Heirloom by Ashia Ajani

Ashia Ajani's Heirloom traces her family and the stories they carried from Bentonia, Mississippi, to Detroit, Michigan, and finally to Denver, Colorado.

Bursting against the backdrop of urban landscapes and vibrant gardens, Ajani reunites a fragmented collection of stories, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. If inheritance is a gift meant for generations to come, what is our environmental responsibility? They grapple with the ever-evolving climate crisis, Black ecological encounters, and the damaged world we leave behind. 

Yet Heirloom constructs worlds from the ashes, a resilient call-to-action.

I think the Blackest thing about me
are my eyes.
Bless how they were taught to keep moving.
To seek truth.
To always greet the dawn with devotion.

Paperback • Ships in 3 days • Also available through Ingram. 

Ashia Ajani (they/she) has been featured in Orion Magazine, Sierra Magazine, Atmos, The Florida Review and Transition Magazine, among others. They are the author of one poetry collection Heirloom (Write Bloody Publishing, 2023) and a forthcoming work of nonfiction Tending the Vines (Timber Press, 2026).