Reigning opera diva Joyce DiDonato makes her eagerly awaited return to Houston with her latest creative project, collaborating with the genre-defying ensemble Time for Three in a thrilling new work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts.

https://www.dacamera.com/chamber-music/joyce-didonato-and-time-for-three-emily-no-prisoner-be/

Join Dr. Arelia Johnson at Brazos on Wednesday, October 14 at 6:30 pm for a discussion on her book Hijacking Equity & The Fight for Justice. 

Dr. Arelia R. Johnson has spent her career inside the rooms where "equity" gets decided—in local government, higher education, and boardrooms—and she's noticed something curious: the word is everywhere, yet almost no one agrees on what it actually means. Hijacking Equity & The Fight for Justice is her invitation to figure that out together, in public, out loud, without the defensiveness that usually shuts these conversations down before they start.

At the heart of the book is her original theory of Distributive Justice, a framework she positions within sociology, tracing how institutions absorb the language of justice while resisting its practice. Johnson writes from the vantage point of a practitioner who has sat inside the institutions she critiques, translating dense theory into a clear-eyed account of how equity gets hijacked: diluted in policy, performed in training rooms, and abandoned the moment it demands redistribution and  representation.

Copies of Hijacking Equity & The Fight for Justice will be available for purchase at the event. 

_______________________________________________________________________________

Dr. Arelia R. Johnson is a scholar-practitioner, author, and theorist whose work sits at the intersection of sociology, law, and justice. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology and Criminology from Howard University, where her dissertation examined how policy shapes the identification of transgender murder victims. She is the architect of Distributive Justice, a theoretical framework she positions as a fourth paradigm within sociology, and the creator of several trademarked frameworks — including Joy Is Strategy™ and Language Matters by Arelia Johnson™ — that translate critical theory into applied practice.

Dr. Johnson is the author of Hijacking Equity & The Fight for Justice, and is currently developing a second academic book, Not Wolf Nor Sheep: An Exploration of Race, Language, and Gender Identity. A native of Houston's Sunnyside community, she most recently served as the inaugural Chief Officer of Human and Civil Rights for Harris County. She writes and speaks at the crossroads of scholarship and lived experience, insisting that rigor and joy are not opposites.

https://brazosbookstore.com/event/2026-10-14/arelia-johnson-phd-hijacking-equity-fight-justice

Celebrate the release of Don't Fall with B.B. Reid!

Registration and More Info Here

How: 

• RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat.
• RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your seat and purchase a copy Don't Fall, supporting both the author and our store programming. The book will be available for pickup at the event.

Please Note: Books purchased from other retailers are not permitted in the bookstore and are not eligible for the signing or photo line. To participate in the signing and photo opportunity, you must purchase a copy from Kindred Stories. If you already purchased your book from Kindred Stories, you may select the RSVP Only ticket option and bring your Kindred Stories copy to the event.

If you purchase a ticket and are unable to attend the event, your ticket is non-refundable. If your ticket includes a book, an email will be sent to all attendees before and after the event with instructions on how to receive your book. Books must be claimed within 14 days following the event. If your book is not retrieved it will be returned to the publisher and will not be available for pick up in the future.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The first in a brand-new frontlist duet by bestselling author B.B. Reid - a dark romance Red Riding Hood retelling, perfect for fans of Rina Kent, Emily McIntire, and Elizabeth Helen.

While caring for her grandmother, a young woman is caught between a sly wolf hellbent on seducing her and an enigmatic stranger with a heart of tarnished gold.

ABOUT THE BOOK

From bestselling author B.B. Reid comes the first in a dark and steamy retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.

The first book in a brand-new series from TikTok sensation B.B. Reid, a dark romantic retelling of Red Riding Hood.

"Guard your heart, foolish girl. The wolves will come to steal it."

In a quiet French town steeped in old folklore, Nyx has always believed in logic—not legends. So discovering she’s descended from a line of Red Hood witches feels more like a mistake than destiny. But some stories refuse to stay buried. 

The Volkovs have been cursed for generations, and time is running out. The only way to break it? A Red Hood witch must fall in love with one of them. Mikhail Volkov is desperate to save someone he loves—and ending the curse is his last hope. Getting close to Nyx was supposed to be a means to an end… until it becomes something far more dangerous. 

Gray, the watchful hunter who seems to linger on the edges of every secret, is thrust into Nyx's life next. Protective, intense, and impossible to ignore, he draws Nyx deeper into a world she doesn’t understand—and can’t escape. 

Caught between wolf and hunter, instinct and reason, Nyx must decide who to trust—and what she’s willing to risk. 

The MFAH teams up with the organization Han Narea to celebrate the Arts of Korea Gallery. Live music and performances include a traditional Korean dance by the group Yeonhui Connect IEUL from Seoul, South Korea. They perform yeonhui, a traditional Korean art form that blends music, dance, acrobatics, and theater. The group connects with modern audiences by reinterpreting traditions from a contemporary perspective.

During the intermission, enjoy a tour of the gallery with Bradley Bailey, the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Curator of Asian Art.

Plan Your Visit

• This concert is included with Museum admission.
• The performance takes place on Level 1 of the Law Building. 
• Happy Hour begins at 5 pm on Level 1 of the Beck Building.

More Info Here

We are very excited to welcome Erin French to celebrate her new book, The Lost Kitchen Volume 3: Seize the Supper.

Event Guidelines:

• Each ticket includes entry to the event ONE person plus ONE pre-signed copy of The Lost Kitchen Volume 3: Seize the Supper. Each attendee will require a ticket — think of it as one ticket, one chair.
• You will pick up your pre-signed of The Lost Kitchen Volume 3: Seize the Supper at the event. There will be no personalization.
• If you are not feeling well and cannot attend, we will get your book signed for you.
• Your book will be available for you to pick up following the event. If you would like your book shipped, please email orders@bluewillowbookshop.com to coordinate shipping. As a reminder, refunds are available up to 48 hours before the event; you can return your ticket through Eventbrite.
• If you have a disability and require accommodation for this event, please let us know no later than 48 hours before the event by phoning (281) 497-8675 or emailing cathy@bluewillowbookshop.com.

When:

Friday, October 16, 2026 at 7:00 PM Central Time

Where:

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, 11612 Memorial Drive, Houston, TX 77024

Blue Willow Bookshop expects all participants to maintain an atmosphere of respect and fairness. Anyone who violates this standard of behavior including any form of harassment, may, at the discretion of the organizers, be immediately removed.

About the Author:

Erin French, a born-and-raised Mainer, is the owner and chef of the Lost Kitchen, a fifty-seat restaurant in Freedom, Maine, listed among Time’s World’s Greatest Places to visit and Bloomberg’s "12 Restaurants Worth Traveling Across the World to Experience.” With two New York Times bestsellers to her name, Finding Freedom and Big Heart Little Stove, Erin is featured in three seasons of the Magnolia Network series The Lost Kitchen and Getting Lost with Erin French, where she travels the country searching for new experiences and culinary inspiration, streaming on HBO Max.

Erin knows the importance of simple pleasures found in gathering for thoughtfully prepared meals. Her love of Maine and sharing its delicious heritage with dinner guests has garnered several James Beard nominations and the attention of The New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, and Food & Wine, as well as NPR’s All Things Considered, CBS News Sunday Morning, and Today.

After more than a decade in business, the Lost Kitchen has become so much more than a restaurant, now boasting a farmer’s market, overnight cabins, a retail shop, and a café called the Little Lost Kitchen.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/erin-french-the-lost-kitchen-volume-3-seize-the-supper-tickets-1991789891182 

Joy Oladokun: The Heavy Things Tour with special guest Madeline Edwards

https://www.prekindle.com/promo/id/-2852527949100453216

Joy Oladokun is one of today’s most compelling genre-defying voices. A queer Black musician and daughter of Nigerian immigrants, Oladokun has become a vital cultural voice, writing songs that explore identity, faith, mental health, and social justice with honesty and restraint. Those themes remain at the heart of Hope Is A Heavy Thing, Oladokun's new 12-track album, due September 25. Produced by Oladokun with additional contributions from Nigerian producer Spellz and a feature from Nigerian artist Adekunle Gold, the album marks a bold new creative chapter, broadening her sound while continuing to explore questions of identity, resilience, and belonging with the emotional depth that has become her signature. The project further reflects Oladokun’s ability to draw from diverse influences while creating music that transcends genre and geography.

Saxophone titan and DACAMERA favorite Joshua Redman returns with the new quartet from his most recent recording, Words Fall Short.

https://www.dacamera.com/jazz/joshua-redman-quartet/

Visit Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens for an afternoon of family-friendly fun. Enjoy programs and activities spotlighting the 1776 generation with a special focus on Texas and the Gulf South.

Highlights

• Performances by AFA Chamber Music Academy | 1:30 pm & 3 pm
• Songs and stories of the Mardi Gras Indians, hosted by Joseph Dixon | 2 pm
• Caller dancing demonstration and lessons | 2:30 pm
• Art making | 1 pm to 4:30 pm
• Houston Junior Woman’s Club volunteers host visits to the first floor of the historic house throughout the day.

Plan Your Visit

• Family Days at Bayou Bend are always free and open to the public.

More Info Here

The 2026/2027 Inprint Cool Brains! Series proudly presents award-winning author Elizabeth Acevedo, sharing her new YA novel Anger Is Only a Shadow.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/inprint-cool-brains-series-presents-elizabeth-acevedo-tickets-1993982661818

Celebrate the release of Bringing Wreck with Omise’eke Natasha Tinsley!

Registration and More Info Here

How: 

• RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat.
• RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your seat and purchase a copy of Bringing Wreck, supporting both the author and our store programming. The book will be available for pickup at the event.

Please Note: Books purchased from other retailers are not permitted in the bookstore and are not eligible for the signing or photo line. To participate in the signing and photo opportunity, you must either purchase a copy from Kindred Stories or select the RSVP: I Already Have the Book ticket option, which allows you to bring a copy purchased elsewhere. If you already purchased your book from Kindred Stories, you may select the RSVP Only ticket option and bring your Kindred Stories copy to the event.

If you purchase a ticket and are unable to attend the event, your ticket is non-refundable. If your ticket includes a book, an email will be sent to all attendees before and after the event with instructions on how to receive your book. Books must be claimed within 14 days following the event. If your book is not retrieved it will be returned to the publisher and will not be available for pick up in the future.

ABOUT THE BOOK

A whirling exploration of how Megan Thee Stallion inspires Black women and femmes like the late Monica Roberts, framed by the storm-making work of both.

A whirling exploration of how Megan Thee Stallion inspires Black women and femmes like the late Monica Roberts, framed by the storm-making work of both.

While rap megastar Megan Thee Stallion needs no introduction, fewer will be familiar with Monica Roberts, a Houston journalist, community historian, and trans activist with the popular blog TransGriot. Though the two women never met, their work has inspired Black LGBTQ+ activists to love, resist violence, speak truth to power, and dance like life depends on it. With a written energy that’s infectious, Omise’eke Tinsley highlights just how intertwined these artists are.

An incisive look at the impactful sisterhood between Black women and femmes, Bringing Wreck is a book of empowerment. From Megan’s first performance on Saturday Night Live calling to “Protect Black Women,” to Roberts’s use of Hurricane Hanna to poke fun at Donald Trump’s border wall, Tinsley digs into the world-changing power of disruption and joyful expression in the face of racial injustice, anti-trans and queer violence, mental health crises, and community disparities. Reveling in both women’s love of Houston, calling-out of gendered violence, penchant for political humor, and staunch mental health advocacy, Bringing Wreck is an ode to the Bayou City, Black music, and the difference that one woman’s voice can make when we listen carefully.

A gallerist, an auction specialist, a collector, and an MFAH curator come together to discuss collecting drawings in the 21st century. This event is presented by the organization Trois Crayons, which is based in the United Kingdom and strives to expand and connect the global drawings community.
 
The conversation features Tom Edwards, managing director of Abbott and Holder; Giada Damen, AVP, specialist, and head of sale at Christie's; and Sebastien Paraskevas, founder of Trois Crayons. Curator Dena M. Woodall moderates. The participants engage with the state of the market for both Old Master and contemporary drawings, with a particular emphasis on the former.
 
This event begins in the American General Conference Room in the Beck Building. After the conversation, guests are invited to visit the Anne Wilkes Tucker Study Center to view a selection of works on paper.

Lecture: A free ticket is required in advance. Capacity is limited.

Museum Admission
*Museum admission is required in addition to the lecture ticket. Admission is free for MFAH members.

Get advance Museum tickets | More Info Here

Wesley Snipes stars as the tortured soul Blade – half man, half immortal. Blade sharpens his lethal skills under the guidance of Whistler, his mentor, guardian and fellow hunter of the night. When the bloodthirsty Immortals' lord, Deacon Frost, declares war on the human race, Blade is humanity's last hope for survival. 
 
 https://www.theriveroakstheatre.com/movie/RiverOaks/Black-Cinema-HTX-Presents-BLADE

https://www.ticketmaster.com/cupcakke-houston-texas-10-20-2026/event/3A0064FDD45ADC20

https://www.ticketmaster.com/vince-staples-cry-baby-tour-houston-texas-10-21-2026/event/3A0064CACEC20E26

On October 22, join us for An Intimate Night with Ms. Patti LaBelle at the historic Eldorado Ballroom as we raise the support needed to make SHAPE’s reopening possible.

For 57 years, SHAPE Community Center has been a cornerstone of Houston’s Third Ward, creating space for education, culture, wellness, civic engagement, and community connection.

After a devastating fire forced the closure of our Live Oak location, SHAPE began the work of rebuilding. Now, we are preparing to reopen our doors at Live Oak on November 1, 2026, continuing the legacy of a place that has served generations of families while remaining firmly rooted in Third Ward.

This is an evening of extraordinary music and an opportunity to invest in the continued life of one of Houston’s most enduring community institutions.

Tickets & More Info Here

Join the Moody and the artist Sharmistha Ray to celebrate the opening of their new work for the Platform series, sited at the east entrance of Fondren Library. This free and public event will feature a performance by New York-based dancer Jasmine Hearn and Houston-based vocalist jhon r. stronks.

Comments from the artists and reception to follow. This performance is made possible through the generous support of Rice University’s Department of Religion, Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, and Fondren Library.

About the performing artists:

Jasmine Hearn, born and raised on occupied lands of the Akokisa, Atapke, Deadose, and Karankawa peoples (Houston, TX), is an interdisciplinary artist, teacher, doula, dancer, performer, and organizer. Named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” (2025), Jasmine is a recipient of a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award (2023), a Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon Polsky Rome Prize in Design with Athena Kokoronis of DPA (2023), a Creative Capital Award for their performance and archive project Memory Fleet (2022) and two NY Dance and Performance Bessie Awards for Outstanding Performer (2021, 2017* with the cast of skeleton architecture). Residencies include LiveFeed at New York Live Arts, Summer Stages Dance at The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, and at the African American Historical Research Center – a joint initiative supported by the Center of Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning at Rice University. Their body of performance work has been presented at the Mattatoio x Spazio Griot, Ford Foundation, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Danspace Project, and the Hobby Center for Performing Arts. They have collaborated with Bill T. Jones, Saul Williams, Solange Knowles, Alisha B. Wormsley, Okwui Okpokwasili, Marjani Forté-Saunders, Tsedaye Makonnen, Holly Bass, Bebe Miller, Jonathan Gonzales, and with dance companies, Urban Bush Women and David Dorfman Dance, presenting choreographic work at the Metropolitan Museum, BAM, New York Live Arts, Guggenheim Museum, Getty Center, Venice Biennale, and Carnegie Museum of Art.

jhon r. stronks is a queer identifying gender non conforming singer and dancer marking 20 years of service and creative participation in the Houston dance and performance community. Often their dancing is a mending practice in pursuit of expansion and evolution, while their singing carries through a mourning call in search of recognition, and reconciliation. Through their voice and movement emerges a genderqueer expression that remembers lost existences and imagines new trajectories toward the home and rest they are chasing after.

https://events.rice.edu/event/439171-opening-reception-for-platform-sharmistha-ray

DACAMERA Young Artists present a concert inspired by the exhibition America 250 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. This program features works by American composers and an array of musical, regional, and historical influences.  

Plan Your Visit

• This event is included with Museum admission.
• The performance takes place on Level 1 of the Beck Building.

More Info Here

We're meeting to discuss Take What You Can with Naima Coster!

BOOK CLUB MEETING DEETS

When: Thursday, September 22 @ 7PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)

How: RSVP ONLY to let us know you plan to attend! Support the Fiction Book Club by purchasing a copy of the book from Kindred Stories here!

ABOUT TAKE WHAT YOU CAN

From the New York Times bestselling author of What’s Mine and Yours, a rich, panoramic exploration of female friendship, class, new motherhood, and independence

Val and Milly fell in love with France at the same time they fell in love with each other and became immediate best friends. Then, they bonded as the only Black students on a study-abroad trip. Now, they are in their thirties, each married and with a baby girl on the way. When Milly suggests Val move to New York to raise their daughters together after a decade apart, it’s a resounding yes.

Despite their excitement, the pair secretly wonder if their friendship has always worked best as a trio. From that first trip to France, these two motherless daughters were taken under the wing of an older woman named Helene. She showered them with money, love and attention, and showed them the possibilities of a meaningful future. But without Helene, who are Milly and Val?

Milly, a successful influencer married to restaurant royalty, is occupied with her desire for independence. Val, a brilliant journalist, is struggling to write her first book and fit into her old friend’s new world. The realities of class and social capital, of strained marriages and the demands of motherhood, serve as constant reminders of how far apart they’ve grown. And no matter how much they try to avoid it, everything comes back to the rift that began all those years ago in France. What they’ve long tried to bury may finally destroy their sisterhood.

Weaving between Brooklyn brownstones and the glittering beaches of southern France, Take What You Can is a dazzling novel exploring what it means to be a mother when you have none, a sister without blood ties, and a woman in pursuit of the life she wants. With her signature sharply-observed prose, Coster illustrates what it means to be—and to stay—someone’s person through all phases of life.

https://kindredstorieshtx.com/collections/book-clubs/products/october-2026-fiction-book-club-october-22-7pm

https://www.ticketmaster.com/jon-b-houston-texas-10-22-2026/event/3A0064CBCB48DDE7

No Name is a Black-owned worker cooperative connecting community members both inside and outside carceral facilities with radical books. Each month, No Name uplifts two books written by Black, indigenous, and other people of color. No Name believes building community through political education is crucial for our liberation and should be accessible to everyone—which is why all programming is free. 

MEETING DEETS

When: Sunday, October 25 @ 3 PM

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)

How: RSVP to let us know you're coming! 

ABOUT WOMEN AT POINT ZERO

Internationally acclaimed Egyptian feminist writer Nawal El Saadawi’s landmark novel Woman at Point Zero, published here with a new foreword.

Firdaus is on death row. Her crime, the murder of a man. Born into poverty in a rural Egyptian village, her childhood dreams and ambitions had been met with neglect and abuse by the world and the men who rule it. Driven to sex work to support herself, she is faced with the moral outrage of society and the bitter knowledge that for a woman, true freedom comes only when all hope is abandoned. In Woman at Point Zero, Firdaus tells her unforgettable story.

https://kindredstorieshtx.com/collections/book-clubs/products/october-2026-no-name-book-club-october-25-3-pm-cst

Join two-time Newbery Medalist author Kate DiCamillo and two-time Caldecott Medalist illustrator Sophie

Blackall, as they share their newest book in The

Norendy Tales Series, Lost Evangeline.

https://9lpgesbab.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001HrwpxgOeM-nsQ9WuV5FU5Nd2pL6a6v1ia4jT2bZnH0YOIeJiHclHqLv-Ou49pIKsgHfC6WgaZIhreWVu4pZLmNe_V0nro1Whmp6XLv8U5b7PmfhAtkhpujUODQog355tkSbo8Z0KC2S4lr6bRPVB2QALdYXvrtsh_gRDtggGb5xktfDYhk562Bu6RsRgdZK0Fp3n3MQ5KAcyzA-c4UF35U86enHEyhGItLyWjTpLzhMSeXKwll2ebpHj8-L0gJo5&c=YwXImzc28S-ZuqQ1rTa9Yxz68rzDzrchs9EWpbN1j1Fp8GFtyy4fEA==&ch=0XqNYL5_A19b6BEdya8JkoBnKq2GEOosLH1S-pfADZxx9ndXkxsgrQ==

The acclaimed violinist and pianist team up for a recital featuring music of Sibelius, Britten, Piazzolla and Schnittke, and a new work by Michi Wiancko.

https://www.dacamera.com/chamber-music/alexi-kenney-violin-janice-carissa-piano/

Celebrate the release of Expecting Inequity with Khiara M. Bridges! The event will feature a moderated conversation, audience Q&A, and book signing, followed by a community art activation led by The Call Me Mother Experience.

EVENT DEETS

When: Thursday, October 29 @ 7PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, HTX 77004)

How: 

• RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat.
• RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your seat and purchase a copy Expecting Inequity, supporting both the author and our store programming. The book will be available for pickup at the event.

Please Note: Books purchased from other retailers are not permitted in the bookstore and are not eligible for the signing or photo line. To participate in the signing and photo opportunity, you must purchase a copy from Kindred Stories. If you already purchased your book from Kindred Stories, you may select the RSVP Only ticket option and bring your Kindred Stories copy to the event.

If you purchase a ticket and are unable to attend the event, your ticket is non-refundable. If your ticket includes a book, an email will be sent to all attendees before and after the event with instructions on how to receive your book. Books must be claimed within 14 days following the event. If your book is not retrieved it will be returned to the publisher and will not be available for pick up in the future.

ABOUT THE BOOK

An unsettling exploration of the persistence of racism in reproductive healthcare in the US—and why even affluent Black women are imperiled by substandard care.

From a leading expert on race, class, maternal health, and reproductive rights.

Racism in maternal healthcare is not reserved for the poor. An unsparing picture of inequities in prenatal care and childbirth in the United States, Expecting Inequity reveals that not only are black people three to four times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause, but racial disparities in maternal mortality persist across income levels. That is, wealthier black people are much more likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth, or the postpartum period than their white counterparts. Focusing on a San Francisco obstetrics clinic that caters to the affluent, Khiara Bridges looks at the choices around prenatal care and childbirth that class-privileged, pregnant black people are making in order to survive what has been called the “black maternal health crisis.”

Bridges, whose previous work exposed how race and racism are embedded in maternal healthcare for the poor, draws on two years of participant-observation to show how wealthier black people try to leverage their class privilege to avoid some of the negative effects of their blackness—only to discover that in a country that has never reckoned with its horrific racial past, there is no escaping racism’s reach. Throughout the book, engaging, heartbreaking, infuriating stories of women’s experiences with pregnancy and prenatal care illustrate how race and racism matter regardless of wealth or status.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Khiara M. Bridges is the Earl Warren Professor of Public Law at UC Berkeley School of Law. 

She is a nationally-recognized expert on the intersection of race, class, and reproductive rights. Her scholarship has appeared in the most influential law reviews in the country, including the flagship law journals at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and UC Berkeley, among many others. She is also the author of three books: Reproducing Race: An Ethnography of Pregnancy as a Site of Racialization (2011), The Poverty of Privacy Rights (2017), and Critical Race Theory: A Primer (2019, 2026). Her fourth book, Expecting Inequity: How the Maternal Health Crisis Affects Even the Wealthiest Black Americans, was released in March 2026.

Bridges graduated as valedictorian from Spelman College, receiving her degree in three years. She received her J.D. from Columbia Law School and her Ph.D., with distinction, from Columbia University’s Department of Anthropology. She speaks fluent Spanish and basic Arabic, and she is a classically-trained ballet dancer who danced professionally in New York City for twenty years before moving to the Bay Area.

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton is a multi-modal storyteller whose work documents, examines, and celebrates the complexities of Black American life. She has authored Newsworthy (Bloomsday Literary, 2019), Black Chameleon (Henry Holt & Co., 2023), which won the Carr P. Collins award for Best Nonfiction through the Texas Institute of Letters, and Hush Hush Hurricane (Kokila Books, 2027). This three-time TEDx speaker has contributed to Glamour, Texas Monthly, and ESPN's Andscape and written theatrical works that have premiered at Chicago Opera Theater, the Kennedy Center, and National Sawdust. Her upcoming immersive art installation, The Call Me Mother Experience, amplifies the Black Maternal Health crisis.

https://kindredstorieshtx.com/products/author-talk-expecting-inequity-with-khiara-m-bridges-october-29-7-pm

https://www.ticketmaster.com/pj-morton-saturday-night-sunday-morning-houston-texas-10-30-2026/event/3A006490A496972C

ABOUT THE BOOK

Welcome to so-tiny-you'll-blink-and-miss-it town of Elaine for Christmas.

SUNDAY

Just days before Christmas, Sunday Conklin is on the brink of losing everything-her family's scenic farm-in the heart of her small Arkansas town. It's the legacy she's given up her life to protect. With the bank out of mercy and her options gone, her family's oldest enemy, the Adlers, will finally take the Conklin Fields for themselves. But a miracle arrives-one that could save Sunday, her neighbors, and the historic town of Elaine itself. There's just one problem: that miracle comes tangled up with the most infuriating man she's ever met... who belongs right back in Texas where he came from.

SEVEN

Seven Hardcastle can't believe his luck this Christmas, when he's assigned to a middle-of-nowhere Arkansas town. He's ready to return to his perfectly manicured life in Dallas with his wife and kids. All he needs is one signature-Sunday Conklin's. But when the town of Elaine strikes it big, Seven's fate is tied up with that of its most stubborn, maddening, and undeniably magnetic farm-owner. As the town's secrets unravel, and Sunday's fight becomes his own, Seven is handed a Christmas gift he never expected... one that forces him to question his past, his future, and where home truly is.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lula White is the pen name for Shannon Humphrey. She grew up on Confederate Boulevard not far from Sweet Home, Arkansas, fishing with her grandfather, baking with her grandmother, and riding her bicycle to Granite Mountain in her bare feet.

Lula is the original creator of the fictional Black Hamptons with her first romance series, Sag Harbor Black Romances, using her fiction to open conversations on generational wealth and high society that were previously limited to history and sociology texts. In her follow-up, Explore Men of the Hamptons, Lula continued using her creativity to expand our collective self-perception. 

She has continued telling the truth in ways that reexamine our potential in The Young and Luxurious, Who’s Lovin’ You and now, The Gift of Us.

Her hunger for life and travel took her from college to Capitol Hill, law school, and now Los Angeles where she is a civil rights litigator and author of over thirty novels. Having traveled the turbulent road of success herself, she is uniquely positioned to fight for indigent families and create worlds where we can have our dreams. 

When she dons her lawyer cape, Shannon is the 40th President of Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, Inc., a former Deputy District Attorney for the County of Los Angeles, and a former appellate lawyer whose advocacy secured the reversal of several trial courts at the California Court of Appeals.

She was named one of the Top Forty Attorneys Under Forty for the National Bar Association, and is a graduate of the Los Angeles African American Women’s Public Policy Institute. 

A 2018 writer-in-residence at the prestigious Hedgebrook for women writers in Seattle, whether she writes as Lula or Shannon, or the genre be romance, historical fiction, or science fiction fantasy, she weaves every plot to entertain, inspire, and illuminate our highest selves.  

Her stories are for every soul ready to claim their heaven on Earth now. We don’t need permission.

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

Alexandrea LeChelle is a contemporary romance author whose stories explore love, grief, healing, and the complicated beauty of human connection.

Her novels unfold between Houston and Louisiana and center Black characters navigating family legacies, emotional vulnerability, and the quiet courage it takes to love deeply and unapologetically.

Through rich, emotional storytelling and cinematic detail, Alexandrea writes the kind of love stories she rarely saw growing up and entering adulthood. Stories where Black characters are allowed to be flawed, passionate, and deeply human.

What began as a way to process emotions and channel creativity through her own healing journey, slowly evolved into something much bigger: an urge to create and share stories about love, healing, and the complicated paths of life that bring people together.

Her stories often explore themes such as emotional healing, family dynamics, grief and growth, healthy Black love, the courage to begin again. Every story is planted in the belief that love, in all its forms, has the power to change us for the better.

When she’s not reading, Alexandrea can be found working her way through her own TBR, journaling or planning new creative projects, adding recipes to her personal cookbook, and listening to playlists that eventually inspire new stories.

At the heart of everything she creates is a simple hope: That readers will find pieces of themselves in her stories.

https://kindredstorieshtx.com/products/author-talk-the-gift-of-us-with-lula-white-november-6-7-pm

Lois Chiles Studio Theater | Free + Open to the Public | Registration Appreciated

Experience the third installment of a film trilogy by artist Dario Robleto that explores the history and legacy of the Golden Record. Launched in 1977, the record is attached to NASA’s Voyager I and II space probes and contains images, languages, music, and sounds representing the diversity of life and cultures on Earth. This screening is co-organized with Rice University's Space Humanities Initiative and coincides with the Moody's Tent Series, which includes artwork from the artist drawn from this film. 

Following the screening, Jennifer L. Roberts, Drew Gilpin Faust Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University, and Alexander Regier, William Faulkner Professor of English at Rice University, will lead a Q&A with the artist.

https://www.ticketmaster.com/thundercat-distracted-af-tour-houston-texas-11-07-2026/event/3A0064E9ECC030D7

The Houston debut of one of the world’s most acclaimed virtuosos in an all-Beethoven program full of passion and keyboard wizardry.

https://www.dacamera.com/chamber-music/igor-levit-piano-all-beethoven/