Award-winning author Jesmyn Ward speaks with Kase Johnstun of Utah Humanities about the craft of writing, resilience, and historical memory, in anticipation of her 2025 David P. Gardner Graduate Lecture in the Humanities and Fine Arts. Ward’s lecture is hosted by the Tanner Humanities Center and the Salt Lake City Public Library, and is part of the Utah Humanities Book Festival.

This episode is a collaboration with the Utah Humanities podcast, Check Your Shelves.

Books by Ward include:

• Let Us Descend
• Sing Unburied Sing (Winner, National Book Award)
• Salvage the Bones (Winner, National Book Award)

Named after our seminar room, The Virtual Jewel Box hosts conversations at the Obert C. and Grace A. Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah. Views expressed on The Virtual Jewel Box do not represent the official views of the Center or University.