Natashia Deón's debut novel Grace depicts the violent, terrifying world of the antebellum South, where the emancipation of slaves can bring anything but freedom. She is "not merely another new author to watch. She has delivered something whole, and to be reckoned with, right now" (New York Times). She explores, "with psychological acuity and absolutely no mercy, what the institution did to slave women-specifically, how it deprived them of the most basic chance to love, delight in and protect their own children" (New York Times). Recipient of a PEN Center USA Emerging Voices fellowship, Deón is an attorney, writer, law professor, and creator of the popular Los Angeles-based reading series Dirty Laundry Lit.

(recorded 7/20/2016)