Glory Edim

An inspiring collection of essays by black women writers, curated by the founder of the popular book club Well-Read Black Girl, on the importance of recognizing ourselves in literature. "A brilliant collection of essential American reading . . . smart, powerful, and complete."--Min Jin Lee, author of the National Book Award finalist Pachinko Remember that moment when you first encountered a character who seemed to be written just for you? That feeling of belonging remains with readers the rest of their lives--but not everyone regularly sees themselves in the pages of a book. In this timely anthology, Glory Edim brings together original essays by some of our best black women writers to shine a light on how important it is that we all--regardless of gender, race, religion, or ability--have the opportunity to find ourselves in literature. Contributors include Jesmyn Ward (Sing, Unburied, Sing), Lynn Nottage (Sweat), Jacqueline Woodson (Another Brooklyn), Gabourey Sidibe (This Is Just My Face), Morgan Jerkins (This Will Be My Undoing), Tayari Jones (An American Marriage), Rebecca Walker (Black, White and Jewish), and Barbara Smith (Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology) Whether it's learning about the complexities of femalehood from Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison, finding a new type of love in The Color Purple, or using mythology to craft an alternative black future, the subjects of each essay remind us why we turn to books in times of both struggle and relaxation. As she has done with her book club-turned-online community Well-Read Black Girl, in this anthology Glory Edim has created a space in which black women's writing and knowledge and life experiences are lifted up, to be shared with all readers who value the power of a story to help us understand the world and ourselves. Advance praise for Well-Read Black Girl "This book is a star chart, a map readers can use to navigate the world via the minds of brilliant black women writers. The essays extol us all to regard--and to celebrate--the written word anew."--Angela Flournoy, author of The Turner House "An eloquently provocative anthology . . . Candid and thoughtful from start to finish, [Glory] Edim's collection amply celebrates the many paths black women have traveled on the road to self-definition. . . . In each essay, the contributor discusses her relationships to reading, books, and the world, yet each bears the unique experiential imprint of the woman who wrote it."--Kirkus Reviews

Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves

Well-Read Black Girl

Sabrina D. 

When I think of Zora— and we call her Zora, using her first name only because we want to claim her as sister, mother, friend— I always remember that the Black people chronicled in her novels, folklore, journalism, anthropology, and plays offer to the world a people who are a symphony, not some trembling minor key.

It's where we really get to wrestle with some of the issues in a communal setting. You can't discount what happens when you have bodies sitting in close proximity, and how that energy not only transtorms what's onstage, but also transforms the DNA of the people who are in the audience. When you read a book, it's a solitary endeavor. You cry by yourself or you laugh by yourself, but no one else has that same experience in the same moment. But in theater, when someone else laughs and you’re sitting next to them, that energy literally is transferred from their body into your body. As an audience member, even though the narrative might not change, /your presence/ in the theater could change the way in which that story is told and received. It’s magical. 

It was my responsibility to stand up for myself, to take ownership of my rights as a human in this world, to never betray my own dignity by succumbing to someone else's ill will.

Well-Read Black Girl quotes

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