Growing up, writer Kiese Laymon thought of himself as a city kid. But he spent his childhood with a foot in two worlds: his mom’s house in the capital city of Jackson, Mississippi, and his grandma’s house in a rural town.

It wasn’t until Laymon left Mississippi that he came to understand that this question of city versus country actually meant a lot more. It carries a lot of baggage: the tensions between north and south, tectonic historical forces, and the contradictions of life in Mississippi.

In this episode, originally published in 2025, Outside/In producer Justine Paradis sat down with Laymon for a conversation on this question of country versus city, what that has to do with the history of Black life in America, and the story of his first children’s picture book — part of a lifelong exploration of his complicated love for Mississippi.

Featuring Kiese Laymon.

Produced by Justine Paradis. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org.

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS

Kiese Laymon’s first children’s book, City Summer, Country Summer. 

If you’d like to read more by Kiese, we recommend “Da Art of Storytellin’ (A Prequel)”, his essay about Outkast, his grandmother, and stank. (Oxford American)

Kiese adapted City Summer, Country Summer from this 2020 prose-poem essay. (New York Times)

Illustrated by Alexis Franklin

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Courtesy of Penguin Young Readers

The cover of “City Summer, Country Summer,” a children’s book written by Kiese Laymon and illustrated by Alexis Franklin.

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