“THE WATERBEARERS IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND TRUTHFUL BOOKS I’VE EVER READ...
IT IS AS INTIMATE AND TENDER AS IT IS VAST AND STORMY.
UNFORGETTABLE.”
— Imani Perry, National Book Award-winning author of South to America
New York
September 16, 2025 • 7:00 PM
The Strand
Los Angeles
September 26, 2025 • 7:00 pm
Reparations Club
Nashville
October 19, 2025 • 1:00 PM
Southern Book Festival
With: Alexis Okeowo
Houston
November 13, 2025 • 6:00 PM
Hotel Saint Augustine
With: Martellus Bennett
Brooklyn
January 23, 2026 • 7:00 pm
With: Nicole Hannah-Jones, Nadia Blocker, Nicole Dennis-Benn
New Orleans
Tulane University
March 12–15, 2026
New Orleans Book Festival
“SASHA BONÉT’S TALE IS A TALE OF EVOLUTION AND HOPE– A MOVING FORWARD WHILE LOOKING BACK AT GENERATIONS OF WOMEN WHO HAVE SOUGHT SOMETHING BETTER FOR THEMSELVES, THEIR FAMILIES, AND ULTIMATELY, THE WORLDS THAT SOUGHT TO DEFINE THEM. I HAVE BEEN WAITING TO READ THIS STORY FOR A VERY LONG TIME.”
Hilton Als, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of White Girls
“AT ONCE PROPULSIVE AND TENDER, SASHA BONÉT’S THE WATERBEARERS IS AN EPIC LOVE SONG AND A REMARKABLE BALLAD OF GENERATIONS. BY THE END OF THIS BOOK, I KNEW I HELD IN MY HANDS ON A NEW AMERICAN CLASSIC, AND THAT I WOULD NEVER FORGET THIS FAMILY, WHOSE STORY IS THE STORY OF AMERICA, AND THAT THE WOMEN IN THESE PAGES HAD FOREVER DEEPENED MY UNDERSTANDING OF MOTHERHOOD, HISTORY, HOMECOMING, AND THE REVOLUTIONARY POTENTIAL OF LOVE.”
— Leslie Jamison, author of The Empathy Exams
“SASHA BONÉT’S THE WATERBEARERS IS A BOLD NEW ENTRY IN THE CANON OF LITERATURE ABOUT BLACK MOTHERHOOD. WITH GREAT INTENTION AND BEAUTY, BONÉT EXPLORES WHAT IT MEANS TO CARE FOR OTHERS AND FOR ONESELF IN THE MATRIX OF RACE, CLASS AND GENDER THAT POWERS AMERICAN CULTURE.”
Kaitlyn Greenidge, author of Libertie
“THE WATERBEARERS IS MAGNIFICENT IN ITS NIMBLE AGILITY. PEOPLE ARE ELEVATED TO WONDERS, IF THAT IS STILL POSSIBLE, AND SASHA BONÉT DANCES ON OUR HEARTS IN THIS CLASSIC CREATION OF WILL AND WIT. ELECTRIFYING...WOW. ”
— Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy: An American Memoir

photo by Deirdre Lewis
Sasha Bonét is a writer, critic, and editor living in New York City.
Sasha’s debut book The Waterbearers is a sweeping intergenerational memoir and cultural history on Black matriarchy in America. Available now from Alfred A. Knopf.
More about Sasha
“THE WATERBEARERS IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND TRUTHFUL BOOKS I’VE EVER READ...
IT IS AS INTIMATE AND TENDER AS IT IS VAST AND STORMY. UNFORGETTABLE.”
— Imani Perry, National Book Award-winning author of South to America
New York, NY
September 16, 2025 • 7:00 PM
The Strand
Los Angeles,
September 26, 2025 • 7:00 pm
Reparations Club
Houston
November 13, 2025 • 6:00 PM
Hotel Saint Augustine
With: Martellus Bennett
Brooklyn
January 23, 2026 • 7:00 pm
With: Nicole Hannah-Jones, Nadia Blocker, Nicole Dennis-Benn
Tulane University, New Orleans
March 12–15 2026
New Orleans Book Festival
“SASHA BONÉT’S THE WATERBEARERS IS A BOLD NEW ENTRY IN THE CANON OF LITERATURE ABOUT BLACK MOTHERHOOD. WITH GREAT INTENTION AND BEAUTY, BONÉT EXPLORES WHAT IT MEANS TO CARE FOR OTHERS AND FOR ONESELF IN THE MATRIX OF RACE, CLASS AND GENDER THAT POWERS AMERICAN CULTURE.”
Kaitlyn Greenidge, author of Libertie
“SASHA BONÉT’S TALE IS A TALE OF EVOLUTION AND HOPE– A MOVING FORWARD WHILE LOOKING BACK AT GENERATIONS OF WOMEN WHO HAVE SOUGHT SOMETHING BETTER FOR THEMSELVES, THEIR FAMILIES, AND ULTIMATELY, THE WORLDS THAT SOUGHT TO DEFINE THEM. I HAVE BEEN WAITING TO READ THIS STORY FOR A VERY LONG TIME.”
— Hilton Als, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of White Girls
“THE WATERBEARERS IS MAGNIFICENT IN ITS NIMBLE AGILITY. PEOPLE ARE ELEVATED TO WONDERS, IF THAT IS STILL POSSIBLE, AND SASHA BONÉT DANCES ON OUR HEARTS IN THIS CLASSIC CREATION OF WILL AND WIT. ELECTRIFYING...WOW. ”
— Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy: An American Memoir
“AT ONCE PROPULSIVE AND TENDER, SASHA BONÉT’S THE WATERBEARERS IS AN EPIC LOVE SONG AND A REMARKABLE BALLAD OF GENERATIONS. BY THE END OF THIS BOOK, I KNEW I HELD IN MY HANDS ON A NEW AMERICAN CLASSIC, AND THAT I WOULD NEVER FORGET THIS FAMILY, WHOSE STORY IS THE STORY OF AMERICA, AND THAT THE WOMEN IN THESE PAGES HAD FOREVER DEEPENED MY UNDERSTANDING OF MOTHERHOOD, HISTORY, HOMECOMING, AND THE REVOLUTIONARY POTENTIAL OF LOVE.”
— Leslie Jamison, author of The Empathy Exams

Sasha Bonét is a writer, critic, and editor living in New York City.
Sasha’s debut book The Waterbearers is a sweeping intergenerational memoir and cultural history on Black matriarchy in America. Forthcoming from Alfred A. Knopf September 16, 2025.
More about Sasha

Sasha Bonét is a writer, critic, and editor living in New York City.
Sasha’s debut book The Waterbearers is a sweeping intergenerational memoir and cultural history on Black matriarchy in America. From Alfred A. Knopf.
Design: Visual Intelligence

Sasha Bonét is a writer, critic, and editor living in New York City.
Sasha’s debut book The Waterbearers is a sweeping intergenerational memoir and cultural history on Black matriarchy in America. From Alfred A. Knopf September 16, 2025.
Design: Visual Intelligence