Ashley Cecilia Meyer
The Harrisburg area has many Black authors whose literary talents bring their own important perspectives to fiction and nonfiction alike. Floyd Stokes is one of those authors.
Stokes, with over 30 books to his credit, found his way to writing while encouraging young people to read through his Harrisburg-based nonprofit, the American Literacy Corporation.
“I was going to schools and daycares reading to the public, other folks’ books,” Stokes said. “In the midst of that, I found holes.”
Those “holes” were topics or ideas that he thought were missing, where he could contribute.
As a child, he “played with words,” but never really thought he’d write a book. His daughters, Madison and Olivia Stokes, however, influenced by their dad, became authors at a young age. One of their books was “Dress Up.”
“Olivia and I and my dad wrote this book together,” Madison said. “My sister and I were in our room. We were playing dress-up, and we wrote it down and came into the living room and said, ‘Hey, we wrote a book.’”
For author, activist and Messiah University professor Drew Hart, becoming an author was not on his radar as a young person.
“I was not a great student growing up,” Hart said.
He described middle school as “barely passing.”
“There’s nothing that would have pointed me to even once write a book, nonetheless, to imagine writing multiple books by this point,” he said.
His most recent book, “Making It Plain,” published in 2025, discusses the need for Black and Anabaptist Churches—a church history book, but more.
“How do I make these complex church history books that are thick and dense… accessible as possible, while still having some integrity to help them [readers] see a big picture?” Hart said.
Hart’s first book, “Trouble I’ve Seen,” was birthed out of “a feeling out of convictions that I needed to [write about racism],” during the riots after the killing of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old Black man shot by police in Ferguson, Mo., in 2014.
Michele Mitchell
My Babies
Michele Mitchell’s writing journey began as a sort of “finding herself” moment, as she drove her daughter to and from Capital Area School for the Arts in Harrisburg.
“I was praying to God one day, and I was like, ‘Well Lord, you know, what am I to be doing?’” she said.
That’s when the idea for her first book, “She Ain’t Me,” arrived. Mitchell said that the uniqueness of her 15 books comes from their relatability.
“I really try to make my work real and natural as I can, so reflective of what’s happening in society,” she said.
Growing up, she had more acting, songwriting and singing aspirations than becoming an author, but those creative talents flourished in her writing.
Ashley Meyer’s foray into writing began by opening a bookstore in Linglestown to carry more diverse children’s books. She wrote her first book, published in 2024, “The Cottage Witch of Venice,” because “I’m in love with cottages and witches.” Meyer, however, always knew she wanted to be a writer. At 15 years old, “I told my friend I would publish a book,” she said.
For all of these authors, their books are precious to them. “They’re all my babies,” Mitchell said.
When asked if they had a favorite book their answers were similar.
“Whatever one I’m writing at the moment,” Hart said.
Mirrors & Windows
For Floyd Stokes, it’s more about the reading than the writing that makes his books special.
“They only become my favorite when I’m reading them to children,” he said.
Books can take from a couple of weeks to write, for a children’s book, to a couple of years for a novel. There’s a tremendous amount of work that goes into authoring a book, and it’s not always enjoyable.
“I like the first writing, the first draft,” Hart said. “I do feel like the second draft, third draft, all the revision work is work for me. I don’t enjoy going back to it.”
However, caring about what one’s writing about can mitigate the work and sacrifice.
Drew Hart
“I’m usually very passionate about why I’m writing,” Hart said. “There’s something that I feel is very important and want to get out into the world. So, I think that part is energizing for me.”
Passion for photography is what kick-started Olivia Stokes’ latest book, “Secrets of Robins.” She was photographing birds in the yard and focused on a robin’s nest. After noticing the interesting behavior the birds showed in caring for their babies, she made a decision.
“Oh, my goodness—I have to turn this into a book,” she said.
These books offer enjoyment and knowledge, but they also provide an important Black perspective and diverse representation.
Floyd Stokes talked about educator Rudine Sims Bishop’s idea of mirrors and windows. Mirrors are where we see ourselves represented.
“Window is someone who’s not of that group, reading and learning about that group,” he said. “That’s a window into their world. So—we need both.”
Meyer said that, if we don’t have diverse writers, certain stories won’t be told or showcased. That diversity includes race, religion and physical ability. Madison Stokes echoed that statement.
“My dad…has really made an effort to put diversity in a lot of these books,” she said.
Floyd Stokes shared a story about a woman looking for a book for her daughter who had just gotten glasses. She broke into tears when she saw Stokes’ book, “My Glasses,” featuring a little girl who didn’t want to wear her new glasses.
“She started crying,” he said. “She said, ‘I’ve looked all over for a book with a little Brown or Black girl as a part of the story and couldn’t find it.’”
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