Praise for
Mama Said

LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/ROBERT W. BINGHAM PRIZE FOR DEBUT SHORT STORY COLLECTION

“A celebration of Black family life that will make you laugh and cry in equal measure.”
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“The collection will reshape what you think about the region and the people that inhabit it.”
Debutiful “The Most Anticipated Debut Books of 2023, Part 2”

“Surprising and revelatory. Mama Said is funny and smart, with many wonderful images, arresting descriptions, and well-developed characters with rich interior lives. I love this book.”
Stephanie Powell Watts, author of No One Is Coming to Save Us

“This book has staying power. Mama Said is a collection of brilliant stories that are of Kentucky, of Louisville, of Black communities throughout the United States. They are rooted in geographic specificity yet expand to far-reaching bounds of culture, family, and belonging. The characters and their struggles and triumphs will vibrate within your heart and mind long after the last pages are turned.”
Crystal Wilkinson, former poet laureate of Kentucky and author of Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts

“Mama Said is a tough yet tender glimpse into a complex community in a city full of strife and love. The characters contain a depth not often seen in a collection of stories, and readers are sure to be thinking about their lives and relationships long after finishing the last (tear-jerking!) page.”
Maggie Henriksen, Carmichael’s Bookstore

“Linked stories set in Louisville, Kentucky, about the members of a tangled Black family, about staying vs. going, about loving each other when it feels hard to do so.”                  Work-in-Progress, “2023 Best Books (I Read)”