Why Tayari Jones fights for her stories

What does family mean to two motherless daughters? That question is at the centre of Kin , a new work of historical fiction by Tayari Jones. It’s about the bond between two girls in the American South as they end up on starkly different paths, and a deeply human look into life for Black Americans on the brink of the civil rights movement. You might know Tayari from her novel An American Marriage , which won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2019. Until Kin , Tayari called herself a “committed” contemporary novelist. But when those two characters from the 1950s came to her, she had no choice but to write a historical novel that ended up on Oprah’s list. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Strip club … or culture hub? An opera singer gives voice to the Grenadian revolution Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

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Why Tayari Jones fights for her stories is an episode from Writers and Company from CBC Radio by CBC.

This episode is 00:33:59 long.

This episode was published on Mar 22, 2026.

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