Book Club
Sister bell hooks wrote nearly 40 books, only two of which are memoirs — Bone Black is the first and traces her upbringing in the backwoods of Kentucky, depicting her relationship with the land and landscape and people that shaped her.
“Laying out the groundwork of my early life like a crazy quilt,” hooks writes, “Bone Black brings together fragments to make a whole.”
“Not enough is known about the experience of black girls in our society,” she writes, referencing Toni Morrison, who wrote The Bluest Eye to tell the stories of "people who in all literature were always peripheral – little black girls who were props, background.”
In Bone Black, hooks shifts that center.
Her memoir is compelling for many reasons, including her use of short 2-3 page vignettes that are contained and expansive in ways few writers are able to accomplish. In just 61 vignettes, across 183 pages, hooks creates a world that is immersive and full.
*This is a space designed for readers and writers (of all backgrounds/experiences) of color to connect, reflect and share in community. If cost is prohibitive please reach out via DM or email us at [email protected]
📅 Thurs 11/6 @ 7:00 PM
📍 Outlandish