Glory Edim is an author, editor, and now publisher who has built a beautiful, dynamic career out of making sure that everyone is reading the kinds of books that (she knows from experience) can shape you, teach you, nourish you, comfort you. She is the founder of the beloved phenomenon called Well-Read Black Girl, first an Instagram page created to champion and celebrate the works of Black female authors, now including a book club, literary festival, and publishing imprint!

Glory, thank you for talking with me about your moving and wholly original book GATHER ME: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me. We also talked about curiosity, creativity, divinity, the sacred safety of libraries, why she thanks God for Nikki Giovanni and thanks Nikki Giovanni for a new idea of God, how her intense love for literature began and flourished, and so, so much more.

GATHER ME is about finding home in the pages of strangers who felt like family, who became her teachers, who taught her resilience and confidence when her home life was less than smooth, and taught her to find her own, mighty voice. And it’s a beauty.

Find a book club guide here.

(PS This one comes in two parts, since Instagram mysteriously and abruptly quit on us!)