PASSAGES: On Morrison

Latest episode

2 Jul 2026 · 39 min

8. Basking in Morrison's Shade with Saeed Jones

In the words of drag performer Dorian Corey, shade requires you to "go to the fine point." To throw shade—to insult your subject, either a text or a person, with maximum flare and make it fun for an audience—you have to pick out extremely precise details, naming the specificities of what you dislike. Toni Morrison was an exceptionally close reader, and this enabled her to be a master of shade. At a celebratory event at the end of her tour for ON MORRISON , Namwali Serpell discusses Morrison's shade as critical praxis with poet, memoirist, and host of " Vibe Check" Saeed Jones. They read and…

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Earlier episodes 8 most recent

1. 

   E7 · 25 Jun 2026 · 27 min

   7. Feeling in on JAZZ with Cathy Park Hong

   Every city has a pulse, a rhythm, a certain way it's touched by light. Continuing on tour for ON MORRISON , Namwali lands in sunny Oakland, California, where she reads Morrison's striking, swinging portrait of Harlem's jazz age with poet and writer Cathy Park Hong. At an event with the Bay Area Book Festival, Namwali and Cathy discuss slant rhymes, slanted grammars, and the slanting light Morrison wields in the passage to depict the City's beauty, violence, music, and love. Here's the passage Cathy reads from Morrison's JAZZ: "I'm crazy about this City. Daylight slants like a razor cutting…

2. 

   E6 · 18 Jun 2026 · 29 min

   6. Dreaming TAR BABY with Angela Flournoy

   In the threshold between awake and sleeping, a woman in a yellow dress strolls the aisles of a grocery store. Continuing on tour for ON MORRISON , Namwali Serpell travels to Philadelphia to talk with writer Angela Flournoy about a scene from TAR BABY. Speaking at the Free Library, they trace the novel's invocation of myths and masks, Morrison's paradoxical presentation of stereotypes, and the surreal, slippery images that make the scene in the grocery store stick. Here is the passage Angela reads from Morrison's TAR BABY: "The vision itself was a woman much too tall. Under her long canary…

3. 

   E5 · 11 Jun 2026 · 29 min

   5. Calling on BELOVED with Vinson Cunningham

   BELOVED is a holy space made of words. Across the street from Washington Square Park, in New York City's historic Judson Memorial Church, Namwali Serpell, writer Vinson Cunningham, and our live audience invoke the hauntings of Morrison's most celebrated novel. Reading from BELOVED's final, stunning page, Namwali and Vinson trace how Morrison imbues meaning on the level of syntax and crafts her words into a story that cannot be forgotten. Here is the passage Vinson reads from Toni Morrison's BELOVED: "It was not a story to pass on. They forgot her like a bad dream. After they made up their…

4. 

   E4 · 4 Jun 2026 · 28 min

   4. Seeking PARADISE with Kortney Morrow

   Toni Morrison didn't want a monument or statue erected in her honor; she wanted a dedicated reading room in her hometown public library, a space that could allow for change and continuous engagement with her work. In this episode, Namwali Serpell visits the Toni Morrison Reading Room in the Lorain Public Library, before heading to a tour event at the CityClub Cleveland to open up a passage from Morrison's novel PARADISE alongside poet and writer Kortney Morrow. Here is the passage that Kortney reads from Morrison's PARADISE: "Beyond, to his left, [Deacon] could hear schoolchildren…

5. 

   E3 · 28 May 2026 · 28 min

   3. Playing in SULA with Dionne Custer Edwards

   Continuing our tour of Ohio, Namwali joins writer and educator Dionne Custer Edwards to discuss ON MORRISON at the Bexley Public Library. They read and open up a passage of Morrison's SULA, a brimming scene of friendship and play between the two central characters, Sula and Nel. Dionne and Namwali explore the innocence of the girls' mirrored play with twigs and grass, but also the undertones of maturation, as Nel and Sula hover on the threshold between the girls they have been and the women they are actively becoming. Here is the passage Dionne reads from Toni Morrison's SULA: "Sula lifted…

6. 

   E2 · 21 May 2026 · 31 min

   2. Flying into SONG OF SOLOMON with Hanif Abdurraqib

   For the launch of Ohio's year-long, state-wide celebration of Toni Morrison, Namwali Serpell flies to Columbus to talk with poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib. With the help of the audience, they read the ending of Morrison's SONG OF SOLOMON and then open up the scene's quiet violence and ambiguous action. The passage leads them to discuss the challenges of adapting Morrison's novels for film, the power of evoking the inexplicable, and the influence of African folk tales on Morrison's work. Here is the passage Hanif reads from SONG OF SOLOMON: "Now he knew why he loved her so. Without ever…

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