Written in the Waters Lecture

This lyrical memoir is the epic story of one woman’s life-changing journey across four continents to reconcile the past with the present—and find her place in the world. When Tara Roberts first glimpsed a picture of the underwater archaeology group Diving With A Purpose, it called out to her: here were Black women and men exploring the wrecks of slave ships long lost in time. Inspired, Roberts joined them—and started on a path of discovery that would take her to locales including Thailand and Sri Lanka, South Africa and Senegal, Benin and Togo, St. Croix and Costa Rica. But for Roberts, the journey was also intensely personal. Inspired by the stories of those who lost their lives during the Middle Passage, she decides to plumb her own family history. With the honesty of Elizabeth Gilbert, the rawness of Cheryl Strayed, the courage of Tara Westover, and the poetry of Jesmyn Ward, Roberts interweaves the voices of the past with her own present to confront the realities of the slave trade—and tell a deeper story of Black identity.