Audiobooks by Jesmyn Ward

On Witness and Respair: Essays Audiobook

"Bloomsbury presents On Witness and Respair written and read by Jesmyn Ward The collected creative nonfiction of a singular American writer, Jesmyn Ward, including widely shared classics, three never-before-published speeches, and an introductory essay. Respair (noun, obsolete), fresh hope after despair. From the two-time National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author Jesmyn Ward, this collection of essays documents more than a decade of work in the life of a singular writer often lauded as 'the heir apparent to Toni Morrison' (LitHub). Beginning with her upbringing in a multigenerational household in rural Mississippi, the cradle of both her youth and her gift for storytelling, Ward brings her keen wisdom and hauntingly lyrical prose to a range of topics, following in her grandmother Dorothy’s footsteps when she promises always to 'Tell it straight. Tell it all.' True to her word, in these pages Ward contemplates the writers and novels of her youth and adulthood — the transformative power of discovering Octavia Butler as a twenty-something, the mirror that Richard Wright’s novels held up to her own childhood, and of course, her lifelong love for Toni Morrison. Ward ruminates on her approach to both fiction and life, reflecting on the power of the novel, how to raise a Black son in an era of rising divisiveness and cruelty, as well as her own personal tragedies — including the titular essay of the collection, which tells the story of her partner’s sudden death on the eve of the COVID-19 epidemic. Every bit as piercing and moving as her fiction, On Witness and Respair is a testament to Ward’s powers as one of America’s finest living writers and is a monument to hope, beauty, and personal and collective resilience. PRAISE FOR JESMYN WARD: 'One of the most important writers in America today' Ann Patchett 'Ward writes like a dream: a real dream, uneasy, vivid and deep as the sea' The Times 'Takes the territory made so familiar by writers such as William Faulkner... and reclaims it' Financial Times 'Jesmyn is, simply, the best of us' Ta-Nehesi Coates C 2026 Jesmyn Ward P 2026 Simon & Schuster"

Jesmyn Ward (Author), Jesmyn Ward (Narrator)

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Let Us Descend: An Oprah's Book Club Pick

"Bloomsbury presents Let Us Descend written and read by Jesmyn Ward. * AN OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * ‘A spectacular achievement’ ANTHONY DOERR ‘Extravagantly beautiful’ DAILY MAIL ‘One of the greatest writers of all time’ JACQUELINE WOODSON ‘Extraordinary’ GUARDIAN ‘The best book I’ve read in years’ LOUISE KENNEDY ———————————- The first weapon I ever held was my mother's hand. On a slave plantation in the Carolinas, Annis has survived in the light of her mother’s resilience, comforted by stories of her African warrior grandmother. Everything she knows, she learned from her mother – how to fight, how to be strong, how to grow up in a world shrouded in darkness. When she is sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, Annis must venture onward through the rich but unforgiving landscapes of the American South alone: from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans, and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation. Searching for relief in memories of her mother, she opens herself to a world beyond her own, teeming with spirits of earth, water, history and myth. A reimagining of American slavery as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching, Let Us Descend offers a magnificent portrait of the strength of the human spirit and its ability to emerge from darkness into light. This is a story of beauty, love, rebirth and reclamation – a masterwork for the ages. Praise for Sing, Unburied, Sing ‘A must’ Margaret Atwood ‘One of the most important writers in America today’ Ann Patchett ‘Ward is a lyrical, visceral storyteller’ Daily Mail ‘A searing, urgent read’ Celeste Ng ‘Plays out like a grand epic … Staggering’ Marlon James C 2023 Jesmyn Ward P 2023 Simon & Schuster"

Jesmyn Ward (Author), Jesmyn Ward (Narrator)

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Salvage the Bones

"Bloomsbury presents Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward, read by January LaVoy. 'A brilliantly pacy adventure story ... Ward writes like a dream' – The Times 'Fresh and urgent' – New York Times 'There’s something of Faulkner to Ward’s grand diction' – Guardian WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD Hurricane Katrina is building over the Gulf of Mexico, threatening the coastal town of Bois Sauvage, Mississippi, and Esch's father is growing concerned. He's a hard drinker, largely absent, and it isn't often he worries about the family. Esch and her three brothers are stockpiling food, but there isn't much to save. Lately, Esch can't keep down what food she gets; at fifteen, she has just realized that she's pregnant. Her brother Skeetah is sneaking scraps for his prized pit bull's new litter, dying one by one. Meanwhile, brothers Randall and Junior try to stake their claim in a family long on child's play and short on parenting. As the novel progresses through twelve dramatic days, this unforgettable family – motherless children sacrificing for one another as they can, protecting and nurturing where love is scarce – pulls itself up to face another day. 'Masterful ... A palpable sense of desire and sorrow animates every page ... Salvage the Bones has the aura of a classic about it' – Washington Post 'Beautifully written ... A powerful depiction of grinding poverty, where somehow, amid the deprivation, the flame of filial affection survives and a genuine spirit of community is able to triumph over everything the system and nature can throw at it' – Daily Mail C 2011 Jesmyn Ward P 2021 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC"

Jesmyn Ward (Author), January LaVoy (Narrator)

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Men We Reaped: A Memoir

"Bloomsbury presents Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward, read by January LaVoy. 'A brutal, moving memoir … Anyone who emerges from America’s black working-class youth with words as fine as Ward’s deserves a hearing' – Guardian 'Raw, beautiful and dangerous' – New York Times Book Review 'Lavishly endowed with literary craft and hard-earned wisdom' – Time The beautiful, haunting memoir from Jesmyn Ward, the first woman to win the National Book Award twice 'And then we heard the rain falling and that was the blood falling; and when we came to get in the crops, it was dead men that we reaped' – Harriet Tubman Jesmyn Ward’s acclaimed memoir shines a light on the community she comes from in the small town of DeLisle, Mississippi, a place of quiet beauty and fierce attachment. Here, in the space of four years, she lost five young black men dear to her, including her beloved brother – to accidents, murder and suicide. Their deaths were seemingly unconnected, yet their lives had been connected by identity and place. As Jesmyn dealt with these losses, she came to a staggering truth: the fates of these young men were predetermined by who they were and where they were from, because racism and economic struggle breed a certain kind of bad luck. The agonising reality brought Jesmyn to write, at last, their true stories and her own. 'Acute and often beautiful' – Financial Times 'Haunting' – Laurie Penny, New Statesman Books of the Year 'Elegiac, rage-filled, and uncommonly brave' – Vogue 'A brilliant book about beauty and death' – Los Angeles Times 'Essential' – San Francisco Chronicle 'Burns with brilliance' – Harper's Bazaar 'Unvarnished and penetrating' – Elle C 2013 Jesmyn Ward P 2021 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC"

Jesmyn Ward (Author), January LaVoy (Narrator)

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The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race

"Bloomsbury presents The Fire This Time by Jesmyn Ward, read by Cherise Boothe, Michael Early, Kevin R Free, Korey Jackson and Susan Spain. THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Edited by two-time National Book Award winner and Women’s Prize shortlisted-author Jesmyn Ward, a timely and groundbreaking collection of essays and poems about race in America In this bestselling collection of essays and poems, Jesmyn Ward gathers a new generation of writers and thinkers to speak on race. From Claudia Rankine to Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, Kiese Laymon to Carol Anderson, these voices shine a light on the darkest corners of American history, wrestle with the struggles the country faces today and imagine a better future. Envisioned as a response to The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin’s groundbreaking 1963 essay collection, The Fire This Time considers the black experience in modern America. Significant progress has been made in the fifty years since Baldwin's essays were published, but America is a long distance away from a post-racial society – a truth that must be confronted if the country is to continue to work towards change. Baldwin's 'fire next time' is now upon us, and it needs to be talked about. Sage, urgent and impassioned, this is an essential collection edited by one of America’s greatest writers. C 2020 Jesmyn Ward P 2020 Recorded Books LLC"

Jesmyn Ward (Author), Cherise Boothe, Kevin R Free, Korey Jackson, Michael Early, Susan Spain (Narrator)

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[Spanish] - La canción de los vivos y los muertos

"Jojo, de trece años, y su hermana menor Kayla viven con sus abuelos negros en una granja en la costa del Golfo de Misisipi, con la compañía siempre esporádica de su madre, Leonie, una mujer que desearía ser mejor madre de lo que es, atormentada y en ocasiones reconfortada por las visiones de Given, su hermano asesinado cuando era adolescente. Cuando el padre de Jojo y Kayla, un hombre blanco, va a salir de prisión –Parchman Farm, la misma penitenciaría en la que el abuelo de Jojo cumplió una condena injusta durante su juventud–, Leonie insiste en ir a recogerlo con los niños. Durante el azaroso viaje, Jojo, Kayla y Leonie deberán aprender a relacionarse como familia, y Jojo conocerá a Richie, otro niño con quien descubrirá el legado de la esclavitud y la importancia de reconciliarse con el pasado. La canción de los vivos y los muertos es a la vez una novela de carretera, una novela de aprendizaje, un retrato del conflicto racial que aún hoy lastra las vidas de la gente corriente, y, ante todo, la pequeña epopeya de una familia y los fantasmas que la acechan. Novela ganadora del premio literario más importante de Estados Unidos, el National Book Award, que por primera vez en la historia recibe dos veces una misma autora, La canción de los vivos y los muertos se convirtió en un fenómeno literario para los lectores y la crítica, que la citó unánimemente como una de las novelas del año y comparó a Jesmyn Ward con autores como William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor o Toni Morrison."

Jesmyn Ward (Author), Ana Viñuela (Narrator)

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Navigate Your Stars

"Bloomsbury presents Navigate Your Stars written and read by Jesmyn Ward. As an adult, I learned this: persist. Work hard. Face rejection, weather the setbacks, until you meet the gatekeeper who will open a door for you. Jesmyn Ward grew up in a poor, rural community in Mississippi. Today, as the first woman to win the National Book Award twice, she is celebrated as one of America’s greatest living writers. Navigate Your Stars is a stirring reflection on the value of hard work and the importance of respect for oneself and others. First delivered as a 2018 commencement address at Tulane University, it captures Ward’s inimitable voice as she reflects on her experiences as a Southern black woman, addressing the themes of grit, adversity and the importance of family bonds. This is a meditative and profound book that will inspire all readers preparing for the next chapter in their lives. C 2020 Jesmyn Ward P 2020 Simon & Schuster"

Jesmyn Ward (Author), Jesmyn Ward (Narrator)

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Where the Line Bleeds

"A stunning debut novel from Jesmyn Ward, Where the Line Bleeds is a rich tale of twins raised by their grandmother in a stiflingly poor rural community on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. Upon graduating from high school, growing tensions between brothers Joshua and Christophe test their loyalties-and a violent altercation forever changes their lives."

Jesmyn Ward (Author), Myra Lucretia Taylor (Narrator)

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Audiobooks by Jesmyn Ward

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