Well-Read Black Girl
A Gathering Devoted To Storytelling And Restoration
Glory Edim’s Well-Read Black Girl Festival
Glory Edim is a name you should know and love, especially if you are a Black girl who loves reading (or writing). She is the founder of Well-Read Black Girl and she is an amazing, reader, writer, and supporter of the arts. I have been following the IG for a while, getting inspired, excited to see someone putting energy into people who look like me in this space. She is a force and I could tell that long before I had the privilege of meeting her in person at the festival. I knew I had to go to the first Festival, hosted in DC last month at Eaton Hotel. I am really proud of what Glory has clearly worked hard to build, and so was the audience. The pictures only captured a fraction of the energy in this space. I love quality intimate festivals, especially in their early days, because you get the privilege of really getting to speak to everyone there, including the incredible authors between talks and panels. In fact, most of them stayed once their portion was complete to listen to and support each other which was really dope to see.
The theme for the inaugral event was Homecoming: Rest is Resistance which I loved. Unfortunatly the originally scheduled keynote had to cancal so Christine Platt, author of The Afrominimalist’s Guide to Living with Less stepped up to be the second keynote and was just the book I needed (althought I was excited for Tricia Hersey, aka The Nap Bishop, to encourage us to connect to the liberating power of rest, daydreaming, and naps as a foundation for healing but I’m sure I will catch her another time). Tara Purnell, Director of Wellness at Eaton DC, served as MC and did a phenomonal job keeping us moving and grounded.
The Festival Kicked off Friday night at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library with a conversation between Authors Alex Elle & Denene Miller which was a fabulous as it sounds, many gems were dropped!! The next day we gathered again, this time at Eaton DC for more storytelling, community building, and groundbreaking conversation. As promised, there were focused panels with emerging authors, wellness practitioners, and literary luminaries, Networking opportunities with publishing insiders, Exclusive WRBG tote with book-ish goodies from partners and friends, Closing night cocktails and opening and closing keynotes.
Bevy Smith shut it DOWN! She was even more dynamic in person and was a great choice for the final keynote. She also left me with a great story. After listening to her and Sarah Broom (who you should also know, cause she’s fabulous), the festival was complete and it was time for closing cocktails. I went, grabbed a drink and begin to mix and mingle with other attendees. In a few minutes, an associate of Bevy Smith’s came up and said she wanted to speak to me in the other bar. I asked, are you sure?!?! And he said you’re in wellness right?? Which is true but I had no idea how Ms. Smith would know that and I said as much (since Ms. Smith and I had not spoken). He said well she asked for the girl in the green dress who works in wellness, a description that did match me but left me a little perplexed so I said yolo, cause if it’s not me, I’m sure I will know who she seeks. So I followed him to Allegory to meet Ms. Smith who made a face as soon as I entered the room. Not a rude face, just a “that’s not her” face which she then said out loud. He responded, “she’s in green and works in wellness” to which Ms. Smith responded, “I’m looking for the one who runs all the wellness here” and that’s when I knew she was looking for Tara. So I said I would her send over right away and skipped off to find her, laughing to myself. And that was how Tara and I got to talking.
You can see all the books from the festival here -https://bookshop.org/lists/wrbg-fest-reading-list-2022
Here’s What You Missed:
OPENING REMARKS
Glory Edim, Founder of Well-Read Black Girl
Rio Cortez, Author and Poet – The Golden Ax
12:30pm – 1:00pm
OPENING KEYNOTE CONVERSATION
Our opening keynote speaker Tricia Hersey, aka The Nap Bishop, will encourage us to connect to the liberating power of rest, daydreaming, and naps as a foundation for healing.
1:15pm to 2:15pm
LITERARY SOUNDTRACK
Panelists: Laura Warrell & Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
We explore the power of self-discovery, an array of musical influences in literature, and a one-of-a-kind soundtrack of diverse female characters.
2:15pm – 2:45pm
HOW WE HEAL
Panelists: Alex Elle, Chloe Louvouezo, Helena Andrews, and Yasmine Cheyenne
Each writer extends a literary invitation to heal and reclaim your story. Together they will discuss how to use writing to heal and explore restorative meditations to ease the mind.
3:00pm – 3:45pm
FILM SCREENING
presented by Blackstar Film Festival
Calling on a chorus of Black femme filmmakers, BlackStar Projects invites you to slow down and take respite in these short films dealing with memory, childhood, rupture, and the enduring qualities of our love and aliveness.
4:00pm – 4:45pm
BIGGER THAN BRAVERY: A TRIBUTE TO VALERIE BOYD
Featuring: Imani Wilson, Karen Good Marble, and KaToya Ellis Fleming
We honor the life and legacy of writer Valerie Boyd. Her unending dedication to platform our stories in all ways and her gentle, unwavering spirit continue to live on in her tremendous body of work.
5:00pm – 6:00pm
CLOSING FIRESIDE CHAT
Bevy Smith & Sarah M. Broom
Acclaimed author and T.V. personality Bevy Smith insists that “It does in fact get greater, later.” Her memoir Bevelations explores many questions Bevy had for herself including Who is she at her core? Our closing keynote focuses on how to build the life we want from the lessons we’ve learned.
6:00pm
NEW CHAPTER: CLOSING NIGHT COCKTAILS
Let’s have a toast to our new beginnings in the District of Columbia!
Join Well-Read Black Girl:
- Created by Glory Edim – https://gloryedim.com/
