Carla Bruce is a mother, writer, freelance literary publicist, and full spectrum doula based in Los Angeles. She is a board member of Baldwin for the Arts and a member of the San Fernando Valley NAACP.

Carla holds a decade of experience in crafting creative and high-impact publicity campaigns for a wide variety of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry titles. With experience in both corporate and independent publishing — from Riverhead Books, Algonquin Books, Catapult/Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press, to most recently, One World, where she was Director of Publicity — she’s worked with many of the most groundbreaking, bestselling, and award-winning activists, cultural figures, educators, poets, reporters, scientists, and artists of our time. Some of her campaigns include You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat, When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar, Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership by Brea Baker, Gods of Want and Organ Meats by K-Ming Chang, Dances and O Sinners! by Nicole Cuffy, Girls that Never Die by Safia Elhillo, Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism by Eve L. Ewing, Dyscalculia: A Love Story of Epic Miscalculation by Camonghne Felix, The Book of Delights by Ross Gay, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones and the New York Times Magazine, What if We Get it Right? Visions of Climate Futures by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Sage Warrior: Wake to Oneness, Practice Pleasure, Choose Courage, Become Victory by Valarie Kaur, Matriarch by Tina Knowles, Lone Women by Victor LaValle, Into the Uncut Grass by Trevor Noah, You Get What You Pay For by Morgan Parker, The American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin, They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl’s Fight for Freedom by Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri, Flights by Olga Tokarczuk, and many, many more.

Writing at the intersections of motherhood, literature, race, and pop culture, Carla’s essays, reporting, and interviews have appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, Guernica, Real Simple, Romper, The Rumpus, The Toast (RIP), McSweeney’s, and elsewhere.

Her short story, “You Have Come Home,” will be published in You’ve Got a Place Here, Too: An Anthology of Black Love Stories Set at HBCUs, edited by Ebony LaDelle, coming from the Delacorte Press in August 2025. Her essay, “Amazing Grace,” is published in the 2018 anthology Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Voices, Discovering Ourselves, edited by Glory Edim.

A student of Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings, Carla brings a deep, passionate love of storytelling to birth work, equipping birthing people and their families with education, advocacy, and support for their pregnancy, birth, and postpartum journeys. Committed to bringing informed, compassionate, and loving care to the families she serves, Carla works from a trauma-sensitive approach that is rooted in reproductive justice. 

Interviews & Appearances

Can a Book Club Fight Racism?
Huff Post, August 2020

Virtual conversation with Akwaeke Emezi for The Death of Vivek Oji
Vroman’s, August 2020

Spring Issue: “At Home”
Pop-Up Magazine, May 2020

These Powerful Women Are Changing the Literary Landscape
Refinery29, March 2020

Episode: “Pregnancy: Let’s See What This Body Can Do”
The Cut on Tuesdays, October 2019

Moderator: The Ascent of Queen Bey: A Conversation and Celebration
The Wing D.C., September 2019

Panelist: Surviving and Thriving in an Evolving Media Landscape
LMHQ Women’s Breakfast, September 2019

Panelist: Ebbs & Flows of Family Dynamics/Relationships Post-Parenthood
NYT Parenting / The Wing NYC, September 2019

How Can You Beat A Book Slump? 9 Literary Professionals Share Their Tips & Tricks
Bustle, March 2019

Notice Me: How Literary Publicity Works
Fiction / Non / Fiction Podcast, January 2019

In conversation with Frances de Pontes Peebles for The Air You Breathe
Books Are Magic, December 2018

Episode: The Rise of the Well-Read Black Girl Book Club
NPR / Weekend Edition, November 2018

Panelist: Brooklyn Talks: Well-Read Black Girl with Glory Edim
Brooklyn Museum, November 2018

Panelist: Creating the Well-Read Black Girl Anthology
Well-Read Black Girl Book Festival, November 2018

[Career trajectory series on former English majors]
after words, August 2018

What this Feminist Writer Recommends to New Freelancers
Writing on Glass, August 2018

In Conversation with Ashley Ford
LMHQ Women’s Breakfast, June 2018

Sundays at Erv’s
November 2017

Bad Advice From Bad Women
October 2017

Episode 139: “A is for Afrocentric”
The Longest Shortest Time, October 2017

Moderator: Literary Agent Panel Discussion / Festival Organizer
Well-Read Black Girl Book Festival, September 2017

In conversation with Gabourey Sidibe for This is Just My Face
Greenlight Bookstore, May 2017