Tayari Jones's Blog

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“Senator Raphael Warnock Is Running Again for the Soul of Georgia” by Tayari Jones appeared in the June 23, 2022, issue of TIME Magazine.

“While the matter at hand is the November election, larger questions loom. Can the sparks that threaten the dry kindling of our democracy be extinguished at the ballot box? In an era of rage and political violence, can a reverend chart a path that gives him victory without fanning the flames?”

Photo by Wayne Lawrence for TIME Magazine

“I Grew Up in Atlanta — Here’s How the Culinary Scene Changed Before My Eyes.”

“The lockdowns of 2020 hit Atlanta hard, as they did the rest of the world. But in the spring of 2021, as the trees once again sprouted new leaves, we emerged from our homes to reacquaint ourselves with our city. For me, the experience was even more intense because I had returned after so many years away, only to be shut in for more than a year. The exploration was emotional.”

Tayari Jones has been awarded a 2021 Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Established in 1925 by former United States Senator and Mrs. Simon Guggenheim, in memory of seventeen-year-old John Simon Guggenheim, the elder of their two sons, who died April 26, 1922, the Foundation has sought from its inception to “add to the educational, literary, artistic, and scientific power of this country, and also to provide for the cause of better international understanding,” as the Senator explained in his initial Letter of Gift.

An American Marriage appears in TIME Magazine’s “The 25 Defining Works of the Black Renaissance.” According to TIME, “The works of this new canon are defined by their breadth and diversity—a movement of pop stars and public intellectuals, superheroes and screwups, horror and ecstasy, individuality and unity. Collectively, they are a trove of epochal masterpieces that have revolutionized their mediums and shaken the culture at large—and whose influence we have only just begun to see take hold.”

An American Marriage appears in TIME Magazine’s “The 25 Defining Works of the Black Renaissance.” According to TIME, “The works of this new canon are defined by their breadth and diversity—a movement of pop stars and public intellectuals, superheroes and screwups, horror and ecstasy, individuality and unity. Collectively, they are a trove of epochal masterpieces that have revolutionized their mediums and shaken the culture at large—and whose influence we have only just begun to see take hold.”

From Tayari Jones, author of the New York Times best-selling An American Marriage, and performed by Gabrielle Union, one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020, comes “Dispossession,” an unflinching story about mothers and sons that will leave listeners reeling for days.

The Folio Society released its beautiful new hardback edition of Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, introduced by Tayari Jones and illustrated by Shabazz Larkin. “ Tayari Jones conveys why this book has touched the hearts and minds of millions of readers in her emotive new introduction.”

The Folio Society released its beautiful new hardback edition of Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, introduced by Tayari Jones and illustrated by Shabazz Larkin. “ Tayari Jones conveys why this book has touched the hearts and minds of millions of readers in her emotive new introduction.”

Cornell University is hosting a yearlong celebration of Toni Morrison M.A.on the 50th anniversary of The Bluest Eye. Tayari Jones, A.D. White Professor at Large, will serve a panelist for a Feb. 18, 2021, roundtable discussion on Morrison’s creative and scholarly work.

The celebration was kicked off in October 2020 with a community-wide marathon reading of the novel, in which Jones was a participant. Events will continue into the spring and include a reading of Lydia Diamond’s play based on The Bluest Eye, community events, reading groups and displays of Morrison’s work and its global impact. In addition, Cornell is offering a new course focused on the novel.