Bright Young Booksellers | March 31, 2026 | Nate Pedersen

Book Collector Kierra Duncan on Multiple Editions of Black Diasporic Writers

Kierra Duncan

Our Bright Young Collectors series continues today with Kierra Duncan, winner of the 2025 California Young Book Collector's Prize.

Where are you from / where do you live?

I am currently based in Philadelphia, PA, but I am from the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California.

What do you study at University? What do you do now for an occupation (if you’ve graduated)?

For undergrad, I transferred from Los Angeles Mission College to UCLA, where majored in English. I am now pursuing a PhD in (surprise) English with a certificate in African American Studies at Princeton University. Upon completing the program in 2027 (fingers crossed!), I hope to become a professor, librarian in manuscripts and archives, or a bookseller.

Please introduce us to your book collection. What areas do you collect in?

The truth is, I have several collections. The first is 'Translating Blackness Across Space'. It is a collection of Anglophone Caribbean, US, and UK editions of 20th century fiction written by black diasporic writers. My goal is to gather multiple editions of the same work to see how its packaging changes when it is republished in a different country. Sometimes the changes are very slight. Most times the novel actually becomes a totally different material object; the dust jacket is redesigned, the blurb is rewritten, and the author photo is switched out. I became fascinated with why such radical changes take place. I wanted to collect as many books as possible to find out. Now, I have lots of books but no answers.

The collection’s title is indebted to scholar Lindsay Griffiths-Brown, an Assistant Professor of English at Lafayette College. Her research showed me that translation is not only about moving from one language to another. Translators also have to grapple with how to move between different cultures and national histories when they decide what words or phrases to use. Many translators do not write literal translations. Instead, they search for the words and phrases that best convey the author’s intention in the original text. This helped me understand translation as an act of making difference legible to an new audience. In my collection, difference refers to gender, race, language, and national origin.

Kierra Duncan

The Hills of Hebron

Kierra Duncan

The Hills of Hebron

Kierra Duncan

The Hills of Hebron

Kierra Duncan

The Hills of Hebron

Kierra Duncan

Song of Solomon

Kierra Duncan

Song of Solomon

How many books are in your collection?

What was the first book you bought for your collection?

The first British edition of Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon (London: Chatto & Windus 1978). I was fascinated by the cover designer’s interpretation of the Flying Africans myth.

How about the most recent book?

Eric Walrond’s Tropic Death. I recently purchased the second printing of the first edition (New York: Boni & Liveright 1926). Sadly, no dustjacket but the art on the endpapers is intact.

And your favorite book in your collection?

An impossible question. I only collect works that I am deeply attached to.

Best bargain you’ve found?

To this day, I can’t believe this happened. In 2023, I purchased The Hills of Hebron (London: Jonathan Cape 1962) by Sylvia Wynter for $80. The copy I purchased is the only listing that I have ever found. Many top libraries and special collections across the country (like the Beinecke at Yale) don’t have this edition.

How about The One that Got Away?

How about The One that I Can’t Afford?

The Deeper Wrong; Or, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself (London: W. Tweedie, 1862). That is the first British edition of Harriet Jacobs’s (pseudonym Linda Brent) slave narrative. The first American edition was published as Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself in 1861. As we see here, the British one has a slightly different title. I have always been aggrieved by the addition of “The Deeper Wrong.”

The book is currently for sale by Burnside Rare Books for a whopping $85,000. I held a first edition of The Deeper Wrong a few years back, during my brief time working at Between the Covers Rare Books. It was actually Jean Fagan Yellin’s copy. Must say, it was one of the best moments of my life.

What would be the Holy Grail for your collection?

I have begun collecting author interviews and book reviews published in newspapers and literary magazines across the 20th century. For instance, I have an interview with Toni Morrison published in the July 1978 issue of the London magazine Harpers & Queen. If I could, I could find more ephemera like this.

Who is your favorite bookseller / bookstore?

My favorite bookseller Andy Taitt at Black Rock Books, located in St Michael, Barbados. I hope to be able to visit in person one day.

What would you collect if you didn’t collect books?

Memories.