Jamila Minnicks' debut novel Moonrise Over New Jessup tells the story of a 1950s-era, all-Black Alabama town that is resistant to desegregation and the opposing political viewpoints that threaten a young couple's burgeoning romance. Praised by Barbara Kingsolver for its dive into the ''deep complexity of the American Civil Rights movement'' by way of ''compelling characters and a heart-pounding plot,'' it won the 2021 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. Minnicks has published work in the literary journals CRAFT, The Write Launch, and The Silent World in Her Vase, and her short story ''Politics of Distraction'' was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. (recorded 2/22/2023)