Author Biography | Interview | Books by this Author | Read-Alikes
Ta-Nehisi Coates is a distinguished writer in residence at NYU's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. He is a former staff writer at The Village Voice and Time and has contributed to The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, and numerous other publications. Coates has authored a memoir: The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons and an Unlikely Road to Manhood, and runs a blog, Ta-Nehisi News, which was named one of Time magazine's Best Blogs of 2011. His second book Between The World and Me won the National Book Award for Noniction in 2015. Ta-Nehisi is a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. He is also the current author of the Marvel comics The Black Panther and Captain America.
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The Beautiful Struggle is a memoir with three central characters: you, your
brother, Big Bill, and your father, Paul Coates, a Vietnam vet and Black
Panther. What was it like to write your first book when the people you were
describing are still so close to you?
Not as hard as you might imagine. My people have always been open about these
sorts of things, though I must say I didn't know how open until I started
interviewing and writing. I think two things are at work here. 1) People just
love to talk—I know this from my magazine writing. As crazy as it sounds, most
people want to tell you their story, and they want it to be recorded. I often
regret that I didn't know this when I was single! Moving on. 2) My brother and
father know they have their issues, but they also know that most people have
issues. They understand that when you read The Beautiful Struggle, whatever
rawness, whatever dirt that's there, you'll see in yourself. To err is human, as
the old cliché goes, and I think those points at which we all err in the book
are the very things that will draw people in. Even if they haven't walked the
same road, I think they'll see themselves in the essential human drama of it
all.
...
Jabari Asim is a writer and multidisciplinary artist, who has been described as one of the most influential African American literary critics of his generation. Asim is the Elma Lewis Distinguished Fellow in Social Justice ... (more)
If you enjoyed:
The Water Dancer
Try:
Yonder
by Jabari Asim
Afia Atakora was born in the United Kingdom and raised in New Jersey, where she now lives. She graduated from New York University and has an MFA from Columbia University, where she was the recipient of the De Alba Fellowship.... (more)
If you enjoyed:
The Water Dancer
Try:
Conjure Women
by Afia Atakora
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