Etched in Clay: The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet

Best Children’s Books of the Year, Bank Street College of Education
Junior Library Guild Selection, Junior Library Guild
Parent’s Choice Gold Award, Parents’ Choice Foundation
Teacher’s Choices, International Reading Association (IRA)
Notable Books in the Language Arts, National Council of Teachers of English
Choices, Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC)
Notables in Language Arts, National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
Skipping Stones Honor Award, Skipping Stones Magazine
Story Telling World Award, Storytelling Magazine

The acclaimed biography-in-verse about the life and times of Dave, an enslaved potter who inscribed his works with short poems during the years leading up to the Civil War.

Now in paperback!

Sometime before 1818, an enslaved young man named Dave was brought to Edgefield, in the heart of South Carolina’s pottery-producing area. From the time he was first taught to turn a potter’s wheel, Dave showed exceptional natural talent. Soon he was creating pieces of great beauty and often massive size. He also learned to read and write, even though South Carolina had laws prohibiting slave literacy. And then Dave did something even more daring: he began to sign his jars and carve many of them with sayings and short poems that reflected his daily life and experiences. With these courageous acts, Dave quietly protested the brutality of slavery and asserted his humanity.

Here is an evocative portrait of Dave as memorable as one of his jars. Through simple yet powerful poetry, including some of Dave’s inscriptions, we learn his extraordinary story of perseverance, creative inspiration, and hope. Today Dave’s legacy lives on in the artistry of his pottery, in his intriguing words, and as a reminder of the dignity and resilience of the human spirit.