A Conversation with NYIABF Ambassador Sasha Bonét

Sasha Bonét is a writer, critic, and editor living in New York City. Her debut memoir The Waterbearers, selected by TIME Magazine as one of the best books of 2025, is "a sweeping intergenerational memoir and cultural history on Black matriarchy in America" (Knopf, 2025). Bonét’s criticism and essays have appeared in The Paris Review, Aperture, New York Magazine, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and BOMB among other publications.

Bonét is serving as an Ambassador for the 66th Annual ABAA New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, joining a dynamic group of passionate collectors, influencers, and industry leaders who are shaping the conversation around collecting, preservation, and the cultural importance of historical materials. Ahead of the fair, we had the opportunity to ask her a few questions.

Collection & Inspiration

What do you collect? What is the most remarkable or unusual item in your collection, and how did it come into your hands?

I collect love letters. I especially love wartime letters. It’s an affirmation that love is our only hope in humanity.

If you could own any antiquarian book, manuscript, or artifact in the world, what would it be, and why?

A first edition 1622 copy of The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice.

Which past or present figure(s) in the literary world do you most admire?

Toni Morrison, Imani Perry, Jane Austen, James Joyce and Shakespeare.

Is there a historic library, archive or reading room anywhere in the world that has left a lasting impression on you?

Dublin’s Trinity College Library, Puebla Mexico’s Biblioteca Palafoxiana, and The Schomburg Center.

Lifestyle

What first sparked your love for rare books and literary history?

I’ve always loved stories. It’s where I spent most of my childhood. When I was ten, my paternal grandmother gave me a leather bound dictionary set for my birthday. She wrote a note to me inside of each book and I still use them. I felt it was her way of acknowledging something in me that no one else had. Even perhaps myself. Exchanging books became something special between us.

The library in Beauty and the Beast was also an aspiration for me as a girl.

Which books or manuscripts are you currently researching or working with?

Black Meme by Legacy Russell, Language as Liberation, a new collection of lectures by Toni Morrison, Valeria Luiselli’s new novel Beginning Middle End, LaTonya Yvette’s Stand in My Window, which really goes in depth about what it means for the soul to build a home. Black and Blues by Imani Perry.

What non-book object, artwork, or place currently fuels your curiosity?

Visual art is incredibly important to my writing process. Every project always begins there. I love going to The Kitchen, the avant garde performance space. Taking art strolls in Tribeca and stopping by 52 Walker. The Menil Collection in Houston is one of my favorite places. The de Menil’s were beautiful collectors, even beyond visual art. I also love the Wifredo Lam show When I Don’t Sleep, I Dream at MoMA.

What’s a recent discovery—be it a book, essay, podcast or exhibition—that’s reshaped your perspective on collecting?

I loved Camille Okhio’s profile of Carlos Soto in Cultured Magazine. Two geniuses discussing collecting and the significance of what you surround yourself with. It was moving and made me reconsider how I make my decisions on what to collect.

Advice

What’s the first step you’d recommend to someone starting an antiquarian collection?

Avoid trends and collect what evokes emotion for you. I think it’s important to be selective about what objects you choose to live beside.

What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learned about collecting?

Do your research.

Plugs

What’s your best tip for spotting something truly special among the ordinary?

Asking: What does it bring up for you? What memories or stories do you attach to it? What is it moving around inside of you?

What recent acquisition, exhibition or research project makes you most proud?

My debut book The Waterbearers came out a few months ago and it’s been a dream of a journey. It’s a book for anybody who has a complex relationship with their mother but is still able to see her humanity and hold hope for repair. It also examines America as a mother that we need to heal our complicated relationship with. It’s personal and it’s historical. The research was my favorite part of the process.

Do you have any projects coming down the pipeline that you can share with?

I’ve had the honor of writing the introduction for the reissue of Toni Morrison’s book Tar Baby. It’s one of her most underrated books and quite significantly aligned with our current cultural moment of hyperindividualism. This will be released soon.

What’s one of the most challenging finds you’ve successfully tracked down?

A Paoul Cadovius walnut bookshelf wall unit. An antique dealer helped me find one in Massachusetts after years of searching.

What are you most looking forward to exploring or sharing at the next New York Antiquarian Book Fair?

I would like to find an antique Jane Austen leather bound collection. Or a set of Encyclopedias that I’ve always dreamed of having since I was child—before Wiki. I’m also seeking a 17th century verdure tapestry for my home office.