Black Writers Read: Essie Chambers

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Join us for our conversation with Essie Chambers about her debut novel, Swift River (Simon & Schuster, 2024).

“A book we all need to revive our souls” (Nicole Dennis-Benn): A “powerful novel…[that] broke my heart, and then offered me hope” (Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful) about a complicated bond between mothers and daughters, the disappearance of a father, and the long-hidden history of a declining New England mill town.

Essie Chambers is an award-winning author and producer. Her bestselling debut novel, Swift River—a Today Show “Read with Jenna” Book Club pick—won the 2024 Barnes & Noble Discover Prize and was named a best book of the year by The Washington Post, NPR, The Boston Globe, Elle, and more. It was also longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award, among others. A former TV executive turned filmmaker, Essie produced the Oscar-shortlisted documentary Descendant, released by the Obamas’ Higher Ground and Netflix. She holds an MFA from Columbia University and has received fellowships from MacDowell, the Vermont Studio Center, and Baldwin for the Arts. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.