On a Philadelphia street in 1992, Shanda McManus’s brother Monir was killed in a drive-by shooting. Three decades later, she wrote him letters. Brother Epistles: A Sister’s Memoir is the result—a series of intimate, urgent, and at times achingly funny letters that trace Monir’s life from their North Philadelphia childhood through his teen fatherhood, his time in the U.S. Army, and finally, his death. Writing as both sister and physician, McManus blends social commentary, collective history, and personal memory to demand an American reckoning for the systems responsible for so many young Black men dying through homicide.

The book has been called “extraordinary and extraordinarily courageous” by Deesha Philyaw and “one of the most beautiful and engaging books I’ve read in a long time” by National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson.

On June 24, Shanda joins us at The Columbus Club in Fair Haven for an intimate evening of reading, conversation, and community. (Learn more here.) Ahead of that night, we sat down with her to talk about form, grief, permission, and what it means to finally tell the story you’ve been carrying for thirty years.

A conversation with Shanda McManus, author of Brother Epistles: A Sister’s Memoir

book inc: Brother Epistles is structured as a series of letters to your brother Monir. When did you know that the epistolary form was the right container for this story—and was there a moment when you almost chose something else?

SHANDA: When I started what would become Brother Epistles, I was just writing my brother. I wanted so badly to talk with him after I drafted my first manuscript about our shared and chaotic childhood. The form found the material. Letters created an intimate, vulnerable space that was liminal, meaning it crossed time, memory, and death. There was never a moment I considered anything else.

book inc: Deesha Philyaw describes Brother Epistles as “leavened with humor, family love, and unconquerable Black joy.” How did you hold joy and grief on the same page? 

SHANDA: I think when you revisit people in an honest and open way, many feelings exist in the same space. For me, once I was able to sit and feel the grief, it opened up a portal to the joy and love I had for my brother that had been blocked out by his murder. 

book inc: What is one thing you know now—about writing, about memory, about yourself—that you didn’t know when you started Brother Epistles?

SHANDA: I think the biggest revelation or epiphany was the hidden forces that funnel so many young Black murder toward urban gun violence became clear. Before this book, my scope had been limited to the individual choices, but that has very little to do with the homicide epidemic in young Black men.

book inc: What do you hope readers—and writers—carry with them after reading Brother Epistles? 

SHANDA: I hope that readers will see the humanity of my brother and our family. I want them to feel something when they read my book because I believe if people feel they can be move to act. I hope writers are empowered and encouraged to tell hard stories because they are the ones that matter the most. 

book inc Project Write Now and book inc have been part of so many writers’ paths to publication. What role did this community play in your journey with Brother Epistles—and what does it mean to be bringing this book home to Fair Haven?

SHANDA: Even though I have lived in Fair Haven/Monmouth County for almost twenty years, Philly will always be home. But this community has been fundamental to my development as an artist. I took an essay class with Project Write Now in 2018. I was supported by the welcoming community. I benefited from top-notch teachers who instructed and made me feel safe enough to venture into the world of creativity. I would not have a book today if I had not been a part of the book inc’s Incubator. It was there that I drafted and revised Brother Epistles and had my first enthusiastic readers that kept me going. 

Thank you, Shanda, for sharing your insights with us. We are honored to have played a part in the birth of this extraordinary book, and we can’t wait to celebrate it with you. If you’re in the Monmouth County area, we hope you’ll join us for this special evening of reading, conversation, and community on June 24 at The Columbus Club in Fair Haven. Reserve your spot here. Not in the area? Pick up your copy of “Brother Epistles” here.