Heavy: An American Memoir

Heavy: An American Memoir

With Author Kiese Laymon

In Heavy: An American Memoir, Kiese Laymon explores his family’s relationship to sexual violence, food, and language. In the course of the exploration, he finds his mother, his identity as a son, and memories he spent a lifetime concealing. During this event, Laymon will read from his forthcoming memoir and participate in a discussion with the audience and the moderator, Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal. A reception will follow, and The Regulator Bookshop will have copies of Laymon’s previous books, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, and Long Division, available for sale.

This program is presented as a partnership between Duke’s Forum for Scholars and Publics and Scalawag, a Durham-based magazine about politics and culture in the American South. Additional support from the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute, the Thompson Writing Program at Duke, and the Duke Language, Arts, and Media Program.