Just how powerful are our memories? This is the central question of The Water Dancer, the first novel from Ta-Nehisi Coates, well-known for his Atlantic essays, and a National Book Award winner for Between the World and Me. The book follows Hiram Walker, a young slave in antebellum Virginia, as he explores the metaphorical and metaphysical boundaries of his world. A remarkable blend of historical fiction and fantasy, evocatively detailed, and constantly thought-provoking, The Water Dancer serves as a profound reminder of Coates’s ongoing proposition: that we must remember and speak of our history in order to understand current challenges. Coates will be joined in conversation by Natalie Moore, South Side bureau reporter at WBEZ.

This program is generously underwritten by the Literature Humanist Producers. This program was recorded on October 2, 2019.

Help us caption & translate this video!

https://amara.org/v/B9trs/