In this graphic novel adaptation of #1 New York Times bestseller N. K. Jemisin’s short story Red Dirt Witch—featured in the acclaimed short story collection How Long ’Til Black Future Month?—we are introduced to Emma, a single Black mother of three in a backwater Alabama town in segregated 1940s America.

In this alternative universe, magic and faeries exist, and Emma must use her Afrocentric cultural magicks against a supernatural force that wants to enslave her daughter, Pauline. Jemisin infuses this world with the magic, complexity, and power of oral Black folklore that have become trademarks of her work in trilogies like The Broken Earth and Inheritance.

Red Dirt Witch has been expertly adapted into the graphic novel format by writer Kinitra Brooks and illustrators Ashley A. Woods and Alitha Martinez. They have translated Jemisin’s powerful prose into a stunning visual story of family and sacrifice.

A heartbreaking reminder of the many injustices that Black mothers still have to endure in our country to ensure a better future for their children, this story will resonate with readers everywhere.

Author: N.K. Jemisin

Horror & ghost stories

Published on 17 September 2026 by Abrams in the United States.

Hardback | 176 pages, Full-colour illustrations throughout
229 x 165