IN THE fall of 2019, in the “Before Times,” I found myself seated onstage facing rows of eager listeners in stadium-style seating at the Seattle Public Library on a blustery, rainy evening. My conversation partner for the night was none other than Jacqueline Woodson, whose stellar coming-of-age novel Red at the Bone (Riverhead Books, 2019) had just been released a few days prior.
Nervous and dry-mouthed, I asked Woodson about her thoughts on legacy and what it means to carry on a tradition through many generations—whether this responsibility is more a blessing or a burden. Woodson has written many great books that share this common root. In Red at the Bone, for instance, the matriarch of the family, Sabe, recounts hearing the story of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre “a…
You're reading a preview of
Poets & Writers (Digital) - 1 Issue, November/December 2024