Let Us Descend: A Conversation with Jesmyn Ward and Ta-Nehisi Coates Tickets

Author and academic Jesmyn Ward (Salvage the Bones; Sing, Unburied, Sing) is a two-time National Book Award winner, the youngest ever holder of the Library of Congress Prize for Fiction, a member of the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World, and an awardee of the prestigious MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship. The October 24th publication of Let Us Descend, Ward's fourth novel and her first in over six years, is cause for jubilation within the literary community. Who better to celebrate this release than Ward's fellow MacArthur genius, the famed writer, journalist and essayist Ta-Nehisi Coates (Between the World and Me, The Water Dancer)? Friends since 2019, these contemporaries share a bond as two of Black America's most critically beloved authors. They will be joined onstage by the Emmy-winning actress S. Epatha Merkerson, presenting readings from Let Us Descend, and by a quartet of musicians from The Harlem Chamber Players performing songs from two generations of Black women composers, Florence Price and Rhiannon Giddens.