The Cushion in the Road: Meditation and Wandering as the Whole World Awakens to Being in Harm's Way

In her newest collection of wide-ranging meditations on our intertwined personal, spiritual, and political destinies, Alice Walker writes that “we are beyond a rigid category of color, sex, or spirituality if we are truly alive.” For the millions of her devoted fans—and for readers of Walkers bestselling 2006 book We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For in particular—here is a new “gift of words” (Essence) that invites readers on a journey of political awakening and spiritual insight.

The Cushion in the Road revisits themes the Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist, poet, essayist, and activist has addressed throughout her career: racism, Africa, solidarity with the Palestinian people, the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, Cuba, healthcare, and the work of Aung San Suu Kyi. In doing so, Walker explores her conflicting impulses to retreat into inner contemplation and to remain deeply engaged with the world. Through the evocative image of the meditation cushion in the road, she finds a delicate balance between these two paths and invites her readers to do so, too.

Rich with humor, wisdom, and Walkers unique eye for the telling details of human experience and the natural world, The Cushion in the Road shows Walker at the height of her literary powers, reveals the depths of her spiritual and political understandings, and will surely be an inspiration for all.

Alice Walker is one of the most prolific writers of our time, known for her literary fiction, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Color Purple, her many volumes of poetry, and her powerful nonfiction collections. Her advocacy for the dispossessed has spanned the globe. She lives in Northern California.