Donna Bailey Nurse is the editor of the online literary magazine Black Iris and the author of What's a Black Critic to Do?, so she has her ear close to the ground for up-and-coming and under-appreciated voices. She thinks that black women writers aren't getting the space they deserve in this country, and she would like that to change. With that in mind, Nurse recommends two books she believes deserve attention: Getting Over Yonder by Obi Simic and Dead Woman Pickney by Yvonne Shorter Brown.

You can hear Donna Bailey Nurse's entire conversation with Shelagh Rogers in the audio player above.