We Hope Again
In On Witness and Respair, a collection of essays and speeches, Jesmyn Ward deals with beauty and ugliness, dread and hope. Ward will discuss the book at Fisk University in Nashville on May 18.
The Return of the Theological Novel
Brandon Taylor’s readers expect his novels to coalesce around deep philosophical thought. In his latest, Minor Black Figures, ideas about God function as the engine of the book.
Song of My Songs
Daniel Black’s ninth book, Isaac’s Song, is a novel about Black gay becoming in the 1980s. It dunks us into the colorful life and language of Isaac Swinton, carrying us through recollections of his rigid childhood in Missouri and life in Chicago amidst the AIDS crisis.
America’s Promise
Load in Nine Times is Frank X. Walker’s poetic exploration of American life in the period surrounding the Civil War. The collection takes Kentucky as its geographical framework, speaking through enslaved mothers, fathers, and children and masters and mistresses.
Duality Is Fine
In John Vercher’s third novel, Devil Is Fine, a biracial father grieves his deceased son and dying career, realizing that he only understands both through a post-mortem examination. Vercher will appear at the 2024 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on October 26-27.
Making a New Sun
FROM THE CHAPTER 16 ARCHIVE: Alive at the End of the World is the latest apocalyptic collection of poetry from Memphis native Saeed Jones.
