in his first memoir Let’s pretend it never happenedLawson describes her quirky family, sharing stories about her father’s passion for taxidermy and her husband’s baptism of fire. Lawson is chronically and mentally ill, and she weaves that experience into her memoir and her next book, Extremely happy and heartbroken (in the best possible way). She strikes the perfect balance between describing the challenges and the beautiful parts of life that make it worth it. Reading about her wild, Texan family and the everyday things in life that bring her joy helped me cope with my chronic illness and made me realize that, even though there are a lot of hard things that we all do as human beings, Still, there’s a lot of happiness out there.

For most of his career, Randall Kenan was described as a “writer’s writer”, a writer who is not liked by the general public, but who people in his field genuinely respect and admire for his work. We do. But soon after Kenan’s death in 2020, his short story collection, if i had two wingswas longlisted for the National Book Award. Its reception introduced Kenan’s work to an entirely new audience. black people could fly It is a posthumous collection of non-fiction works from his entire career. In these essays, he writes about his childhood in rural North Carolina, moving to New York City to work on his writing career, and traveling across the country to interview black people about their experiences. Cannon always wondered what it means to be black in America today. Through his writing, we can see the progression of his thought process as he contemplates this question and reads other black writers on the topic.

Following the theme of his first book, Cooking GeneMichael W. Twitty is back to discuss more about how his identity is tied to the food in his life. Twitty is a Jewish black man who finds solace in celebrating both parts of his identity, especially how Jewish-African cuisine is unique and beautiful. The book is structured into a series of essays that examine Jewish-African culture and experiences from many different angles, always returning to food. koshersol It’s a beautiful tribute to Twitty’s faith and culture, which is reflected in the Southern food he cooks. Twitty’s writing always provides a unique perspective on the large role food plays in people’s lives and challenges readers to rethink how they view the role of food in their lives.

The American South encompasses a diverse world of lived experiences. In this anthology, authors—like Keys Lemon, Joey Priest, and Natalia Sylvester—examine what it means to be a person of color in the South. Set in places like doctors’ offices and the DMV, these essays approach the subject of their lived experiences with race in very different ways. Editor Cinelle Barnes has done a great job of assembling a variety of essayists into the collection, creating a truly incredible anthology that highlights some of today’s most talented writers in the modern South. Plus, it’s out from my favorite Southern indie publisher, Hub City Press.