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Mia McKenzie

@miamckenzie00

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Award-Winning Author of THESE HEATHENS, SKYE FALLING, and THE SUMMER WE GOT FREE. FKA Black Girl Dangerous.

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I wrote THESE HEATHENS for the Black folks who know that sometimes being called a "heathen" by certain people really means they know you're FREE and they don't like it. If this book finds you, I hope it reminds you of your power. by @miamckenzie00

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10 days ago

THESE HEATHENS: A NOVEL by @miamckenzie00

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12 days ago

by @miamckenzie00

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a month ago

📚🔥 HEADLINER AUTHOR ANNOUNCEMENT! 🔥📚

Black Book Fest DC 2027 is proud to welcome Mia McKenzie as a Headliner Author!

Award-winning author of The Summer We Got Free, Skye Falling, and These Heathens, Mia McKenzie brings a bold literary voice and unforgettable storytelling to the Black Book Fest DC stage. Her work explores family, identity, community, freedom, and the beautifully complicated ways we find our place in the world. 🖤📖

Join us for a moderated headliner conversation, followed by a book signing with Mia McKenzie. Books will also be available for purchase at the festival.

📅 Appearing Saturday, October 2, 2027
📍 Crystal City, Virginia
🌐 blackbookfestdc.com

Help us give @miamckenzie00 a HUGE Black Book Fest DC welcome! 🔥🙌🏾

#blackbookfestdc #bookfestival #blackauthors #blackbooks #bookstagram by @miamckenzie00

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by @miamckenzie00

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If you're in or near Western Massachusetts, come listen to me read from THESE HEATHENS at the Mass Book Awards Longlist reading on October 8th at 6. Tickets are free, register to save your spot at the link in my bio. And repost so all the Black folks know! Hope to see yall. taken in Amherst, Massachusetts by @miamckenzie00

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Our stories deserve the spotlight.

Please help us welcome @miamckenzie00 to the Our Stories, Our Terms track at Kinfolk Lit Fest 2027.

From literary fiction and historical fiction to contemporary stories that stay with you long after the last page, this track is all about the power of Black storytelling.

📍 Indianapolis
📅 July 16-18, 2027
🎟️ Festival Passes on sale now.

Who all gone be there? 👀

Genre Track Curators: @bolde_books @jina.with_a_j by @miamckenzie00

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I finally got to visit @larkandowlbooksellers in Georgetown today! Of course I had to buy something (because…bookstore 🤷‍♀️), and I am way too easily convinced by a blind date with a book.

I picked up These Heathens by @miamckenzie00. It follows pregnant seventeen-year-old Doris Steele, who travels to Atlanta for a discreet procedure but instead discovers a vibrant world of civil rights activists, celebrities, and the queer Black community. I haven’t read this one yet, but I’m really excited to dive in!

Thank you, @bloomintexaswithme, for putting together such a beautiful blind date. 🩷

#BlindDateWithABook #IndieBookstore #TheseHeathens #Bookstagram #HistoricalFiction by @miamckenzie00

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3 months ago

Today we highlight Fiction longlist title “These Heathens: A Novel” by Mia McKenzie (Random House). @miamckenzie00, @randomhouse

Where do you get an abortion in 1960 Georgia, especially if your small town’s midwife goes to the same church as your parents? For seventeen-year-old Doris Steele, the answer is Atlanta, where her favorite teacher, Mrs. Lucas, calls upon her brash, wealthy childhood best friend, Sylvia, for help. While waiting to hear from the doctor who has agreed to do the procedure, Doris spends the weekend scandalized by, but drawn to, the people who move in and out of Sylvia’s orbit: celebrities whom Doris has seen in the pages of Jet and Ebony, civil rights leaders such as Coretta Scott King and Diane Nash, women who dance close together, boys who flirt too hard and talk too much, atheists! And even more shocking? Mrs. Lucas seems right at home.

From the guests at a queer kickback to the student activists at a SNCC conference, Doris suddenly finds herself surrounded by so many people who seem to know exactly who or what they want. Doris knows she doesn’t want a baby, but what does she want? Will this trip help her find out?

These Heathens is a funny, poignant story about Black women’s obligations and ambitions, what we owe to ourselves, and the transformative power of leaving your bubble, even for just one chaotic weekend.

For more information on the Mass Book Awards, and lists of all this year’s categories and longlists head to Mass Book Awards in Linktree. by @miamckenzie00

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4 months ago

In times like these, gathering in community is its own act of resistance 🫶🏽 Thank you to everyone who joined this month’s Table of Contents dinner, a Black & queer literary supper club presented by @amandla_collective where we shared a meal inspired by “These Heathens” and held space for joy, curiosity, and connection.

Endless gratitude to @miamckenzie00 for joining us and reading her work!

📸: @ewphotos1 taken in Brooklyn, New York by @miamckenzie00

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THESE HEATHENS has been longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize! 🏆

This annual award honors fiction that illuminates vital contemporary issues and reminds us of the transformative potential of literature. Past winners include literary powerhouses like Mohsin Hamid (Exit West), Tayari Jones (An American Marriage), and Tommy Orange (Wandering Stars).

We’re so proud to see THESE HEATHENS recognized alongside some of today’s most urgent and visionary fiction.

Congratulations, @miamckenzie00. 🎉🥳 by @miamckenzie00

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So excited to share that my latest novel, THESE HEATHENS, has been longlisted for the 2026 Aspen Words Literary Prize (@aspenwords). This novel is so close to my heart and I'm so very proud of it. Thrilled to be on this list with writers I admire. by @miamckenzie00

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