5 Questions for Hannah V. Sawyerr, National Book Award Finalist -

Hannah V. Sawyerr was recognized as the Youth Poet Laureate of Baltimore in 2016. Her sophomore novel in verse, Truth Is, was a finalist for the 2025 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature. Her debut novel in verse, All the Fighting Parts, was a finalist for the William C. Morris Debut Award and was named a Walter Dean Myers Award Honoree, a Rise Feminist Book Project Top Ten Title, a Kirkus Best Book of the Year, and an ABA Indies Introduce/Indie Next Pick. Her spoken word has been featured on the BBC’s World Have Your Say program as well as the National Education Association’s “Do You Hear Us?” campaign. Her written word has been included in Essence, xoNecole, and gal-dem.

Sawyerr holds a BA in English from Morgan State University and an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School.

Racquel Henry: What was the inspiration behind your latest book, Truth Is? What made you want to tell this story?

Hannah V. Sawyerr: I started outlining Truth Is at the beginning of 2022, but at that time, it was more of a thought dump. I knew I wanted to write a pro-choice story about a young poet who decides to take the abortion pill and is dealing with her own complicated relationship with her mother at home. Roe v. Wade was overturned during the summer of 2022, and that’s when it became even more important to me that this story is also a resource for young people, but not in a preachy way.

I also attended a conference that summer where I heard a woman say, “I wouldn’t be able to escape shit if I didn’t love myself,” and that’s when the story became less about a girl who hates her home life and more about a girl who learns to love herself enough to want better for herself.

RH: What was the hardest scene of Truth Is to write?

HVS: Definitely the pages after Truth takes the abortion pill. Even though it was an emotional decision for Truth, it was very important to me that it is clear it’s not a decision Truth regrets, so I took my time and returned to those pages quite a bit to make sure that came across. I didn’t want readers to confuse Truth making an emotional decision with her feeling shame about that decision.

On a technical level, I’ll also say that any pages that included Truth’s handwritten revisions were difficult because of the amount of times the design team and I sent pages back and forth to implement them. Since those revisions came during pass pages (aka the last stage of edits where the book is sent as a PDF formatted as it will appear to the reader), I had to leave comments with detailed directions for Design to implement. I’m incredibly grateful for their patience because I know it was a weird concept, but it’s one of my favorite parts of the story now.

RH: Truth Is is told through free-verse, journal entries, and poetry prompts. I’m curious about that format. What went into the decision to tell Truth’s story this way?

HVS: I think about this question quite a bit, and I think the simplest answer is that I didn’t have too much time to overthink. I like for my work to feel interactive, and with a pro-choice book, integrating multiple-choice “pop quizzes” felt natural. Since Truth is a slam poet, I thought about the revision process and how important it is to practice revision, and I thought, “What if the reader could see some of Truth’s revision process on the page?”

In addition, I think I really just prioritized having fun with Truth Is. With my first book, I was able to take my time and write the full novel before querying. This meant that when I started working with my editor for the first book, we had a whole manuscript to work with. With Truth Is, the novel was sold with just thirty sample pages and a synopsis, which meant I had a deadline that required me to write a full first draft in about six months. (Really, seven months since I needed a bit of extra time, but who’s counting!) I originally thought this would make me feel a lot of pressure, but it meant I didn’t have time to overthink, which allowed me to prioritize fun and just write what felt natural for the story.

RH: When you write your stories, what is the one thing you hope readers will take away?

HVS: I really love writing about the “ugly” and loud feelings that we try to make quiet. I love when a story can put into words an insecurity or experience that I’ve convinced myself is unique and make me feel seen. I think that’s also why I love writing in the YA space. It’s not that I think our experiences magically get better as we get older, but as a young person, I remember feeling so isolated and thinking I was the only person experiencing some of the hardships I did because people didn’t really talk about it at that age. As I got older, I realized how many people feel similarly to me, and I want my work to show young people that they’re not alone in that way.

James Baldwin speaks on this more eloquently in one of my favorite quotes: “You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.”

RH: If you could tell your younger writer self anything, what would it be?

HVS: Keep writing! And breathe, girl! You’ll be okay.

RH: What are your writing must-haves?

HVS: Comfortable clothing. Usually a hoodie, sweats, or leggings. I fidget quite a bit when I write, even when I’m writing in public in cafes and coffee shops. When I’m home, I pace quite a lot in between scenes, and I’ve been known to include a dance break or two.

RH: Thank you, Hannah!

Hannah’s books are available everywhere books are sold, but you can find them in our Bookshop. Read All the Fighting Parts and Truth Is.

About the Interviewer:

Racquel Henry is a Trinidadian writer, editor, and writing coach with an MFA from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She is the owner and founder of Writer’s Atelier. Racquel is also the co-founder and Editor at Black Fox Literary Magazine, where she still serves as Editor in Chief. Since 2013, Racquel has presented and moderated panels at writing conferences, residencies, and private writing groups across the US. She is the author of Holiday on Park, Letter to Santa, Christmas in Cardwick, Meet Me in December, Christmas Magic at Holly Oaks, Make It Official, Recipes of Christmas Past, The Write Gym Workbook, and The Writer’s Atelier Little Book of Writing Affirmations. Her fiction, poetry, and nonfiction have appeared in various literary magazines and anthologies. When she’s not working, you can find her watching Hallmark Christmas movies.