Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist's Memo

WINNER OF THE 2022 PULITZER PRIZE

In Chasing Me to My Grave, the late artist Winfred Rembert relates his remarkable life story alongside his breathtaking body of work. Rembert grew up in a family of Georgia field laborers, joined the Civil Rights Movement as a teenager, survived a near-lynching at the hands of law enforcement, and spent seven years on chain gangs. Decades later, encouraged by his wife, Patsy, he began to carve and dye scenes from his youth onto leather canvases, using leather tooling skills he had learned in prison. In his direct and unforgettable voice, Rembert brings to life the promise and the danger of Civil Rights protest, the brutalities of incarceration, his search for his mother’s love, and the epic bond he found with Patsy. Vivid, confrontational, revelatory, and complex, Chasing Me to My Grave is a searing memoir in prose and painted leather that celebrates Black life and summons readers to confront painful and urgent realities at the heart of American society.

Booklist #1 Nonfiction Book of the Year * African American Literary Book Club (AALBC) #1 Nonfiction Bestseller * Named a Best Book of the Year by: NPR, Publishers Weekly, BookPage, Barnes & Noble, Hudson Booksellers, ARTnews, and more * Amazon Editors’ Pick * Carnegie Medal for Excellence Longlist