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FEATURED BOOK:

onward

book club

This space was created to support and celebrate the work of Black female authors, a group that has historically been under-supported and under-promoted in the publishing industry (and of course the world beyond). The mission is to share with readers — and your book clubs — important voices both established and emerging, and the vital stories they tell in various genres about where we come from, who we are, and where we are heading.

Here’s how it works: I announce our bimonthly selection on my Instagram page, and we meet there a few weeks later for a live discussion with the author. You can find past videos on Instagram and on this website. These conversations have been at turns inspiring, thought-provoking, surprising, weighty, and hilariously funny. 

How do you become a member of the Onward Book Club? Just read along with us! Done. As you read, you may find that you have a comment or question for the author: you can post those under the announcement of the book club selection as we await the live interview.

I hope that you will share our selections with your own book clubs, and use the resources posted on this website, as well as questions brought up in the posted conversations, as a toolkit for your own study of the works of the brilliant women featured here.

It has been a joy and an honor to be in conversation with such extraordinary, talented writers and thinkers. And I’m thrilled that you are here to join us. Onward!

Elizabeth Gilbert

As always, I encourage you to buy your books from Black-owned businesses. The official bookstore of the Onward Book Club is Elizabeth’s Bookshop and Writing Centre, owned by the writer, speaker, educator, and activist Rachel Cargle. Below each selection on the following pages, you will find a link to purchase the selected book directly from Elizabeth’s. Thank you.

FEATURED BOOK:

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SOIL by Camille Dungy

Soil

Camille Dungy

LET US DESCEND by Jesmyn Ward

Let Us Descend

Jesmyn Ward

THE UNSETTLED by Ayana Mathis

THE UNSETTLED

Ayana Mathis

HOW TO SAY BABYLON

How to Say Babylon

Safiya Sinclair

Break the Cycle: A Guide to Healing Intergenerational Trauma – Dr. Mariel Buqué

Break the Cycle: A Guide to Healing Intergenerational Trauma

Dr. Mariel Buqué

The Body Liberation Project, Chrissy King

The Body Liberation Project

Chrissy King

For the Culture: Phenomenal Black Women and Femmes in Food Klancy Miller

For the Culture: Phenomenal Black Women and Femmes in Food

Klancy Miller

Ashley Ford, SOMEBODY’S DAUGHTER

SOMEBODY’S DAUGHTER

Ashley Ford

A Renaissance of Our Own, Rachel Cargle

A Renaissance of Our Own

Rachel Cargle

The Light of the World, Elizabeth Alexander

The Light of the World

Elizabeth Alexander

On the Rooftop, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton

On the Rooftop

Margaret Wilkerson Sexton

Rest Is Resistance, Tricia Hersey

Rest Is Resistance

Tricia Hersey

Sarah Jones, Sell/Buy/Date

Sell/Buy/Date

Sarah Jones

Kemi Nekvapil, Power

POWER

Kemi Nekvapil

Abi Daré, The Girl with the Louding Voice

The Girl with the Louding Voice

Abi Daré

Samantha Irby, We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.

Samantha Irby

Danielle Henderson, The Ugly Cry

THE UGLY CRY

Danielle Henderson

Iyanla Vanzant, Peace From Broken Pieces

PEACE FROM BROKEN PIECES

Iyanla Vanzant

Luvvie Ajayi Jones, Professional Troublemaker

PROFESSIONAL TROUBLEMAKER

Luvvie Ajayi Jones

Tayari Jones, An American Marriage

AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE

Tayari Jones