Penguin Random House: Robert Jones, Jr. to Talk about His Debut Novel with Isaac Fitzgerald via Zoom

This stunning debut novel is 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. Edmund White’s starred Publishers Weekly review raved, “The lyricism of THE PROPHETS will recall the prose of James Baldwin … a masterpiece.” Entertainment Weekly calls the book “a new kind of epic…A grand achievement…While THE PROPHETS’ dreamy realism recalls the work of Toni Morrison…its penetrating focus on social dynamics stands out more singularly.”

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” (Facebook / IG / Twitter). Jones was recently featured in T Magazine‘s cover story, “Black Male Writers of Our Time” and the subject of an expansive profile in The New York Times.

Isaac Fitzgerald has been a firefighter, worked on a boat, and was once given a sword by a king, thereby accomplishing three out of five of his childhood goals. After making a bunch of cool things for the internet, he now writes books and lives in Brooklyn, New York.