Tisa Bryant and Sarah Minor Discuss New Books at Book Matters Event

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English department faculty members Tisa Bryant and Sarah Minor will read from their latest books and discuss their writing themes during a free public event co-sponsored by Prairie Lights, now.uiowa.edu reported.

Bryant, an associate professor of English, will read from her new book titled Residual. The work uses a series of genre-crossing essays to explore the aftermath of her mother’s death, examining what remains of her home, psyche, and creative practice.

By blending memoir with archival reflection, Bryant draws on personal memories and the lives of Black women such as Lorraine Hansberry and Octavia E. Butler to consider grief, memory, and endurance.

“Fifteen years after her mother’s death, Bryant attempts to confront the emptiness and loneliness she felt in the wake of the loss… through captivating writing that hovers between prose and poetry, Bryant paints a moving portrait of grief,” Publishers Weekly wrote of the book, as detailed by now.uiowa.edu.

Tisa Bryant and Sarah Minor: Residual/Carousel — Iowa City Public Library | The Library Channel

Minor, an assistant professor of English, will read from her new book titled Carousel: An Essay on Seeing. The book opens with a professor questioning what students actually observe in a world dominated by constant digital distraction.

Blending memoir, cultural criticism, and history, Minor examines how vision shapes power and perception. Her work reveals that human ways of seeing frequently expose more about the observer than the surrounding world.

Tisa Bryant and Sarah Minor Discuss New Books at Book Matters Event

“Minor weaves together an artful collage of observations, from the historic to the modern and the critical to the personal. Indelible and idiosyncratic details . . . add intimacy and humanity to Minor’s insights. This is potent,” Publishers Weekly said in its review, according to now.uiowa.edu.

The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will follow the readings and discussion.

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