The Fire This Time Summary
Jesmyn Ward

The Fire This Time Overview

The Fire This Time is a New York Times-Bestselling collection of essays, memoirs, and poetry about being black in the United States.The title of the collection is an allusion to James Baldwin's landmark 1962 book highlighting racism in America entitled The Fire Next Time and of the 18 pieces, ten were written specifically for inclusion in this collection. The works that the editor Jesmyn Ward has assembled in this volume focus on themes such as systemic racism, cultural appropriation, the historical persecution of black people in the United States, revolution, and justice. Each poem, essay, and memoir within the collection draws upon its readers' knowledge of current and historical events regarding race in order to make an original claim of its own.