Jesmyn Ward

Jesmyn Ward, born in nineteen seventy-seven, is a distinguished American novelist and a professor of English at Tulane University, where she holds the prestigious Andrew W. Mellon Professorship in the Humanities. Her literary prowess has garnered significant acclaim, particularly for her exploration of themes such as familial love and community resilience.

Ward's second novel, Salvage the Bones, won the National Book Award for Fiction in two thousand eleven, capturing the struggles of a family during Hurricane Katrina. This remarkable achievement was followed by her second National Book Award win in two thousand seventeen for her novel Sing, Unburied, Sing, making her the only woman and the only African American to receive this honor twice.

All of Ward's first three novels are set in the fictional Mississippi town of Bois Sauvage, a backdrop that reflects her deep connection to the region. In her fourth novel, Let Us Descend, the narrative takes a different turn as the main character, Annis, is transported to an earlier Bois Sauvage, where she faces the harsh realities of life on a Mississippi sugar plantation after being taken from the Carolina coast.