Due to illness, Ta-Nehisi Coates is unfortunately unable to attend. Jesmyn Ward will now be joined in conversation by award-winning author Edwidge Danticat.
with music by The Harlem Chamber Players
Readings by Emmy-Winner S. Epatha Merkerson and Naomi Pierre.
Annis turns inward, seeking comfort from memories of her mother and stories of her African warrior grandmother. Throughout, she opens herself to a world beyond this world, one teeming with spirits: of earth and water, of myth and history; spirits who nurture and give, and those who manipulate and take. While Ward leads readers through the descent, this, her fourth novel, is ultimately a story of rebirth and reclamation.
From one of the most singularly brilliant and beloved writers of her generation, this miracle of a novel inscribes Black American grief and joy into the very land—the rich but unforgiving forests, swamps, and rivers of the American South. Let Us Descend is Jesmyn Ward’s most magnificent novel yet, a masterwork for the ages.
A CO-PRESENTATION BY THE TOWN HALL AND THE CENTER FOR FICTION
Edwidge Danticat is the author of several books, including Breath, Eyes, Memory, an Oprah Book Club selection, Krik? Krak!, a National Book Award finalist, The Farming of Bones, an American Book Award winner; the novels-in-stories, The Dew Breaker, Claire of the Sea Light, and The Art of Death, a National Book Critics Circle finalist for Criticism. She has written seven books for children and young adults, a travel narrative, After the Dance, and a collection of essays, Create Dangerously. Her memoir, Brother, I'm Dying, was a 2007 finalist for the National Book Award and a 2008 winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography. Her story collection, Everything Inside, was a 2020 winner of The Story Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Prize. She is a 2009 MacArthur Fellow, and is currently the Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Professor of the Humanities in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University.
The Harlem Chamber Players, Inc. is an ethnically diverse collective of professional musicians dedicated to bringing high caliber, affordable, accessible live music to people in the Harlem community and beyond. THCP promotes arts inclusion and equal access to the arts, bringing live music to underserved communities and promoting shared community arts and cultural engagement.
They have been featured on WQXR and mentioned in articles in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Musical America, and on NPR, NBC, and Here and Now on ABC. THCP was awarded the 2022 Sam Miller Award for the Performing Arts.
To learn more about Harlem Chamber Players, please visit their website (www.harlemchamberplayers.org).
An Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award recipient, S. Epatha Merkerson has won critical acclaim for her work in theatre, film and television. She is best known for her 17 season run as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren in the original LAW AND ORDER franchise. In April 2023 she completed the 8th season of NBC’s CHICAGO MED where she plays Sharon Goodwin a hospital administrator.