Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify: Carolyn Holbrook with Sherrie Fernandez-Williams

University of Minnesota Press

Once a pregnant sixteen-year-old incarcerated in the Minnesota juvenile justice system, now a celebrated writer, arts activist, and teacher who helps others unlock their creative power, Carolyn Holbrook has heeded the call to tell the story of her life. Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify is a memoir in essays in which Holbrook summons untold stories stifled by pain or prejudice or ignorance, and ultimately demonstrates how creative writing can be a powerful tool for challenging racism. Holbrook was founder of the literary arts organization SASE: The Write Place and now leads More Than a Single Story, a series of community conversations for people of color and indigenous writers and arts activists. She is joined here by Sherrie Fernandez-Williams, a writer based in the Twin Cities and the author of Soft: A Memoir. This edited conversation was recorded in July 2020. More about the book: z.umn.edu/holbrook A transcript of this conversation is available: z.umn.edu/t-holbrook