Reviewer Tayari Jones, Women’s Prize for Fiction winner of the Oprah's Book Club Pick AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE, praises the novel because it aims to "raise universal questions about mental illness, racism and love."

Buy this issue to see Jones's essay "My Sister, Myself" and share the review online here at O Magazine.

You can start SPEAKING OF SUMMER before its Tuesday release!

Get an early start on the book that's already a Sisters in Crime Book Club Central July pick with even more picks in Essence, O Magazine, TIME, USA Today, Washington Post, the BBC, Cosmopolitan, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Booklist (starred review), Crimereads, Mystery Scene and more.

Just join Kalisha's email newsletter before 8:00 p.m. Monday, July 29. You will have the first chapter emailed to you!

Read an excerpt of SPEAKING OF SUMMER in FICTION.

SPEAKING OF SUMMER reveals its first lengthy excerpt in FICTION Magazine, published out of City University of New York. The portion, “Searching on 147th Street,” captures heroine Autumn Spencer’s desperation to find her sister Summer in the legendarily colorful Harlem, New York, neighborhood. CLICK HERE to read it, and share with friends.

Fiction is a literary magazine founded in 1972 by Mark Jay Mirsky, Donald Barthelme, Jane Delynn, and Max Frisch. 

In its early years, Fiction was published in tabloid format and featured experimental work by such writers as John Barth, Jerome Charyn, Italo Calvino, Ronald Sukenick, Steve Katz, Russell Banks, Samuel Beckett, and J.G. Ballard. It later took the form of a more traditional paperback literary magazine, publishing short works by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Reinaldo Arenas, Isaac Babel, Donald Barthelme, Mei Chin, Julio Cortazar, Marguerite Duras, Natalia Ginzburg, Clarice Ginzburg, Jamaica Kincaid, Clarice Lispector, Robie Macaulay, Robert Musil, Joyce Carol Oates, Manuel Puig, John Yau, and others.

BOOK CLUBS: Visit SPEAKING OF SUMMER at Book Club Central.

Join Book Clubs across the nation in discussing, selecting and spotlighting SPEAKING OF SUMMER as a July Pick of Sisters in Crime: "Crime From Sea to Shining Sea," at Book Club Central. See it at: http://ow.ly/9Rwt50uS8DE.

Get the book singled as one of summer's top mystery, crime and thrillers for Crime Reads, Bustle, Publishers Weekly and more: https://www.kalisha.com/summer.

SPEAKING OF SUMMER is a Summer Book Pick for O Magazine, Essence, TIME, The New York Post, Bustle, Buzzfeed, LitHub, USA Today, The Brooklyn Rail, Star-Tribune, Herald Standard, The National, CrimeReads, BookBub, Journal-Sentinel & The Fine Line.

Visit Kalisha.com for a selection of praise for SPEAKING OF SUMMER from the nation's top media, including TIME, USA Today, Essence and O Magazine. Enjoy this preview below.

9 mysteries and thrillers to give you an adrenaline rush this summer | Journal Sentinel

There’s something for everyone in this summer reading list… | Herald Standard

20 of the Season’s Hottest New Books | USA Today

19 Unmissable Books to Read This Summer | The National

29 Summer Books To Get Excited About | Buzzfeed

The Best Books to Read for Summer | The Fine Line Magazine

The Ultimate Summer Books Preview | LitHub

The 16 Best Mysteries Coming This Summer | BookBub

LitHub’s Most Anticipated Books of Summer | LitHub

Ten Books From Small Presses You Should Read This Summer | The Brooklyn Rail

40 New Thrillers Out This Summer | Bustle

32 Books You Need to Read This Summer | TIME Magazine

50 New Books Of Summer 2019 To Read By The Pool, In The Park, And On The Beach | Bustle

45 Books to Keep You Reading All Summer Long | Minneapolis Star Tribune

25 Best Beach Reads of the Year so Far | O Magazine

10 Books We’re Dying To Toss Into Our Summer Totes | Essence

The 25 best beach reads of 2019 | New York Post

The Most Anticipated Crime Books of Summer | LitHub’s CrimeReads