Advance praise for Freedom
“Incredibly perceptive. . . . A stunning testimony from a talented writer who strips off false facades with honesty and vulnerability, and leaves us with a searing question: ‘Can you build a nation based on love?’”
—mónica teresa ortiz, BookPage (starred review)
“Clemmons is one of the smartest writers I know, and her first collection of essays (after her beautiful debut novel, What We Lose) showcases her ability to draw on the personal in order to understand the wider systems of power, struggle, and capitalism. The daughter of a South African mother who grew up in a white town in the Northeast, Clemmons uses her frequent travels to Johannesburg to contextualize the promises of freedom, the realities of entrenched inequalities, and consequences of violence. An absolutely essential read.”
—Emily Firetog, Lit Hub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2026
“What is freedom? How can we fight for it, hold onto it, glory in it, amid so many kinds of injustice? The essays of Zinzi Clemmons ask and answer these questions with exacting force and clarity.”
—Margo Jefferson, author of Negroland and Constructing a Nervous System
“There is so very much to treasure in this marvelous book. Too much to capture here. But I especially savored Zinzi Clemmons’s life as an immigrant and daughter of people from different places in the world. How characteristic of our times! And she’s skillful on Afropessimism’s attraction and ultimate shortcomings, not at all easy to do.”
—Nell Irvin Painter, author of The History of White People and I Just Keep Talking
“Freedom positions Zinzi Clemmons as one of the United States’ preeminent thinkers on justice. Her voice and vision fill me with gratitude.”
—Myriam Gurba, author of Creep: Accusations and Confessions
“Electrifying . . . A sharply glimmering vision of how personal experience connects to larger political moments.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Clemmons follows her acclaimed debut novel, What We Lose, with a series of searching and well-researched essays combining memoir, cultural criticism, and reportage. . . . Rejecting conventional wisdom and misleading narratives, Clemmons thinks clearly and writes bravely on crucial topics.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Nine insightful, expertly written essays . . . Clemmons strikes an excellent balance in these essays, which are at once analytical and intimate. Give to readers of Honorée Fanonne Jeffers’ Misbehaving at the Crossroads (2025) and John Edgar Wideman’s Languages of Home (2025).”
—Allison Escoto, Booklist
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