Celebrate James Baldwin’s Centennial with this Arlington Reads Signature Author Event. Join us for a conversation between author Jesmyn Ward and author and essayist Ralph Eubanks about Ward’s newest novel, “Let Us Descend,” a reimagining of American slavery, as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching.
Searching, harrowing, replete with transcendent love, the novel is a journey from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation. Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, is the reader’s guide through this hellscape. As she struggles through the miles-long march, 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.
This author talk is part of the 2024 Arlington Reads spring series, “James Baldwin Centennial,” which celebrates what would have been James Baldwin’s 100th birthday in August 2024 with a series of authors whose work is about or influenced by James Baldwin.
The conversation will be followed by an audience Q&A and book signing. Copies of the book will be available for sale, courtesy of One More Page Books.
Attendance is first-come, first-served until seating capacity is reached. RSVP on the library website for an event reminder email. The event will also be livestreamed and available as a recording for 30 days on Arlington County’s YouTube channel; please RSVP to receive the online link.
For more information, contact [email protected]