Best of Boston

In a year when books explicitly addressing racism in America were the hottest topic in nonfiction, longtime Emerson creative writing professor Jerald Walker’s How to Make a Slave and Other Essays stood out for its wry, self-deprecating tone. The essays, which earned him a National Book Award finalist nod, trace his early years in Chicago, his experiences as a Black man in academia, and more, highlighting plenty of heartbreak but still managing to find grace and humor along the way.