Episode 9: Kwame Alexander

Kwame Alexander, is a poet, educator, producer and #1 New York Times Bestselling author of 38 books. He is also the writer and executive producer of THE CROSSOVER TV series, based on the novel of the same name, which premiered on Disney Channel and Disney+ in April 2023. 

His latest book, WHY FATHERS CRY AT NIGHT, published by Little Brown and Company, is a soulful mashup of poems, recipes and stories. In this book, Kwame shares a moving portrait on becoming a “growing man”, learning how to love, stumbling along the way, and getting back up again. 

Kwame was born in New York and grew up in Virginia. His father was a scholar and book publisher, and his mother was an educator, so he was always surrounded by books. At Virginia Tech, he took a writing class with award- winning poet Nikki Giovanni which eventually sparked the artist within him, and his future writing career. He has 2 daughters, a 15 -year-old who loves musicals, and a 32 -year- old who works in criminal justice. In his free time, he likes to play softball with his daughter, listen to audiobooks and travel to schools across the globe.

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Get 10% off when using the promo code “raquel” or by clicking our link!: https://betterhelp.com/raquel

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – BetterHelp Ad
01:37 – Intro
03:00 – How Writing Found Kwame
04:50 – Changing the World One Word at a Time
10:00 – What It Means to be Interesting
11:40 – Why He Changed His Name & His First Love Poem
15:00 – Tough Love From His Mentor, Nikki Giovanni
17:18 – Visiting 2000 Schools Around the World
21:48 – Kwame’s Advice To Young Artists
27:02 – The Importance of Mentors
37:04 – Kwame’s Relationship With His Daughter
44:48 – One of Kwame’s Favourite Poems
49:38 – Kwame’s Top Three Healthiest Habits
50:59 – Kwame’s Top Three Healthy Vices
59:06 – Kwame’s Top Three Books
1:00:23 – Kwame’s Billboard Message

Transcript for this Episode