Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves

by Glory Edim Narrated by Glory Edim

Overview

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.

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 on 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.
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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.

Includes a Bonus PDF of the*Well-Read Black Girl Book Recommendations.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

10/22/2018
Started in 2015 as an Instagram page, Well-Read Black Girl has grown into a nationwide book club and Brooklyn literary festival. WRBG founder Edim’s collection of brief, pithy, and original essays by 21 distinguished black women addresses the question, “When did you first see yourself in literature?” The answers include discovering “the right book at the right time,” reading a book first through one lens and later through another, and recognizing oneself in figures as seemingly far removed from one’s experience as Hans Christian Andersen’s little match girl. As expected, a pantheon of black women writers are acknowledged, with Veronica Chambers, Marita Golden, and Jamia Wilson paying tribute to, respectively, Jamaica Kincaid, Zora Neale Hurston, and Nikki Giovanni. There are thought-provoking surprises as well: Stephanie Powell Watts recalls finding inspiration in the Jehovah’s Witnesses magazine Watchtower, and N.K. Jemisin in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. The book’s thematic organization—sections include “Books on Black Feminism,” “Plays by Black Women,” and “Poetry by Black Women”—makes it easy for readers to dive in based on personal preferences, though they could just as contentedly read from cover to cover. Speaking directly to black women readers, this book contains a journey from which anyone can derive enjoyment and benefit. (Nov.)

From the Publisher

Yes, Well-Read Black Girl is as good as it sounds. . . . The recipient of the 2017 L.A. Times Innovator’s Award for her book club turned festival gathers an all-star cast of contributors—among them Lynn Nottage, Jesmyn Ward, and Gabourey Sidibe—to pay tribute to literature by, for, and about Black women.”—O: The Oprah Magazine 

“These essays build the altars for black women to recognize and support each other’s work, not as collectibles rendered visible or easily consumed by non-black audiences, but as an acknowledgment of black women as architects of their own futures and universes. . . . Each essay can be read as a dispatch from the vast and wonderfully complex location that is black girlhood and womanhood. . . . They present literary encounters that may at times seem private and ordinary—hours spent in the children’s section of a public library or in a college classroom—but are no less monumental in their impact.”—The Washington Post

“A wonderful collection of essays.”—Essence

“Glory Edim has curated a brilliant collection of essential American reading for the twenty-first-century reader. This book is smart, powerful, and complete.”—Min Jin Lee, author of the National Book Award finalist Pachinko and Free Food for Millionaires

“I love this collection of essays by black women, not only because of its incredible content, but because of the community that its editor, Glory Edim, has created with her book club of the same name. Well-Read Black Girl reenergized my love of storytelling as a black woman whose ‘life and obligations’ (read ‘friends and parties’) took priority over reading for a while. It was through WRBG that I remembered the beauty in books and seeing myself through the words of others. This book is that experience realized and brings me joy on a regular basis.”—Abby Andesanya, Glamour (“14 Books to Read in Honor of Black History Month”)

“Edim, creator of the Brooklyn-based Well-Read Black Girl book club, invites readers to discover uplifting stories by black women writers in this thoughtfully edited anthology. . . . This work affirms the transformative power of reading.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“Edim’s collection of brief, pithy, and original essays by twenty-one distinguished black women addresses the question, ‘When did you first see yourself in literature?’ . . . Speaking directly to black women readers, this book contains a journey from which anyone can derive enjoyment and benefit.”—Publishers Weekly

“[A] vital anthology . . . ‘Well-Read Black Girl Recommends’ reading lists covering various themes and genres add to the reach and radiance of this empowering literary resource.”—Booklist

“Required reading.”—Cosmopolitan

“Edim expands her breakout Brooklyn book club with this vibrant anthology celebrating black women in literature. The beyond impressive list of contributors includes Jesmyn Ward, Jacqueline Woodson, Tayari Jones, and Gabourey Sidibe.”—Entertainment Weekly

School Library Journal

★ 11/01/2018

An invigorating anthology edited by the founder of book club and online group Well-Read Black Girl. Black women writers across genres and generations share moments of strength, joy, grief, and vulnerability in response to the question, "When did you first see yourself in literature?" Renée Watson's "Space to Move Around In" explores racism, fatphobia, and the author's unexpected discovery of Lucille Clifton from a disinterested white teacher, while Dhonielle Clayton muses on coming out, loss, and Black girlhood in "The Need for Kisses." Teens will gravitate to recurring themes of self-discovery, pursuing creative ambitions, and building rich inner worlds to escape hardship. Some sensitive topics are addressed that may benefit from further discussion, including abortion and abuse. The emotive entries from well-known and emerging creators read quickly but are worth savoring and visiting many times over. Interspersed are "Well-Read Black Girl Recommends" lists including the book club's 2015–2018 selections, sci-fi and fantasy books, poetry, and more by Black women. Closing out the collection is the eminently helpful "All the Books in this Book" list, which simultaneously compiles all titles referenced and shapes a contemporary Black women's literary canon for avid readers and the classroom curriculum. VERDICT A stellar example of an accessible text about writing as craft, and reading as transformative practice.—Ashleigh Williams, School Library Journal

Kirkus Reviews

2018-07-31

A book club founder and creative strategist gathers pieces from distinguished black females to celebrate "the legacy of Black women in literature," which is "extensive, diverse, and beautifully complicated."

Well-Read Black Girl founder Edim writes that "[s]torytelling is an extension of [African-American] sisterhood." In this book, she highlights black literary achievement by offering first-person narratives from noted writers, activists, and intellectuals along with recommendations for further reading. 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. In "Magic Mirrors," two-time National Book Award-winning novelist Jesmyn Ward explores storytelling and representation. A favorite childhood book—Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley and Me, Elizabeth—depicted a rarity for that time: a black girl who "harbor[ed] the power of magic." But because the girl did not narrate her own story, Ward felt cheated. Only after she began writing her own stories was she able to find the "mirror" literature had been unable to offer her. Edim's interview with Rebecca Walker deals less with literary reflections and more with the truth-telling power of words. Walker discusses how witnessing a man beating a woman in the street and then writing about the incident for her high school newspaper made her aware of just how important storytelling could be. It could give voice to the voiceless and socially marginalized and spotlight those "challenging the status quo." Barbara Smith, lesbian activist and co-founder of Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, discusses how reading saved her during the culturally repressive 1950s and how her own awakening came after reading the works and "miraculous language" of James Baldwin—in particular, his hetero- and homosexually explicit novel Another Country. Candid and thoughtful from start to finish, Edim's collection amply celebrates the many paths black women have traveled on the road to self-definition. Other contributors include Tayari Jones, Jacqueline Woodson, Nicole Dennis-Benn, and N.K. Jesimin.

An eloquently provocative anthology.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169065916
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	10/30/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

Jesmyn Ward
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Well-Read Black Girl"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Glory Edim.
Excerpted by permission of Random House Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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