On witness and respair essays
"Beginning with her upbringing in a multigenerational household in rural Mississippi, the cradle of both her youth and her gift for storytelling, Ward brings her keen wisdom and hauntingly lyrical prose to a range of topics, following in her grandmother Dorothy's footsteps when she promises always t...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Books Print Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York, NY :
Scribner,
2026.
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| Edition: | First Scribner hardcover edition. |
| Subjects: | |
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| Summary: | "Beginning with her upbringing in a multigenerational household in rural Mississippi, the cradle of both her youth and her gift for storytelling, Ward brings her keen wisdom and hauntingly lyrical prose to a range of topics, following in her grandmother Dorothy's footsteps when she promises always to "Tell it straight. Tell it all." True to her word, in these pages Ward contemplates the writers and novels of her youth and adulthood -- the transformative power of discovering Octavia Butler as a twenty-something, the mirror that Richard Wright's novels held up to her own childhood, and of course, her lifelong love for Toni Morrison. Ward ruminates on her approach to both fiction and life, reflecting on the power of the novel, how to raise a Black son in an era of rising divisiveness and cruelty, as well as her own personal tragedies -- including the titular essay of the collection, which tells the story of her partner's sudden death on the eve of the COVID-19 epidemic. On Witness and Respair is a monument to hope, beauty, and personal and collective resilience." -- |
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| Physical Description: | xxi, 226 pages ; 20 cm |
| ISBN: | 9781668064269 166806426X |
| Author Notes: | (Bowker Author Biography) |
