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    Freedom

    Essays

    Author Zinzi Clemmons
    Ebook
    Penguin Adult HC/TR | Viking
    On sale Jun 09, 2026 | 256 Pages | 9780735221758
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    ONE OF LIT HUB'S MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2026

    A radically vulnerable and virtuosic inquiry into the pursuit of freedom and the interminable nature of struggle, from the award-winning author of What We Lose

    Weaving personal reflections with piercing insight and expansive vision across nine brilliant essays, Zinzi Clemmons explores the complexities of the elusive concept of freedom. As the daughter of a South African mother and a Trinidadian America father, she recounts growing up in the largely white, affluent town of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania—and her frequent travels to Johannesburg, where the lofty promise of freedom was all around her. Coming of age amidst the euphoria of South Africa's first all-race elections, she grapples with the legacy of Nelson Mandela and the shattered hope in the wake of the Obama era. Clemmons critiques the entrenched inequalities that haunt both countries, from the tragic loss of a childhood friend to the violence that often befalls women who have the audacity to be free.

    In a deft mix of memoir, family history, criticism, and reportage, drawing on a vast range of material from Joan Didion to James Baldwin, political analysis and history to Clemmons’s own experiences across the globe, Freedom is an incendiary exploration of race, sex, class, and inheritance. In elegiac prose, Clemmons trains her discerning eye on American institutions and mythologies, probing the bounds of liberation and autonomy to interrogate our most enduring quest—the relentless pursuit of freedom for all.
    © Cayce Clifford
    Zinzi Clemmons is the author of What We Lose, which was a finalist for the NBCC John Leonard First Book Prize and the Aspen Words Literary Prize. A National Book Foundation “5 Under 35” honoree, she was raised in Philadelphia by a South African mother and an American father. A cofounder of the literary journal Apogee, she lives in Northern California, where she serves as director of the creative writing program at the University of California, Davis. View titles by Zinzi Clemmons
    Advance praise for Freedom

    “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

    “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

    About

    ONE OF LIT HUB'S MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2026

    A radically vulnerable and virtuosic inquiry into the pursuit of freedom and the interminable nature of struggle, from the award-winning author of What We Lose

    Weaving personal reflections with piercing insight and expansive vision across nine brilliant essays, Zinzi Clemmons explores the complexities of the elusive concept of freedom. As the daughter of a South African mother and a Trinidadian America father, she recounts growing up in the largely white, affluent town of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania—and her frequent travels to Johannesburg, where the lofty promise of freedom was all around her. Coming of age amidst the euphoria of South Africa's first all-race elections, she grapples with the legacy of Nelson Mandela and the shattered hope in the wake of the Obama era. Clemmons critiques the entrenched inequalities that haunt both countries, from the tragic loss of a childhood friend to the violence that often befalls women who have the audacity to be free.

    In a deft mix of memoir, family history, criticism, and reportage, drawing on a vast range of material from Joan Didion to James Baldwin, political analysis and history to Clemmons’s own experiences across the globe, Freedom is an incendiary exploration of race, sex, class, and inheritance. In elegiac prose, Clemmons trains her discerning eye on American institutions and mythologies, probing the bounds of liberation and autonomy to interrogate our most enduring quest—the relentless pursuit of freedom for all.

    Author

    © Cayce Clifford
    Zinzi Clemmons is the author of What We Lose, which was a finalist for the NBCC John Leonard First Book Prize and the Aspen Words Literary Prize. A National Book Foundation “5 Under 35” honoree, she was raised in Philadelphia by a South African mother and an American father. A cofounder of the literary journal Apogee, she lives in Northern California, where she serves as director of the creative writing program at the University of California, Davis. View titles by Zinzi Clemmons

    Praise

    Advance praise for Freedom

    “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

    “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

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