When you learn the alphabet

Allen, Kendra 1994- (author., Author).

Summary: "Kendra Allen's first collection of essays When You Learn the Alphabet--at its core--is a bunch of mad stories about things she never learned to let go of. Unifying personal narrative and cultural commentary, this collection grapples with the lessons that have been stored between father and daughter as well as mother and daughter. These parental relationships expose the conditioning that subconsciously informed and encouraged her ideas on social issues such as colorism, feminism, war-induced PTSD, homophobia, marriage, and 'the n-word, ' among other things"--

Item details

ISBN: 9781609386290
ISBN: 1609386299
Physical Description: print
149 pages ; 21 cm
Publisher: Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, [2019]

Contents / Notes

General Note:	"Winner of the Iowa Prize for Literary Nonfiction."
Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 148-149).
Formatted Contents Note:	Dark girls -- About American marriages -- When you learn the alphabet -- Father can you hear me -- The bitch had discipline -- Legs on his shoulders -- For sale, sometimes for free -- Citizens take out the trash -- Full service -- How to workshop n-words -- Polar bear express -- Boy is a white racist word -- Don't gaslight the moonlight -- The beautiful ones always smash the picture -- Dear life -- Skin cracks, blood spills -- Mama said on motherhood -- The cheapest casket -- Bombs on fire.
Awards Note:	"Winner of the Iowa Prize for Literary Nonfiction."