“Ward chronicles the stories of poor, rural Southerners, invoking racial history and examining present racial divides, in lyrical novels and nonfiction rooted in Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, where she was raised and still lives.” – The Los Angeles Times
On October 11, 2017, writer, Jesmyn Ward, was announced as one of twenty-four MacArthur Fellows in the Class of 2017. Intended as a no-strings-attached award for extraordinarily talented and creative individuals, the MacArthur Fellowship is an investment in their potential. As a writer, Jesmyn has produced award-winning works including Salvage the Bones, winner of the 2011 National Book Award. Her most recent book, Sing, Unburied, Sing, is also a contender for the 2017 National Book Award.
The MacArthur Foundation had this to say about Ward’s work on a whole:
In her novels and nonfiction accounts of her own experiences with loss and injustice, Ward is offering a raw and powerful portrayal of the circumscribed possibilities and lost potential faced by many African Americans after generations of racial and economic inequality.
We are excited about Jesmyn’s many accomplishments and encourage each and every one of you to pick up one, two, or three of her books to read over the next few months. We are confident that each book will delight you with stories of resilience in the face of hardship and beauty in the face of bleakness.
Books by Jesmyn Ward
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| Salvage the Bones | Men We Reaped | The Fire This Time | Sing, Unburied, Sing |
Jesmyn Ward received a B.A. (1999) and M.A. (2000) from Stanford University and an M.F.A. (2005) from the University of Michigan. Currently, an associate professor in the Department of English at Tulane University, Ward was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University from 2008 to 2010, the Grisham-Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi from 2010 to 2011, and an assistant professor of creative writing at the University of South Alabama from 2011 to 2014. Her additional publications include the novel Where the Line Bleeds (2008), a memoir, Men We Reaped (2013), and The Fire This Time (co-editor, 2016).
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