Monday, June 15 | 7 PM | Central Library
New York Times bestselling author Tayari Jones has written four novels, including An American Marriage and Kin.
Kin is an unforgettable novel about two lifelong friends whose worlds converge after years apart in the face of devastating tragedy. This emotionally rich work explores mothers and daughters, friendship and sisterhood, and the complexities of being a woman in the American South.
An American Marriage (2018) is an Oprah's Book Club Selection that appeared on Barack Obama's summer and year-end reading lists. The novel won the Women's Prize for Fiction, Aspen Words Prize, and NAACP Image Award, and has been published in two dozen countries.
Jones is a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, United States Artist Fellowship, and NEA Fellowship. Her third novel, Silver Sparrow, was added to the NEA Big Read Library of classics in 2016.
A graduate of Spelman College, University of Iowa, and Arizona State University, Jones is Charles Howard Candler Professor of Creative Writing at Emory University.
Event Info
- Admission is free.
- Doors open at 6:00 PM.
- Seating is first-come, first-served.
- Free parking is available:
- In the Des Moines Public Library parking garage, located on Grand Ave.
- On the surface lot on the corner of 10th St. and Grand Ave., across from the library.
- At the end of the program, there will be a question and answer period. A book signing will follow.
- Books will be available to purchase before and after the program courtesy of Beaverdale Books.
Tayari in the News
- Tayari Jones's Healing Words - Publishers Weekly
- Kin, by Tayari Jones (Starred Review) - Publishers Weekly
- Review: Tayari Jones' new novel explores bonds of sisterhood in the Deep South's Civil Rights Era - The Advocate
- The Novels Everyone Will Be Talking About In 2026 - New York Times