Black Place-Making in Fiction: A Conversation with Benjamin Talton & Clarence A. Haynes

Benjamin Talton: Benjamin Talton, Ph.D., Executive Director of Howard University’s Moorland-Spingarn Research Center and Professor of History, researches African and African diaspora culture and politics. Author of award-winning books, he has taught in the U.S. and Ghana, contributed to major journals and media, and serves on editorial and advisory boards in African and diaspora studies.

Clarence A. Haynes: Clarence A. Haynes is a native Afro-Latinx New Yorker and the coauthor of actor and producer Omar Epps’s acclaimed sci-fi/fantasy series Nubia: The Awakening and The Reckoning. He is also the author of the middle-grade nonfiction work The Legacy of Jim Crow, and his articles have appeared in Newsday, Huffington Post, The Root, and The Grio. Haynes’s latest novel, The Ghosts of Gwendolyn Montgomery, is a thrilling urban fantasy and horror debut, praised by Tananarive Due as “a must-read book for fans looking for a fresh, authentic voice.” The story follows a high-powered New York publicist confronting long-buried mystical secrets as the barrier between humans and spirits begins to weaken—a sensuous, funny, and page-turning adventure. Residing in Brooklyn, Haynes continues to explore the intersections of culture, history, and imagination, captivating readers with bold, inventive storytelling that blends suspense, magic, and deeply human narratives.