The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race edited by Jesmyn Ward
Ward serves as editor in this collection of essays responding to James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time. It includes pieces by incredible writers including Carol Anderson, Jericho Brown, Edwidge Danticat, Kevin Young, Claudia Rankine, and Honorée Jeffers. Each selection looks at a different aspect of Black identity—whether that be in the past, present, or future—and often includes the writer’s personal experience engaging with Baldwin’s work. These essays range in their styles but all feature incredible prose, making The Fire This Time a book to be treasured, annotated, underlined, and studied.