Conversations with Kiese Laymon

by Constance Bailey (Editor), Kiese Laymon

In over a dozen interviews, Conversations with Kiese Laymon provides an in-depth look at author Kiese Laymon as an educator, creative writer, activist, family member, and Mississippian. Interviews capture surprising insights into Laymon’s life and craft. Within these pages, Laymon talks about his engagement with other writers, including Richard Wright, William Faulkner, and Eudora Welty. These revelations situate his memoir, Heavy, among other great Mississippi autobiographies and memoirs, such as Anne Moody’s Coming of Age in Mississippi, Welty’s One Writer’s Beginnings, Jesmyn Ward’s Men We Reaped, and Natasha Trethewey’s Memorial Drive. In other interviews, he discusses his obsession with revision and deftly fields questions about pop culture, politics, and Black masculinity, along with a host of other pressing contemporary issues.

As the first collection of its kind, Conversations with Kiese Laymon serves as the perfect introduction to studying Laymon. The cross section of interviews included reflects Laymon’s humility, while simultaneously celebrating his accomplishments. Most importantly, the interviews reflect his stature as a major American literary figure. With topics ranging from hip-hop and family to politics and everything in between, this volume provides an unfiltered look at the prolific Southern writer in his own words.

156 pages, Hardcover

Published August 21, 2025

Reviews

[Sherie Carnegie · Rating 3 out of 5]

16 INTERVIEWS ABOUT FOOD, FAMILY, POLITICS AND MISSISSIPPI. THIS REMINDS ME OF THE LAST INTERVIEW SERIES, ONLY THE PERSON GETS THEIR FLOWERS WHILE THEY ARE STILL ALIVE!
I've Read 2 OF KIESE'S BOOKS AND THIS WAS GOOD INSIGHT INTO HOW HIS MIND WORKS
3 CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISMS: HE TALKS TOO MUCH ABOUT TRUMP- DON'T GIVE THAT MAN ANY HEAD SPACE. IT MIGHT GET BACK TO HIM AND PUT YOU ON HIS RADAR; HE CURSES TOO MUCH IN HIS INTERVIEWS- MAYBE EDIT THAT OUT OR MIND YOUR AUDIENCE; AND FINAL INTERVIEW WAS LACKING- IT WAS SO SHORT THE AUTHOR SHOULD HAVE JUST DONE AN INTRO AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK RATHER THAN INCLUDE THIS AT THE END. OVERALL, I LIKED IT AND ENJOYED GETTING AN INSIDE VIEW OF A CHERISHED AUTHOR.

[Carmen Slaughter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This compilation of interviews is a slim volume but it is a powerful introduction to the brilliant mind of Kiese Laymon. It explores the motivation behind his writing and offers a blueprint for how to engage with literature from both a cultural and critical perspective. A worthy addition to any library for both readers and writers. I recommend buying two copies. One for notes and another to keep pristine.

[Leila · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, Kiese Laymon is THAT GUY. And Constance Bailey did a phenomenal job of putting these interviews together. I read some new stuff, reread some old familiars, and thoroughly enjoyed this closer look into my favorite author & Jackson, MS’s finest.