An accomplished poet, playwright, and writer, Jabari Asim has been described as one of the most influential African American literary critics of his generation. Asim has served as the editor-in-chief of Crisis magazine --- the NAACP’s flagship journal of politics, culture and ideas --- and as an editor at The Washington Post, where he wrote a syndicated column on politics, popular culture and social issues.

His writing has appeared in Essence, The Baffler, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, The New Republic, American Prospect, Yale Review and elsewhere. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in Creative Arts and is the author of eight books for adults --- including YONDER --- and 13 books for children. His debut book of poems, STOP AND FRISK, was published in 2020. His latest books for young readers, ME AND MUHAMMAD ALI and A CHILD'S INTRODUCTION TO JAZZ, will be released later this year.

Asim is currently the Elma Lewis Distinguished Fellow and a Professor at Emerson College. He is the Graduate Program Director of the MFA Program in the Department of Writing, Literature and Publishing.

Books by Jabari Asim

Yonder

by Jabari Asim - Fiction, Historical Fiction

Cato and William meet at Placid Hall, a plantation in an unspecified part of the American South. Subject to the whims of their tyrannical and eccentric captor, Cannonball Greene, they never know what harm may befall them: inhumane physical toil in the plantation’s quarry by day, a beating by night, or the sale of a loved one at any moment. The latter hurts the reserved and stubborn William, who finds himself falling for Margaret, a small but mighty woman with self-possession beyond her years. And it hurts Cato, whose first love, Iris, was sold off with no forewarning. He now finds solace in his hearty band of friends. But their relationships begin to fray when a visiting minister with a mysterious past starts to fill their heads with ideas about independence.

Preaching to the Chickens: The Story of Young John Lewis

Written by Jabari Asim and illustrated by E. B. Lewis - Children's 4-8, Picture