Exuberant, inventive language is both a feature and a theme of Laymon’s Heavy. Take a look at the chapter headings, and at the title of the book. How do the words Laymon chooses for his titles speak to the ideas in the chapters they head, and to the book’s larger ideas?

Look into some of the writers Laymon refers to in Heavy: Nikki Giovanni, Toni Cade Bambara, Margaret Walker, Richard Wright, James Baldwin. Where do you see their influence in Laymon’s work?

How does Laymon’s interest in Black feminism and intersectionality shape his thought and his writing?