Kenji Jasper: Writing a Best-Seller & Black Culture in Entertainment
Our Guest
Kenji Jasper is an author, dramatic writer, consultant, and producer with more than 20 years of experience in communications. A veteran entertainment journalist, he published his first novel, Dark at 25 – a Washington Post and Los Angeles Times best seller. Kenji’s fifth novel, Nostrand Avenue, an Afrofuturistic sci-fi crime story, was just released.
Kenji has written for Essence, VIBE, Ozy.com and National Public Radio and was a 2018 nominee for “Best Short Story” by the Mystery Writers of America.
About Nostrand Avenue
Kango Watts is the man with the plan. If you know how to find him in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, then you know how to execute the perfect crime. He doesn’t make mistakes. But he does make enemies. When the plan to intimidate a local crime lord goes wrong, Kango finds himself on the run from faceless men and on a 15-year journey that takes him from the streets of Brooklyn, to Washington, DC to London and beyond.
Nostrand Avenue is a tale of self-discovery that takes a single man through the worlds of yoga, nightlife, African mysticism and erotic interludes accented by bullets, explosions and mind over matter on the streets of Black America.
Our listeners can get an autographed copy of Nostrand Avenue here.
Topics Discussed
- African American representation in entertainment
- The Black Nerd movement
- Writing a best-selling novel
- The importance of maintaining your network
- Personal branding
- Making life decisions in alignment with your dreams
Books by Kenji Jasper
- New release: Nostrand Avenue
- Washington Post & Los Angeles Times best-seller:Dark
Follow Kenji Jasper on Twitter
People & Things Mentioned During the Show
Filmmakers, writers and producers blazing new trails in black representation on the big screen:
African-American Authors Mentioned:
