Book Date No. 24
A trip to Community bookstore with art critic Jessica Lynne.
At the end of every book date I ask my interviewees who I should take on the next one. That’s how I was introduced to the art critic Jessica Lynne, who was explained to me by Jet as someone I absolutely needed to know. Naturally, I slid into her DMs, which resulted in us meeting at Community Books in Park Slope on a sunny May afternoon, where we talked about the essay collections she loves, the book she’d swear an oath on, and the book she read too young. Read about our date, below.
Can you state your name for the record?
And what do you do?
I’m an art critic and editorial director of the Black Embodiments Studio.
Where are you from?
Hampton, Virginia.
How did growing up there shape you?
Hampton Roads is a place of deep historical significance. From an early age, even if I couldn’t make sense of it all, I was learning to think about place, the many narratives and stories that are contained within a place, and how some of that is often distorted for reasons of power. Hampton Roads is also a uniquely creative place. It forces a lot of people to find ways of being unique. I think anyone who lives by the water, saltwater in particular, there’s a kind of sensibility that we have. That phrase something’s in the water feels very apt when I think about home. I think about a kind of undercover potency that may not necessarily be the biggest or most celebrated thing, but is still there nonetheless.
What was your young reading life like?
I’m the daughter of a former history teacher. The Yorktown battlefields and Civil War grounds were our backyard so it was really nice to have a Black dad who’s a history teacher. I read a lot of children’s history books and a lot of adult history books that I didn’t understand at the time, but I knew were important in some way. I was a Beverly Clearly Ramona age eight stan. I read all the Ramona books. For my 11th birthday, I got one of the books in the Dear America series. It was a series of young adult novels about girls at different stages of US history. The book I got was Color Me Dark by Patricia McKissack. It’s about about the race riots in Chicago in 1919. The young girl was from the South and migrated to Chicago to escape lynching. I remember thinking oh my God, this book is so powerful. But I also remember thinking the person who got it for me thought enough of me that I should know that history was important in this way. So that book stands out to me. As a teenager, I had, with the help of teachers and mentors, an eclectic taste. I was reading Jane Austen’s Emma, but also Michael Ondaatje’s Anil’s Ghost. Then I found Zora Neale Hurston. Also Kazuo Ishiguro. I didn’t understand the place of those writers in the world just yet. It was really fun to encounter them that way because I could read them without the pressure of the literary timeline bearing down on my experience.
How has your taste evolved since then?
I read a lot more poetry now. I still love a good history text, but I’m not so inclined to pick them up anymore. I still love a good novel. I feel like I’m reading across multiple timelines. I read more translated texts, Spanish language texts in particular, which is a real delight for me.
Who are your favorite poets?
The first poet that comes to mind is Jake Skeets. I learned about his poetry two years ago. He’s the Navajo poet laureate. He has a new collection coming out called Horses, but I read his first collection, Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers. I really appreciate the sensitivity to the body and the specificity of Native history that’s contained within that collection. I like that it’s very sensual and sexy. It’s love-full just as much as it’s grappling with heavier themes. I love Nikky Finney. She’s so important to us and I’m glad that she’s still with us. I recently read a collection by this Uruguayan poet, Ida Vitale, Time Without Keys. That was a really transformative collection. I want to read all of her books. I’m reading Rita Dove, always. I just found a $7 used copy of all of Nikki Giovanni’s poems, which is so special to me. I’m also reading my friend Ica Sadagat, a really amazing Filipino poet and writer who I learned a lot from.
Who in your life has the best book taste?
Claire Fallon who works here at Community, her taste is impeccable. My friend Tarisai Ngangura is an amazing writer in her own right but also has really great taste. She reads a lot in translation. Brazil, France, and other parts of Francophone West Africa. I aspire to be the kind of reader she is. My dear friend, Taylor Aldridge, a fellow art critic, is an amazing reader as well. A lot of our recommendations that we share with each other are rooted in lineages of art criticism or cultural criticism broadly. I don’t know this person personally, but I love Max Pearl and his newsletter, The Separator. He’s a Spanish language book critic. I’m happy to have someone that I don’t know but whose taste I’ve come to respect.
What’s the last good book someone recommended to you?
