The Prophets : Fiction as truth

The Prophets is a singular and stunning debut novel about the forbidden union between two enslaved young men on a Deep South plantation, the refuge they find in each other, and a betrayal that threatens their existence.

"Patriarchy and white supremacy insist on rigid roles for Black and white, male and female. The Prophets imagines a different past, and a different future.” –The Observer

It is a huge privilege to end LGBT History month with Robert Jones, Jr. ! Join us for an evening unpacking & celebrating his astonishing new novel with Jess Brough, host of the Black Unicorns Reading Group.

The Book: Isaiah was Samuel’s and Samuel was Isaiah’s. That was the way it was since the beginning, and the way it was to be until the end. In the barn they tended to the animals, but also to each other, transforming the hollowed-out shed into a place of human refuge, a source of intimacy and hope in a world ruled by vicious masters. But when an older man—a fellow slave—seeks to gain favor by preaching the master’s gospel on the plantation, the enslaved begin to turn on their own. Isaiah and Samuel’s love, which was once so simple, is seen as sinful and a clear danger to the plantation’s harmony.

With a lyricism reminiscent of Toni Morrison, Robert Jones, Jr., fiercely summons the voices of slaver and enslaved alike, from Isaiah and Samuel to the calculating slave master to the long line of women that surround them, women who have carried the soul of the plantation on their shoulders. As tensions build and the weight of centuries—of ancestors and future generations to come—culminates in a climactic reckoning, The Prophets masterfully reveals the pain and suffering of inheritance, but is also shot through with hope, beauty, and truth, portraying the enormous, heroic power of love.

Our Guest: Robert Jones, Jr., was born and raised in New York City. He received his BFA in creative writing with honors and MFA in fiction from Brooklyn College. He has written for numerous publications, including The New York Times, Essence, OkayAfrica, The Feminist Wire, and The Grio. He is the creator of the social justice social media community Son of Baldwin. Jones was recently featured in T Magazine‘s cover story, “Black Male Writers of Our Time.” The Prophets is his debut novel.

Our Host: Jess Brough runs the Black Unicorns Reading group in collaboration with Lighthouse & Category Is Books in Glasgow. They are a writer, a psycholinguistics PhD student at the University of Edinburgh and the founder of Fringe of Colour – an Edinburgh-based multi-award-winning arts initiative for Black people and People of Colour. Its first online arts festival Fringe of Colour Films took place throughout August 2020 at fringeofcolour.co.uk. Jess has written for gal-dem and The Skinny, and has been published with an essay in The Bi-Bible: New Testimonials and a short story in Scottish literary magazine Extra Teeth and The Best of British Fantasy 2019 anthology. Find them online @Jessica_Brough

Black Unicorns Reading Group is a monthly reading group for Queer Black readers to explore Black Queer writing. Discussions are hosted alternatively at Lighthouse - Edinburgh's Radical Bookshop & Category is Books in Glasgow - though they currently take place online. The Reading Group will be discussing The Prophets 6pm on February 16th, ahead of the event. For more information give Jess a shout: blackunicornsrg@gmail.com