Podcast Summary: Nicholas Boggs, "Baldwin: A Love Story" (FSG, 2025)

Podcast: New Books Network – African American Studies
Host: Dr. Nkaziotz
Guest: Dr. Nicholas Boggs
Episode Date: February 10, 2026

Episode Overview

In this in-depth conversation, Dr. Nicholas Boggs discusses his acclaimed biography, Baldwin: A Love Story, with host Dr. Nkaziotz. The episode delves into James Baldwin’s philosophies of love, self-doubt, creativity, and the complex web of relationships that defined his life and work. Boggs reflects on the craft of writing biography, archival research, and the intimate, sometimes fraught, bonds that shaped Baldwin—the man and the writer.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Crafting of Baldwin: A Love Story

• Combining Creative Writing & Scholarship

  • Boggs reversed the usual academic path: he earned his PhD before his MFA in Creative Writing.
  • The MFA "taught me how to write scenes, you know, not just analysis, how to put a whole narrative together. But it also crucially bought me time... to figure out how to write the book I wanted to write." (Nicholas Boggs, 01:12)
  • Quote by Toni Morrison guided him: "You have to write the book that hasn't been written that you wanted to read." (01:44)

• Merging Deep Research and Storytelling

  • Boggs emphasizes the challenge of combining "deep, deep, deep research" with narrative skill, moving beyond theoretical jargon to coherent storytelling. (02:47)
  • "The challenge is bringing them together right when deep research can meet, kind of the ability to tell a story..." (02:49)

Struggles, Self-Doubt, and Achievement

• Endurance of Writing
  • The biography took 20 years to complete, 10 of which were spent writing.
  • "I do often think of writing a book as this endless, endless marathon." (03:59)
  • Self-doubt lingered even after receiving a book contract, particularly around finding his narrative voice, especially reflecting Baldwin’s own early struggles.
  • Memorable moment: "I finished that whole section and it was not good. And my editor basically told me that. But then as soon as Baldwin lands in Paris, suddenly I found my voice." (04:33)

Baldwin’s Philosophy of Love

• Love as Guiding Principle and Creative Force
  • Episode epigraph: Baldwin’s words, "Love is the only reality, the only terror, and the only hope." (05:49)
  • Boggs explains how Baldwin’s journey starts with self-love, framed by a moment in a movie theater seeing Bette Davis—discovering his own beauty.
  • Baldwin’s complex, often critical love for America is discussed: "He reserved the right to perpetually criticize her... because he loved America." (06:34)
  • The concept of “impossible love”—with people or a nation—was a creative engine fueling Baldwin’s works. (07:54)

Formative Relationships

Baldwin and His Mother, Emma Jones

• Influence on Self-Love and Care
  • "She utterly shaped his sense of love." (08:42)
  • Jones was a hard worker, protective, and encouraged his writing despite poverty and hardship—she was his "confidant and a source of sustenance and hope and inspiration." (09:23)
  • Baldwin sent money home throughout his life, as in the oft-repeated story of financing his early Paris sojourn with only $40 after giving the rest to his mother. (11:09)
  • Anecdote: The trip to Puerto Rico with his mother inspired scenes in "If Beale Street Could Talk". (12:03)

Buford Delaney: Spiritual and Artistic Mentor

• Essential Model for Artistic and Queer Selfhood

  • Buford Delaney exemplified "that a black man could be an artist"—crucial for a young, closeted Baldwin. (12:41)
  • Delaney’s mentorship was transformative: Delaney “introduced him to blues and jazz... taught him how to see the world as an artist." (12:55)
  • The complexity and boundaries of their bond: “Buford actually fell in love with Baldwin, but he accepted this kind of spiritual father position that Baldwin wanted him to have." (13:31)
  • Boggs highlights, “Only great, great art can only come out of love. That’s what Baldwin said.” (14:33)

• Navigating Mentorship and Power

  • Baldwin’s life provides a model for “navigating these power differentials... in a very productive way.” (15:21)
  • Other examples: With mentee David Leeming, complicated feelings eventually evolved into deep friendship and appointed biographer. (15:41)

Lorraine Hansberry and Other Important Women

• Lorraine Hansberry’s Enduring Impact
  • Hansberry was a crucial intellectual companion, supporting Baldwin during pivotal moments.
  • “He was gutted, absolutely gutted by her death.” (20:57)
  • Sweet anecdote: Baldwin holding Hansberry’s pocketbook as she receives accolades on Broadway. (21:46)
  • Hansberry’s activism challenged and inspired Baldwin’s own trajectory toward social engagement.

Gender, Queerness, and Evolving Politics

• Relationship with Gender and Feminism

  • Interactions with Audre Lorde and Nikki Giovanni in the 1980s pushed Baldwin on questions of gender.
  • While limited in activist circles, Baldwin read early queer theory, engaged complex notions of androgyny and supported Black women writers like Toni Morrison and Gail Jones. (23:28–25:55)
  • "I do think those conversations were pushing him towards a more complicated conception of gender." (24:47)
  • Baldwin’s gender politics: "We can critique him, of course, but... what he was doing was pretty unique." (25:59)

• Supporting the Next Generation

  • Baldwin both critiqued and nurtured younger Black writers, enjoying a dynamic of mutual support. (26:46)
  • Interaction with Toni Morrison on "If Beale Street Could Talk", discussed as a creative process blending male and female narratives—“like drag,” as Boggs describes. (27:58)

Fame, Loneliness, Kinship

• Solitude and its Costs
  • Host references Baldwin’s quote: “You become famous because you’re lonely. You’re more lonely when you’re famous.” (29:14)
  • Boggs: “Loneliness was something that he sought out to a certain degree and then regretted so much. Like fame, right? ... he wanted to be famous, but he already knew that it was gonna hurt.” (29:55–30:13)
  • Despite suffering, “he also had tremendous love and tremendous kinship... they were just complicated, and they had many ups and downs like anybody else’s life.” (31:19)
  • On love’s cost: “...a kind of risky, difficult love, right? A real love... rooted in really, really seeing another person... And that can be lonely if the other person isn’t capable of that..." (31:36)
  • Even after relationships ended, Baldwin’s devotion continued: “Once he loved somebody, it never stopped for him, which I don’t think is always true for people.” (32:44)

The Ongoing Baldwin Conversation & Future Works

• Boggs on Current and Future Projects
  • Taking time for pleasure reading after years of research-linked only to Baldwin (33:21).
  • A new project is in the pipeline, though not yet public. (33:59)
  • Notes the “broader conversation” blossoming around Baldwin, with new critical and creative works emerging. (33:48)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Finding One’s Voice:

  • "As soon as Baldwin lands in Paris, suddenly I found my voice." (04:34, Nicholas Boggs)

• On the Power of Love:

  • “Only great, great art can only come out of love. That’s what Baldwin said. And Baldwin, I think, stayed true to that throughout his life.” (14:33, Nicholas Boggs)

• On Kinship:

  • "Baldwin’s life and this web of relationships he created provide a way of looking for how you can build on the best parts of these relationships to create lifelong kinship structures." (16:56, Nicholas Boggs)

• On Loneliness and Fame:

  • “He wanted to be famous, but he already knew that it was gonna hurt.” (30:13, Nicholas Boggs)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro & Boggs’ Creative Process: 00:05–02:45
• Self-Doubt and Achievement: 03:21–05:45
• Baldwin’s Philosophy of Love: 05:45–08:23
• On Baldwin’s Mother: 08:23–12:16
• Buford Delaney and Mentorship: 12:16–19:24
• Lorraine Hansberry and Grief: 19:24–22:56
• Baldwin, Gender, and Feminism: 22:56–26:19
• Baldwin and Next-Generation Writers: 26:19–29:14
• Fame, Love, and Loneliness: 29:14–32:56
• Future Works and Baldwin’s Influence: 33:21–34:39

Overall Tone & Language

The conversation is rich, intimate, and scholarly but accessible. Boggs is candid about his own journey, parallels with Baldwin’s struggles, and the emotional and intellectual labor of biography. The host’s respectful, thoughtful engagement helps tease out deep insights about love, loneliness, community, and the ongoing relevance of Baldwin’s thought.

For Listeners New to Baldwin or Biography

This episode offers a vivid, human portrait of James Baldwin through the lens of love—as principle, creative engine, wound, and ongoing challenge. It foregrounds how biography can both honor complexity and inspire new generational approaches to art, criticism, and kinship.