The way he gets giddy over reading Morrison, Baldwin, Natasha Trethewey and Robert Jones, Jr. The way he writes into Black past, present and future. It’s the way he’s generous with his knowledge. It’s the way he’s willing to see and re-see, revise, constantly grow. Laymon inspires me for more than his truth, however.

And he executes these truths with such exquisite sentences.

The kind that has nothing to do with facts and everything to do with true humanity. Even then, he guides us through his fantastic tale of two Citys with the kind of truth Lucille Clifton said is essential to writing. I first encountered Long Division, his fiction-the genre in which he trained. See, look at me: even this whole paragraph attempts to clean up my initial confession and make it all more palatable. More often than not, I’m direct and speak from my most honest self, but sometimes lying’s just easier. I mean, I don’t have a habit of lying, but I’m fairly well practiced at euphemisms and avoiding hard truths on the page and in conversations. I lie less because of reading Kiese Laymon. In advance of Laymon’s visit to Nashville, Porch codirector Susannah Felts asked a few friends of The Porch to share thoughts about Laymon’s unique voice and vision. He’ll also be giving a reading in Nashville on March 10 at 5:30 pm, which is free and open to the public, and can be registered for here. Laymon, one of the most important Black Southern voices of our time, is the author of three books: Heavy, a memoir the essay collection How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America and Long Division, a novel. Our friends at The Porch, a Nashville-based literary arts nonprofit, are hosting their annual fundraiser on March 10, featuring award-winning author Kiese Laymon in conversation with author and speaker Danté Stewart, as well as a short performance by Allison Moorer.

Kiese heavy