Jul 15 2024 52 mins 5
Thanks again to Steven Zacharius for joining us for a great conversation about the history of Kensington Publishing Corp. and Arabesque in particular.
The launch of Arabesque was greeted with fanfare by Romantic Times, including this great cover:
The profile article inside includes interviews with launch authors Sandra Kitt, Francis Ray, and editor Monica Harris.
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music by Purple Planet
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Steve Ammidown
Website: https://romancehistory.com/about/
Socials
Bluesky: @stegan.bsky.social
Nicole M. Jackson/Katrina Jackson
Websites:
https://www.katrinajacksonauthor.com
https://www.bgsu.edu/arts-and-sciences/history/faculty-and-staff/nicole-jackson.html
Socials
IG: @katjacksonbooks
Mentioned in this Episode
“About Dafina” (2020) https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/pages/dafina/about-dafina/
African American Literature Book Club, “Walter Zacharius, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Kensington Publishing”, YouTube, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDJKiUATP5k
Steven Zacharius, “Zebra’s E-Talk”, Romantic Tiimes. February, 1994. https://romantictimesindex.weebly.com/uploads/4/5/6/0/4560933/119-zebra-online.jpg
Michelle Monkou, “In Memory of Monica Harris Mindolovich”, USA Today. November 2012. https://www.usatoday.com/story/happyeverafter/2012/11/18/monica-harris-mindolovich-editor-entrepreneur-in-memoriam/1713295/
“Ten Years of Sizzling Chocolate Kisses and Lasting Love: now under BET Books, Arabesque Celebrates a Decade as Black Romance Publisher,” Reprint, The Free Library, https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Ten+years+of+sizzling+chocolate+kisses+and+lasting+love%3A+now+under...-a0118954930
“Kensington Adds and Subtracts,” Publisher’s Weekly, June 29, 1998, https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/19980629/29408-pw-kensington-adds-and-subtracts.html
“Kensington Returns to the African-American Market, Publishers Weekly, October 13, 2003. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20031013/25116-kensington-returns-to-african-american-market.html
Further Reading/Listening
Arabesque profile in Romantic Times, July 1994: Page 1, Page 2.
Special Issue: Black Romance, Journal of Popular Romance Studies. https://www.jprstudies.org/issues/volume-11-general-articles-2/special-issue-black-romance/
Jamee Pritchard, “That 90's Kind of Love: the Rise of African American Romance Novels in Traditional Romance Publishing”, 2021. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/2712/
Black Romance Podcast, “Sandra Kitt”. August, 2020. https://blackromancepodcast.libsyn.com/sandra-kitt
Black Romance Podcast, “Francis Ray and Anna Larence with Michelle Ray, Ann Fields and Margo Hendricks (Elysabeth Grace)“. May, 2023. https://blackromancepodcast.libsyn.com/francis-ray-and-anna-larence-with-michelle-ray-ann-fields-and-margo-hendricks-elysabeth-grace
Steve Ammidown, “Talking with the Inclusive Romance Project: An Incomplete History of the 20th century Romance Novel,” https://romancehistory.com/2023/05/23/talking-with-the-inclusive-romance-project/
Joshua Clark Davis, “The FBI’s War in Black Bookstores,” The Atlantic, February 19, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/fbi-black-bookstores/553598/
“The oldest operating Black book cub meets right here in New Jersey, New Jersey News 12, February 11, 2022, https://newjersey.news12.com/the-oldest-operating-black-book-club-in-the-us-meets-right-here-in-new-jersey
“28 Publications from Dafina,” https://aalbc.com/authors/imprint.php?imprint=Dafina
Judith Rosen, “Romance: Love Is All Around You”, Publisher’s Weekly, November 8, 1999. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/19991108/28599-romance-love-is-all-around-you.html
