Randall Kenan Books in Order

Sixteen-year-old Horace Cross struggles with his attraction to men and the religious expectations of his North Carolina community. A night of disturbing visions intertwines personal anguish with the memories and spiritual concerns of his family.

Set in North Carolina, these stories follow people whose ordinary lives intersect with unsettling and fantastic events. A boy receives messages from the dead and a widow undergoes a transformation, exposing the desires and tensions beneath community life.

This biography for young readers examines James Baldwin's life and writing, considering his experiences as a gay Black man and civil rights activist. It connects the author's literary career with questions of identity and reconciliation.

Norman Mauskopf's photographs portray African American life in the Mississippi Delta, including musical and spiritual traditions. An accompanying essay by Randall Kenan adds a literary perspective to the collection's images of people, places and rituals.

Randall Kenan combines travel writing and oral history to explore Black American experience at the turn of the twenty-first century. Conversations across the United States and Canada examine identity, community and the diversity of individual lives.

Inspired by James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time, Randall Kenan blends memoir and social commentary. Reflecting on his childhood, civil rights advances and prominent public figures, he considers persistent racial inequalities and changes in American culture.

Edited by Randall Kenan, this collection brings together North Carolina writers and chefs reflecting on food. Essays explore family meals, memorable disasters, traditions, ingredients and recipes, connecting eating and cooking with personal and regional history.

In Tims Creek and beyond, ordinary people encounter miracles, restless histories and unexpected desires. A haunted wealthy man, an unwitting miracle worker and a plumber swept into a rock star’s entourage reveal surprising turns within familiar lives.

Kenan’s essays revisit the women who raised him, his North Carolina childhood and the books and artists that shaped his thinking. Food, family and rural labor connect personal memories with reflections on being Black, gay and Southern.