On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward
It’s always a gift to read Jesmyn Ward’s wise and powerful work. “Respair” is an obsolete word, a noun, meaning “fresh hope after despair” and this collection delivers it. Jesmyn Ward explores a lot of territory here, including her upbringing, love of her home of rural Mississippi, the vibrant stories passed down to her by family, cultural influences and representation, and art as a means of survival. She also explores the transformative power of loss and grief – through the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, the loss of her beloved brother, and the death of her partner. She addresses the difficulty of raising a Black son in this country as well as long-term and rampant injustices. Her prose, as always, is beautiful and authentically hers. The illustrations that her words conjure are powerful and fully human. A resounding part of this collection is Ward’s love letter to libraries, authors, and books. She writes of her early years as a Black student in rural Mississippi, and the search for her own experience within books. She came up short time and time again until she found Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler, Richard Wright, James Baldwin. She finally discovers mirrors within these words, and heeds the call to write down her own, drawing upon the treasured stories passed to her by her grandparents and parents. These essays shed light on the history of this country and the experience of Black Americans. It puts things into perspective for many who believe current despair and fear is new. These essays illustrate that this has long been happening in America. For so many, there has always been a fear of the arbitrary and unjust nature of authority. It’s not new. Yet somehow resilience and hope can be found in the dark. That is respair – and it’s inspiring. I think Jesmyn Ward is one of our very best American writers.
On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward, (List Price: $29, Scribner, 9781668064269, May 2026)
Reviewed by Sarah, Old Town Books in Alexandria, Virginia
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