Sasha Bonét on ‘leaving room for the story to shape itself’ and how a family home can become a character

Writer, author, and cultural critic Sasha Bonét joins Storyboard contributor Christina M. Tapper for a wide-ranging conversation about Bonét’s writing process for “The Waterbearers,” a memoir about mothers and daughters. Bonét and Tapper discuss surrendering to how a story unfolds, rather than forcing it, and how to turn a physical place into a key character.

Subscribe to the Nieman Storyboard newsletter: https://niemanstoryboard.org/about/subscribe-to-nieman-storyboard/

Get the full episode show notes and reading list: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2025/11/13/sasha-bonet-leaving-room-for-story-family-home-character/

Show Credits

Hosted and produced by Mark Armstrong

Episode producer and interview by Christina M. Tapper

Episode editor: Kelly Araja

Audience editor: Adriana Lacy

Promotional support: Ellen Tuttle

Operational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter Canova

Nieman Foundation interim curator: Henry Chu

Music: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)

Cover design by Adriana Lacy

Nieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.