Jesmyn Ward has a strong bond with her hometown, where more than 200 of her relatives live. In the monthly magazine “The Atlantic” the author describes how difficult it was for her to make the decision to raise her children there. Ward looks back on his own childhood, on the omnipresent hunger, also on that for stories.
The feeling that nothing better is due
She fears that her children, as well as grandmother and mother, might grow up feeling that they deserve nothing better because of their origin and skin color. It describes a lack of perspective that has been passed on from generation to generation and against which we must continue to fight. Translation from the American: Stefan Barmann.
Jesmyn Wardwas born in 1977 in DeLisle, Mississippi, where she lives today. After studying literature, she published autobiographical and journalistic texts and essays. She is professor of English at Tulane University in New Orleans. In 2011 she received the National Book Award for her novel “Before the Storm”, and six years later she received the award for “Singt, Ihr Lebenden und ihr Toten, singt” a second time.
(Part 4 on 1.1.2020)
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