Publishers offering mind, body, and spirituality titles look for BIPOC authors who authentically represent a discipline or practice with depth, sensitivity, and nuance.
On Hay House’s spring list is Think Indigenous: Native American Spirituality for a Modern World (out now) by Lakota author Doug Good Feather and Doug Pineda. It suggests ways Lakota culture can guide readers to recall their own spiritual roots. Awakening Your Inner Shaman: A Woman’s Journey of Self-Discovery Through the Medicine Wheel (May) is by Marcela Lobos, a Chilean teacher and medicine woman who leads shamanic journeys for women in Chile.
Weiser offers an array of titles by BIPOC authors who bring the expertise of their personal heritage. Two examples are American Brujeria: Modern Mexican-American Folk Magic (May) by J. Allen Cross, a practicing witch of Mexican, Indigenous, and European descent, and Witch Queens, Voodoo Spirits, and Hoodoo Saints: A Guide to Magical New Orleans (Feb.) by Creole New Orleans native Denise Alvarado.
Bear & Co., an imprint of new age house Inner Traditions, is releasing Animal Medicine: A Curanderismo Guide to Shapeshifting, Journeying, and Connecting with Animal Allies (July) by Erika Buenaflor, a curandera (a traditional Latin American faith healer) and expert in Mesoamerican shamanism.
Broadleaf turned to Lisa Colon Delay, a Latinx writer with deep connections with spiritual directors in other communities of color, for her title The Wild Land Within: Cultivating Wholeness through Spiritual Practice (out now). And in September, Llewellyn is releasing Little Book of the Day of the Dead, a guide to the spells and rituals for the Mexican holy day, by Jaime Gironés, communications director for the Sociedad Wicca Mexico.
Today, no one culture owns the concepts of mindfulness or meditation rooted in Eastern faiths and philosophies. Sounds True includes African American authors with rich résumés in these disciplines among its authors. Forthcoming titles include Knowing Where to Look: 108 Daily Doses of Inspiration (May) by spiritual teacher Light Watkins, and Spiritually Fly: Wisdom, Meditations, and Yoga to Elevate Your Soul (Aug.) by Faith Hunter, who strives to empower women worldwide to “lead epic lives,” according to the publisher.
Senbarzuru: One Thousand Steps to Happiness, Fold by Fold (Chronicle Prism, Sept.) is by Asian American author and meditation teacher Michael James Wong, who writes that the Japanese tradition of folding 1,000 cranes can offer “hope and healing.”
Parallax Press’s upcoming titles include The Mindful Family Guidebook: Reconnect with Spirit, Nature, and the People You Love (May) by Renda Dionne Madrigal, a Turtle Mountain Chippewa psychologist and mindfulness facilitator, and We Were Made for These Times: Skillfully Moving through Change, Loss, and Disruption (Oct.) by Kaira Jewel Lingo, a former Buddhist nun who is now a Dharma teacher.
