Author of Honey Is the Knife.

Cultural commentator.

Creator of spaces where art, healing, and pleasure intersect.

My speaking sits at the intersection of literary craft, cultural critique, and lived experience. I create spaces that are humor-centered, intellectually rigorous, emotionally honest, and unexpectedly intimate, whether I’m speaking to a room of 20 people or 2,000.

Expect sharp insight, real conversation, and the kind of honesty that makes people sit up a little straighter.

SELECTED SPEAKING:

The Broad • Smith College • Catapult • Girls Write Now • White Whale Books • Elevated Women

SAMPLE TALKS:

Black Madonna of the Fretful Heart: Anxiety, Power, and the Sacred Self

A reframe of anxiety as signal rather than failure, grounded in story, symbol, and self-trust.

→ Audience leaves with language for navigating fear, intuition, internalized shame, and their inner voice.

The Oprah Ache: Mother Wounds & Mother Scars

An exploration of ancestral inheritance, identity, and emotional lineage and how self-care becomes a site of repair.

→ Audience leaves with insight into inherited patterns and a clearer sense of the healing they need.

To All the Dark-Skinned Girls I Was Before: Colorism, Beauty, & the Economies of Desire

A nuanced conversation on how colorism shapes perception, intimacy, and belonging.

→ Audience leaves with language to discuss colorism with depth and precision and an expanded self-perception and critical lens.

Own Your Voice: Independent Publishing as Creative Liberation

A strategic and visionary look at how writers can create artful, profitable work outside traditional publishing.

→ Audience leaves with clarity on ownership, rights, and the right publishing pathways for them.

Ibogaine, Mushrooms, & Nigerian Haze: The Healing Power of African Psychedelics

A grounded, expansive talk exploring art, healing, and pleasure-centered relationships to plant medicine across the African diaspora.

→ Audience leaves with intentional and informed lens for engaging these substances through lineage, ritual, and responsibility.

FORMATS

Keynotes • Workshops • Readings + Conversation • Retreats • Multi-session intensives

All talks can be adapted for creative, academic, corporate, community, and eclectic audiences!

RATES:

Speaking Fee: $5,000 per hour

Custom engagements available upon request. I reserve a limited number of engagements are reserved each year for community-based organizations, schools, and grassroots spaces. Just let me know what you’re working with.

BOOKING:

For speaking inquiries and availability, email me at hello@honeyistheknife.com

Please include:

• Organization / event name

• Audience size + type

• Desired format

• Timeline