Rooted Book Club: WE ARE A HAUNTING by Tyriek White
Rooted Book Club: WE ARE A HAUNTING by Tyriek White
Our February 2024 Book Selection
If you were at our first Rooted book club meeting with Ellen Ann Fentress last week (recording forthcoming!), then you already heard the news… Our next book club pick is Tyriek White’s We Are a Haunting, a stunning, lyrical debut novel, and the winner of The Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize. We will be talking with Tyriek on Tuesday February 27 at 7 p.m. CST.
On its face, a novel that takes place in New York City may seem out of place in a book club that features books about the South and/or by southerners, and yet this book about three generations of a family living in public housing in East New York is deeply entwined in the traditions and traumas and historical legacies of the South. (“This novel is so New York—so, so New York—yet so deeply southern on lower frequencies. It’s astonishing,” writes the one and only Kiese Laymon.) On top of that, Tyriek earned his MFA at the University of Mississippi and still lives in Oxford.
New York has an elevated place in America’s collective imagination, yet Tyriek White is most interested in the stories, people, and city blocks on the literal and metaphorical fringes of the city. His book is steeped in history, art, and culture, with spiritual and supernatural elements adding to the richness of the characters and setting. There’s so much to talk about with this book, and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts and questions for Tyriek.
You can order a copy of We Are a Haunting from our partners—Lemuria Books and Friendly City Books—or purchase a book through our affiliate Bookshop link.
Here’s the official description of We Are a Haunting:
Taking place over thirty years, We Are a Haunting follows a family of East New Yorkers struggling to maintain a connection to their history. Grandma Audrey, herself a living ancestor among the speaking dead, is about to lose her apartment; her indelible and vivacious daughter Key dies young after serving the Black women of her neighborhood, leaving behind a grieving son, Colly, who holds deep-seated disdain for a community to which he has no choice but to be accountable.
Going back to the '80s, we see Key’s life consisting of nightclubs and enchantment. While training as a doula, she discovers that for her, the dead are much closer than expected and learns how to speak both to and for them, forming a connection between passed and living family members. After her death, Colly soon discovers that he shares the same sacred gift his mother had.
His expulsion from school forces Colly across town, where he forges an understanding of how friendship, family, and community foster love in places where it may seem inherently and systemically impossible. After college, Colly returns to East New York to work with community organizers addressing structural neglect and the crumbling NYCHA blocks; to do what he can for the people that mean the most to him. With a singular combination of urban fiction, the supernatural, and social critique, Tyriek White depicts the palpable, breathing essence of outer borough New York City with lyricism and deep significance.
About the author:
Mississippi Transplant: Tyriek White
Tyriek Rashawn White is a writer, musician, and educator from Brooklyn, NY. His novel, We Are a Haunting (Astra House, 2023), was the winner of The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and was long-listed for the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize. He has received fellowships from Callaloo and the New York State Writer’s Institute, among other honors. He is currently the media director of Lampblack Literary Foundation, which seeks to provide mutual aid and various resources to Black writers across the diaspora. He holds a degree in Creative Writing & Africana Studies from Pitzer College and most recently earned an MFA from the University of Mississippi. A poignant debut for readers of Jesmyn Ward and Jamel Brinkley, We Are a Haunting follows three generations of a working class family and their inherited ghosts: a story of hope and transformation.
The Rooted Book Club is in partnership with the Mississippi Book Festival, Lemuria Books, and Friendly City Books. Red Squared records and produces our book club conversations at their podcast studio in The Hangar in Midtown, Jackson. Reach out or leave a comment with any questions, suggestions, or comments. Happy reading!