Nonfiction alum Sasha Bonét '16 has published a debut memoir, The Waterbearers, with Alfred A. Knopf. The memoir, which hit shelves on September 16, 2025, is a multigenerational exploration of Black maternity and freedom examined through the metaphor of water’s ripples and movements, its flows across generations. In this work, Bonét weaves accounts of historical figures escaping the confines of American racism and sexism—women like Ona Judge, enslaved by George Washington, 1970s singer Betty Davis, Iberia Hampton, the mother of Black Panther Fred Hampton, and the visual artist Camille Billops—with personal reflections on her childhood. Bonet was raised by a single mother, and her grandmother left a plantation in Louisiana to raise 11 children in Houston. Today, Bonét herself is a single mother.
In a review for The New York Times, Martha Southgate writes, “Bonét is a good writer: observant, thoughtful and poetic, in the best sense. Her account of both her family history and the lives of her tributaries show off her gifts to the fullest.”
Previously, Bonét’s essay “The Artist who Gave Up Her Daughter”—about artist Camille Billops—was selected as one of Longread’s best essays of 2020. Bonét teaches creative writing at both The School of the Arts and Barnard College and lives in New York City.
