Kiese
Laymon
He // Him // His
[ID: A headshot of a bald Black man wearing a black hoodie. He looks towards the viewer, with a stoic expression. Behind him are glimpses of trees and mountains.]
Oxford, MS
2022 USA Fellow
This award was generously supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
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Kiese Laymon is a black southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi. Laymon is the author of the novel Long Division, the essay collection How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, and the best seller Heavy: An American Memoir. Laymon is at work on several new projects, including the long poem “Good God,” the horror comedy And So On, the children’s book City Summer, Country Summer, and the film Heavy: An American Memoir. Laymon is the founder of the Catherine Coleman Literary Arts and Justice Initiative, a program aimed at getting Mississippi kids and their parents more comfortable reading, writing, revising, and sharing.
Portrait photo courtesy of the artist.
Heavy, an American Memoir, 2018.
Long Division, 2013.
How to Slowly Kill Yourself in America, 2013.