An Evening with Jesmyn Ward and Edwidge Danticat

Award winning writers sat down for an intimate discussion on the two-time National Book Award winner's new book, "Let Us Descend."

I had the honor of being an audience member at The Town Hall where Jesmyn Ward was in conversation with Edwidge Danticat. The announcer said the two MacArthur Award geniuses would be discussing Ward’s new book “Let Us Descend” and there was thunderous clapping, mostly from me. Two Black women who have achieved so much, producing consistently amazing work, were on stage together and I was here to witness it.

To understand my happiness at just being there, you have to rewind to when I first decided I wanted to be a writer. I had moved to the States and between work and school, reading for pleasure was not a priority. However, in my literature class, we were assigned “Breath, Eyes, Memory” by Danticat. That book was harrowing and so real, it spoke to me in ways no Enid Blyton book could. Indeed, up to that point, I identified with books by British authors, even aspiring to write like them. Danticat wrote of the complicated relationship between mother and daughter, of immigrants, of trauma. She spoke to me. I have since attempted to read everything Danticat writes because she is my literary hero.  In motivating myself to write, I would read her work and think, if she can do it, so can I. Fast forward about 15 years later when I was at the Brooklyn Book Festival and I spied Danticat walking towards me and on the phone. I rarely get excited about famous people but that day I just called her name “Edwidge!” as if I knew her personally. She hung up her phone, confused and I had to hastily inform her that she did not know me, but I had been a fan of her work for years. She was touched and gave me a hug. The compassion and care she shows on the page, is who she is in person. Read her work.

I had been hearing about Jesmyn Ward’s work for some time now but never read her thinking Mississippi stories would not interest me. This, of course, is faulty logic because I read all sorts of books from places that are so far removed from my own experience, but I had resisted. I finally bought a copy of Sing, Unburied Sing and realized I had been missing out on an exceptional writer. Ward is a quiet force, whose every word, every phrase is carefully rendered, conveying her meaning without bludgeoning the reader with the point. Her books are short, but you would never know it because their weight is heavy. Her work lingers and forces you to reflect on the words you have just read.

The night started off with actresses S. Epatha Merkeson and Naomi Pierre reading from “Let Us Descend” Hearing the words read out loud, brings new meaning and interpretation to the words and even Ward, the author, said it sounded different to her despite her writing those words. While I have read the book, I will read it again because of the dramatic reading. The questions were engaging from Danticat and Ward was thoughtful and inspiring in her answers.

You can watch the recording at The Center for Fiction.

Danticat, who wrote about the loss of her uncle, asked how Ward, who lost her brother and recently her husband, wrote through the grief. Ward said she did not write for nearly six months until her inner voice told her that her partner would not have wanted his death to stop her writing. In her continuing with the book, she began to understand her character more and that despite grief, you have to choose to wake up every day, to continue living and to continue moving forward, to keep ascending.

These two women’s work is in conversation with each other. They write about their communities – Haitian, creole, Mississippi – with such specificity making their work universal in the process. Their tender rendering of words on the page, attention to detail and bearing witness to those who lived and were here, is why I will always read them and I recommend you do too!

.