Inciting Joy

An intimate and electrifying collection of essays from theNew York Timesbestselling author ofThe Book of Delights

In these gorgeously written and timely pieces, prize-winning poet and author Ross Gay considers the joy we incite when we care for each other, especially during life’s inevitable hardships. ThroughoutInciting Joy, he explores how we can practice recognizing that connection, and also, crucially, how we expand it.

In “We Kin” he thinks about the garden (especially around August, when the zucchini and tomatoes come on) as a laboratory of mutual aid; in “Share Your Bucket” he explores skateboarding’s reclamation of public space; he considers the costs of masculinity in “Grief Suite”; and in “Through My Tears I Saw,” he recognizes what was healed in caring for his father as he was dying.

In an era when divisive voices take up so much air space,Inciting Joyoffers a vital alternative: What might be possible if we turn our attention to what brings us together, to what we love? Full of energy, curiosity, and compassion,Inciting Joyis essential reading from one of our most brilliant writers.

Ross Gay is theNew York Timesbestselling author ofThe Book of Delights: Essaysandfour books of poetry. HisCatalog of Unabashed Gratitudewonthe 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Award; andBe Holdingwon the 2021 PEN America Jean Stein Book Award. He is afounding board member of the Bloomington Community Orchard,a non-profit, free-fruit-for-all food justice and joy project. Gay has received fellowships from Cave Canem, the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, and the Guggenheim Foundation.He teaches at Indiana University.

• Publisher:Algonquin Books (October 25, 2022)
• Language:English
• Hardcover:256 pages
• ISBN-10:643753045
• ISBN-13:9781643753041
• Item Weight:1.74 pounds