Episode Ep 418 August 18, 2026 1 hr 1 min

The Multi-Hyphenate Marie Laveau: Kayla Hardy's The Quarter Queen

This week, I talk with Kayla Hardy about her dark fantasy The Quarter Queen!

How The Quarter Queen began as a television pilot.
Kayla Hardy’s screenwriting background shaped the novel’s cinematic pacing, visual set pieces, ensemble cast, and meticulous plotting.
Why Marie Laveau is both historical inspiration and a personal connection.
Hardy draws on her Louisiana Creole roots, academic background in African American literature and folklore, and fascination with Marie to humanize a woman often reduced to legend.
Crafting the mother-daughter relationship is the emotional heart of the novel.
Marie and Ree represent different sides of the same coin, allowing Hardy to explore generational pain, privilege, protection, and what happens when the past refuses to stay buried.
How fantasy becomes a way to confront real American history.
The book explores conflicting approaches to oppression and liberation while using Southern Gothic and supernatural elements to make the consequences of historical violence impossible to ignore.
How Hardy reclaims Black and Creole folklore from pop-culture mythology,
Through Voodoo and zonbi, Hardy grounds the supernatural elements in traditions that have often been appropriated or stripped of their origins.