“If you’ve never been happy, right now is a good time to start trying. And the faster you can do that, the better. Not the being—that’s a process. But the trying. Cause real happiness is like trouble: you look for it long enough, it’ll find you. Even if you started out looking in the wrong places.” – Destiny O. Birdsong, Nobody’s Magic
Hello Family,
It is my pleasure to introduce you to Destiny O. Birdsong, a member of the Lit 16 Final Four.
She is a poet, novelist, and essayist whose work has appeared in the Paris Review Daily, African American Review, and Poets & Writers, among other publications. Destiny has won the Academy of American Poets Prize and has received support from Cave Canem, Callaloo, Jack Jones Literary Arts, Pink Door, MacDowell, The Ragdale Foundation, and Tin House. Her debut poetry collection, Negotiations, was published in 2020 by Tin House and was longlisted for the 2021 PEN/Voelcker Award. Her debut novel, Nobody’s Magic, was published in February 2022 from Grand Central Publishing, was longlisted for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, a finalist for the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, and won the 2022 Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction. During July 2022, she was the Hurston-Wright Foundation’s inaugural Writer-in-Residence at Rutgers University-Newark, and she now serves as a 2022-24 Artist-in-Residence at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Here is what award-winning author Deesha Philyaw had to say about Destiny’s debut novel:
“With Nobody’s Magic, Destiny Birdsong has given us a devastatingly beautiful, sexy, searing gift. I fell in love with the women Birdsong conjured so brilliantly. These are stunning, irresistible stories of Southern Black womanhood that I will return to again and again.”
You will get to hear Destiny read from Nobody’s Magic, alongside three other authors, at the virtual Lit 16: Final Four event, hosted by:
Cindelle’s Bookstore
Thursday, July 13, 2023
7 p.m. ET
RSVP: HERE
You can purchase the books of Lit 16 authors from Cindelle’s Bookstore: HERE.
This is the last Lit 16 event for the inaugural class. But it is by no means the end of the Lit 16. We shall return at a future time. Keep your ear to the ground and eye on the word for announcements.
And, as always: Buy Banned Books!
*Fist to the sky*
Blessings upon blessings,
Robert
In the spirit of community over competition, the Lit 16 is how Deesha Philyaw, Kiese Laymon, and I use our platforms to shine a light on emerging writers whose art has impacted, inspired, and moved us in ways that we wanted to honor and share with you.
We could have easily created a Lit 64; there are so many fantastic recent debuts that we adore. Unfortunately, for many reasons, we are unable to accommodate that large of a scope. However, we do encourage all of our artistic peers to advance toward the directive set forth by the iconic and legendary Ancestor Toni Morrison: “If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.”
Be sure to follow the #Lit16 hashtag on social media and subscribe to Witness to stay up-to-date on upcoming Lit 16 events. Thank you so very much for joining us in celebration.
The Lit 16: Honoring sixteen literary artists whose debuts are changing the game.