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On Girlhood: Glory Edim in Conversation with Edwidge Danticat

Event date: 
Tuesday, October 26, 2021 - 7:00pm to 8:00pm

On Girlhood--An Evening with Glory Edim and Edwidge Dandicat

"An expansive, decades-spanning view of Black girlhood." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

This event is hosted by Books Are Magic in partnership with Loyalty BookstoreSource Booksellers & Third Place Books. Check out all of our fantastic partners!

This event will be hosted on Books Are Magic's Zoom Webinar platform.

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Join with the event with a Free Ticket that gives access to virtual event or with a book ticket that gives access to the event and a copy of On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl. Please choose whether you would like to pick up your copy of On Girlhood locally or have it shipped to the address you provide. Books will be shipped after the event date. Signed copies are limited.

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Proudly introducing the Well-Read Black Girl Library Series, On Girlhood is a lovingly curated anthology celebrating short fiction from such luminaries as Rita Dove, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and more.

“When you look over your own library, who do you see?”

Since founding the beloved Well-Read Black Girl book club in 2015, Glory Edim has emerged as a literary tastemaker for a new generation. Continuing her life’s work to brighten and enrich American reading lives through the work of legendary Black authors, she now launches her Well-Read Black Girl Library Series with On Girlhood. This meticulously selected anthology features a wide range of unique voices, finally illuminating a distinctly robust sector of contemporary literature: groundbreaking short stories that explore the thin yet imperative line between Black girlhood and womanhood.

Divided into four themes—Innocence, Belonging, Love, and Self-Discovery—the unforgettable young protagonists within contend with the trials of coming of age that shape who they are and what they will become. With this tradition in mind, Innocence opens with Jamaica Kincaid’s searing “Girl,” in which a mother offers fierce instructions to her impressionable daughter. This deceptively simple yet profound monologue is followed by Toni Morrison’s first and only published short story, the now-canonical “Recitatif,” about two neglected girls who come together in youth only to find themselves on opposite picket lines in adulthood.

In Belonging, Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson” follows rambunctious students on a field trip where they are exposed to a new world of luxury. In Love, Dana Johnson’s “Melvin in the Sixth Grade” captures the yearning of a lovesick teen smitten with the only boy who looks her way. And in Self-Discovery, Edwidge Danticat’s “Seeing Things Simply” charts the creative awakening of Princesse, a young woman with a hunger to be fully seen. These inspiring tales of world builders and rule breakers conclude with Zora Neale Hurston’s “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” a personal essay brimming with wit and strength: “When covered by the waters, I am; and the ebb but reveals me again.”

At times heartbreaking and at times hilarious, these stories boldly push past flat stereotypes and powerfully convey the beauty of Black girlhood. In bringing together an array of influential authors—past and present—whose work remains timeless, Glory Edim has created an indispensable compendium for every home library and a soul-stirring guide to coming of age.

Featuring stories by Jamaica Kincaid, Toni Morrison, Dorothy West, Rita Dove, Camille Acker, Toni Cade Bambara, Amina Gautier, Alexia Arthurs, Dana Johnson, Alice Walker, Gwendolyn Brooks, Edwidge Danticat, Shay Youngblood, Paule Marshall, and Zora Neale Hurston.

Glory Edim is the founder of Well-Read Black Girl, a book club and digital platform that promotes Black literature and sisterhood. She won the Innovator's Award at the 2017 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes.

Edwidge Danticat is the author of numerous books, including The Art of Death, a National Book Critics Circle finalist; Claire of the Sea Light, a New York Times Notable Book; Brother, I’m Dying, a National Book Critics Circle Award winner and National Book Award finalist; The Dew Breaker, a PEN/Faulkner Award finalist and winner of the inaugural Story Prize; The Farming of Bones, an American Book Award winner; Breath, Eyes, Memory, an Oprah’s Book Club selection; and Krik? Krak!, also a National Book Award finalist. A 2018 Neustadt International Prize for Literature winner and the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Grant, she has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, and elsewhere.

 

Event address: 
online
On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library By Glory Edim (Editor) Cover Image
By Glory Edim (Editor)
$23.95
ISBN: 9781631497698
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Liveright - October 26th, 2021

NPR • Best Books of 2021

Proudly introducing the Well-Read Black Girl Library Series, On Girlhood is a lovingly curated anthology celebrating short fiction from such luminaries as Rita Dove, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and more.

“When you look over your own library, who do you see?”


Event Summary: 
On Girlhood: Glory Edim in Conversation with Edwidge Danticat