Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
Honorée Fanonne Jeffers is a fiction writer, poet, and essayist. She is the author of five poetry collections, including the 2020 collection The Age of Phillis, which won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry and the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, was longlisted for the National Book Award for Poetry, and was a finalist for the PEN/Voelcker Award, the George Washington Prize, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She was a contributor to The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race, edited by Jesmyn Ward, and has been published in the Kenyon Review, Iowa Review, and other literary publications. Jeffers was elected into the American Antiquarian Society, whose members include fourteen U.S. presidents, and is Critic at Large for Kenyon Review. She teaches creative writing and literature at University of Oklahoma. The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois is her first novel and was a New York Times bestseller, longlisted for the National Book Award, shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, a Finalist for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction, longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize, and an Oprah Book Club Pick."
May's Read of the Month
The Love Songs of W.E.B Du Bois By Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
To come to terms with her own identity, Ailey embarks on a journey through her family’s past, uncovering the shocking tales of generations of ancestors—Indigenous, Black, and White—in the Deep South. Along the way, Ailey must learn to embrace her full heritage, a legacy of oppression and resistance, bondage and independence, cruelty and resilience, that is the story—and the song—of America itself.Honorée's Book Recommendations
Check out some of Honorée's favorite books and read why she loved them so much!
Notes of a Native Son
By James Baldwin
If you’ve ever been on social media and wondered why everybody is quoting James Baldwin, this fiery, brilliant collection of essays will explain why. 
Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir
By Lucille Clifton
Wherever I am emotionally, there is a Clifton poem that I can connect to and that teaches me something of importance. This is my favorite poetry collection by her, one that I return to constantly.
The Souls of Black Folk
By W. E. B. Du Bois
When you think of African American history, you think of Du Bois. What I love about this early collection of his essays is how emotionally vulnerable he is here, when talking about the pain of racism in America.
Roots
By Alex Haley
This was the first “big book” that I ever read as a child. Based on research of Haley’s multigenerational family, this is a fascinating, utterly satisfying read that brings history to life.
Ties That Bind
By Tiya Miles
To me, the best nonfiction reads like a gripping novel. Miles always finds a way to tell little known, essential aspects of American history, while keeping her readers enthralled.
Collected Poems
By Sonia Sanchez
Sanchez is a living American treasure. Her poetry is so meticulously written, but so accessible, too, especially for folks who are a little scared of poetry.
