In periods of social and political upheaval, people either turn to writing or away from it. Celebrated essayist Teju Cole (Known and Strange Things) argues for the former—defending writing as a means to preserving humanity during fractured times. In his latest collection, Black Paper: Writing in a Dark Time, which follows his art exhibition Black Paper (concerning his response to the 2016 presidential election), Cole meditates further on ethical questions essential to grappling with and writing about crisis, from the role of the color black in visual arts to the link between literature and activism. For readers and writers in our pandemic moment, join Cole and visual artist Amanda Williams for a conversation about the ways darkness is not empty and how, instead, it transports meaning.