The Well-Read Black Girl Festival Was a Huge Success! Get the Scoop, the Photos, and Inspiring Moments

November 11, 2024

Photo by Nicholas Nichols via @wellreadblackgirl Instagram

The 2024 Well-Read Black Girl Festival, held on October 26th, 2024 was a huge success with completely sold-out events!

The festival was hosted at the Museum of Moving Image (MoMi) in Queens, NY. It is the only museum in the United States that uses moving images in all of their forms to represent art history. This was the perfect backdrop for the different art forms represented through storytelling at the festival.

The festival’s panels covered a wide array of topics, from how Black art drives change to redefining career paths, achieving success, and exploring wellness practices. Attendees enjoyed book signings and had an immersive experience at The Museum of Moving Image.

The Well-Read Black Girl Festival is founded by author, social media influencer, and book culture curator Glory Edim. It is “a celebration of the limitless possibilities within Black creativity and storytelling.” This year’s festival theme was “New Visions in Storytelling,” focusing on different perspectives and narratives curated by Black creators.

The opening fireside chat, “Transformative Narratives: Black Art as a Catalyst for Change,” was led by Pulitzer Prize winning reporter for The New York Times, Nikole Hannah Jones, New York Times Bestselling Author, Kennedy Ryan, and National Public Radio host, Tonya Mosley. Their conversation was a powerful opener for festival. It centered on reclaiming Black experiences in their work and their commitment to fostering a community for Black voices.

The closing fireside chat, “The Literary Landscapes of Safiya Sinclair and Edwidge Danticat,” was led by the founder of Well-Read Black Girl, Glory Edim, Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat, and Jamaican author Safiya Sinclair. They closed out the festival with a conversation about the power of storytelling through the exploration of identity and resilience.

Edim was also celebrating the launch of her new book titled Gather Me, which was released on October 29th. Gather Me is a memoir and looks at how Edim’s journey as a reader reflects how “literature can gather the disparate parts that make us who we are and assemble them into a portrait of discovery.”

The premise of Gather Me is perfectly in line with the festival’s theme of Black creativity and storytelling. The Well-Read Black Girl’s Instagram, @wellreadblackgirl, and Glory Edim’s Instagram, @guidetoglo, posted some behind the scenes highlights from the festival.