“We can be resources for one another. We can share our value and show people how the publishing industry really works. Within the podcast I’m hoping to really dispel some of these myths of what it means to be a writer. I feel like I’m continuing to learn and evolve into that space.“
-Glory Edim, episode 261 of Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
Glory Edim, founder of Well-Read Black Girl, joins us today for a special episode! In 2015, she founded the Brooklyn-based book club and online community. Two years later, a literary festival emerged. This month, she launched Well-Read Black Girl with Glory Edim by Pushkin Industries.
We begin with Glory’s daily morning journal (4:25), the mission behind her new podcast (5:38) and the “literary kickback” she hopes it becomes (6:45). As the debate over Critical Race Theory continues (8:25), she reflects on the importance of “offering space” to writers of color (11:26) and how her work has been shaped by authors like Audre Lorde, Maya Angelou, and bell hooks (16:09).
On the back-half, Glory shares memories from a childhood of “mothering herself” (19:23), the archive she created of her father before his passing (21:41), and how Well-Read Black Girl transformed her pain into something bigger than herself (28:45). Before we go, we turn to a poem from Honey, I Love by Eloise Greenfield (36:45), a formative senior yearbook quote (39:41), and where Glory hopes to go in the years ahead (40:41).
To submit a question, comment, or reflection for our mailbag episode, write us at mail@talkeasypod.com.
Show-notes:
- Listen to Glory’s new podcast, Well-Read Black Girl with Glory Edim.
- Follow Well-Read Black Girl on Instagram and Twitter.
- Follow Glory Edim Instagram and Twitter.
- For more information, visit her website
- Order Glory’s books: the Well-Read Black Girl collection and her latest anthology, On Girlhood.
- Hear our recommended talks with Nikki Giovanni, Morgan Parker, Gloria Steinem, Rep Ilhan Omar, Resmaa Menakem, Claudia Rankine, Ocean Vuong, Roxane Gay, and Brittany Packnett Cunningham.
- Order your Talk Easy mug in cream and navy or our vinyl record with Fran Lebowitz.
Illustrations by: Krishna Shenoi.
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