
Conversations with Kiese Laymon
Constance Bailey(Editor)
University Press of Mississippi
Published on 21. August 2025
Book
Hardback
156 pages
978-1-4968-5811-5 (ISBN)
Description
In over a dozen interviews, Conversations with Kiese Laymon provides an in-depth look at author Kiese Laymon as an educator, creative writer, activist, family member, and Mississippian. Interviews capture surprising insights about Laymon's life and craft. Within these pages, Laymon talks about his engagement with other writers, including Richard Wright, William Faulkner, and Eudora Welty. These revelations situate his memoir, Heavy, among other great Mississippi autobiographies and memoirs, such as Anne Moody's Coming of Age in Mississippi, Welty's One Writer's Beginning, Jesmyn Wards's Men We Reaped, and Natasha Tretheway's Memorial Drive. In other interviews, he discusses his obsession with revision and deftly fields questions about pop culture, politics, and Black masculinity, along with a host of other pressing contemporary issues.
As the first collection of its kind, Conversations with Kiese Laymon serves as the perfect introduction to studying Laymon. The cross section of interviews included reflect Laymon's humility, while simultaneously celebrating his accomplishments. Most importantly, the interviews reflect his stature as a major American literary figure. With topics ranging from hip-hop and family to politics and everything in between, this volume provides an unfiltered look at the prolific Southern writer in his own words.
As the first collection of its kind, Conversations with Kiese Laymon serves as the perfect introduction to studying Laymon. The cross section of interviews included reflect Laymon's humility, while simultaneously celebrating his accomplishments. Most importantly, the interviews reflect his stature as a major American literary figure. With topics ranging from hip-hop and family to politics and everything in between, this volume provides an unfiltered look at the prolific Southern writer in his own words.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Jackson
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paper over boards
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
387 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4968-5811-5 (9781496858115)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Constance Bailey
Conversations with Kiese Laymon
E-Book
08/2025
Princeton University Press
€24.49
Available for download
Person
Constance Bailey is assistant professor of African American literature and folklore at Georgia State University. Her research focuses on Black women's comedy and humor, Black speculative fiction, and African American folklore/oral traditions.
Content
Introduction
Chronology
A Conversation with Kiese Laymon
Roxane Gay / 2013
Hypertext Interview with Kiese Laymon
Sheree Greer / 2015
Heavy Are the Words of Kiese Laymon
Auburn Avenue / 2018
Writing Back to History: A Conversation with Kiese Laymon
Monet Patrice Thomas / 2018
"A Reckoning Is Different Than a Tell-All": An Interview with Kiese Laymon
Abigail Bereola / 2018
Kiese Laymon: "Absent Fathers and Present Mothers"
Poppy Noor / 2018
"I Don't Want People to Forget the Sentence": An Interview with Kiese Laymon
Meghan Brown / 2019
The People of Jackson Are Ready: Chokwe Antar Lumumba in Conversation with Kiese Laymon
Kiese Laymon / 2019
Interview with Scott Peters for the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University
Scott Peters / 2020
The Flag and the Fury
Radiolab/WNYC Studios / 2020
On Resilience, Tender Rituals, and Responsible Love: Talking with Kiese Laymon
April Pejic / 2021
"Conjuring Love": A Conversation with Kiese Laymon
Jane Ratcliffe / 2021
Kiese Laymon on Revision as Love and Love as Revision
Jordan Kisner / 2022
Bayou Magazine Interview
Marian Kaufman and Nora Seilheimer / 2023
Sitting in Silence: Special AWP Edition Interview with Kiese
Maurice Carlos Ruffin / 2024
Food for Thought: An Interview with Kiese Laymon
Constance Bailey / 2024
Index
Chronology
A Conversation with Kiese Laymon
Roxane Gay / 2013
Hypertext Interview with Kiese Laymon
Sheree Greer / 2015
Heavy Are the Words of Kiese Laymon
Auburn Avenue / 2018
Writing Back to History: A Conversation with Kiese Laymon
Monet Patrice Thomas / 2018
"A Reckoning Is Different Than a Tell-All": An Interview with Kiese Laymon
Abigail Bereola / 2018
Kiese Laymon: "Absent Fathers and Present Mothers"
Poppy Noor / 2018
"I Don't Want People to Forget the Sentence": An Interview with Kiese Laymon
Meghan Brown / 2019
The People of Jackson Are Ready: Chokwe Antar Lumumba in Conversation with Kiese Laymon
Kiese Laymon / 2019
Interview with Scott Peters for the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University
Scott Peters / 2020
The Flag and the Fury
Radiolab/WNYC Studios / 2020
On Resilience, Tender Rituals, and Responsible Love: Talking with Kiese Laymon
April Pejic / 2021
"Conjuring Love": A Conversation with Kiese Laymon
Jane Ratcliffe / 2021
Kiese Laymon on Revision as Love and Love as Revision
Jordan Kisner / 2022
Bayou Magazine Interview
Marian Kaufman and Nora Seilheimer / 2023
Sitting in Silence: Special AWP Edition Interview with Kiese
Maurice Carlos Ruffin / 2024
Food for Thought: An Interview with Kiese Laymon
Constance Bailey / 2024
Index