Episodes
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We almost named this one "The One About What We've Been Up To For 10 Months". Haha, hey beautiful people! We're back!
Businesses Mentioned:
Here We Grow and BerrionlBerryOrganisations Mentioned:
FEMINITT, I'm Glad I'm A GirlBooks Mentioned:
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Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings (Rebel Women Lit's March & April book club pick)
Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton
Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement by Nadya Okamoto
The Green Witch: Your Complete Guide to the Natural Magic of Herbs, Flowers, Essential Oils, and More (Green Witch Witchcraft Series) by Arin Murphy-Hiscock -
We have exciting news: a new podcast!
Rebel Women Lit took some time work on our newest podcast, 'Under The Sycamore Tree' - a feminist archival podcast highlighting the amazing work of the Women Voices and Leadership grantee partners, 27 LGBTQIA+ and women led organizations across The Caribbean. Episodes drop in March but in the meantime, you can subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss any updates. https://www.rebelwomenlit.com/under-the-sycamore-tree
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Missing episodes?
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Kristina and Ashley discuss our (messy) February 2022 book club pick: 'The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives' by Lola Shoneyin
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We'd ask if you missed us but we're pretty sure you did. We missed you too and that's why this new episode is an extra long one.
Get comfy and journey with us as we explore Rebel Women Lit's January book pick: The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw. This masterful collection of stories was an immediate favourite of ours with its textured and hilarious stories, gorgeously written by Deesha.
We talk about the many layers and looks of grief; how parental relationships shape our lives, love, pleasure and how Jherane relates heavily to "How To Make Love To A Physicist".
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How long can you keep down people who were made to fly?
Augustown is a poetic novel that is grounded in the (hi)story of a prominent preacher and Pan-African activist Alexander Bedward who was said to have claimed that he could fly. Kei Miller reimagined this story as an allegory of the Black Jamaican struggle to EXIST in a society that invalidates their humanity.
From hairstyles in schools to police officers playing football with guns on their shoulders, Kristina, Ashley and Jherane discuss the ways colonialism and all of his friends continues to be the foundation of modern Jamaica in their review of Augustown.
Start your chores, start your commute or whatever you usually do while listening to podcasts and chat with us about what the not-so-fictitious happenings of Augustown.
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A short discussion on Jamaica's reading culture, Read Across Jamaica and how the Jamaican libraries are... kind of a mess. Who's up for a #JamaicaReads campaign?
-One of our favourite kinds of literature is poetry. Its ability to hold the weight of histories, the gamut of human emotions and philosophies in a mere few lines is just *chef's kiss*.
Now we’re not saying we’re poets...but much like poetry, this new episode is short and sweet. For National Reading Day (celebrated annually on May 4th), we talk about the barriers to a loving relationship with recreational reading and how the Jamaica Library Service's weird rules, such as owning a library card, is a part of that problem (and of course so much more).
It's the perfect episode to listen to while you detangle your hair or make yourself some breakfast.
Stay Lit 🌷
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Journalist, poet, novelist, artist, (and now archivist) Jacqueline Bishop recently released her first collection of interviews which focuses on documenting the craft and lives of 13 Jamaican women writers, in The Gift of Music and Song.
The Gift of Music and Song is an intimate account that engages monumental Jamaican Women Writers in the context of anti-colonial and anti-misogyny praxis in the country and the politics of Jamaican women in literature, research and publishing. This beautiful collection features interviews with Olive Senior, Lorna Goodison, Marcia Douglas, Hazel Campbell, Velma Pollard and many more. Kristina and Jherane talk to Jacqueline about the process of creating these books and the reason why we all have a responsibility to archive.
to support this show and more work like this, become a sustaining member of Rebel Women Lit today rebelwomenlit.com/join#sustaining, you can also shop The Gift of Music and Song in the Rebel Women Lit show.
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One thing Ms hooks will do is have you talking at length about her work, usually with striking polarity: one side really loved it and the other just could not get behind her ideas. For this new episode of Like A Real Book Club, Ashley, Kristina and Jherane take on one of hook’s more famous books and RWL’s March pick, “All About Love: New Versions”.
Self-help, theory or a mixture of both? For us...it’s really whatever you managed to take from it. Engaging with hook’s work for a lot of readers may seem daunting because of her unmovable place as a central thinker in the Black feminist canon. However, our hope with this episode is that everyone recognizes the utility in reading our favourite theorists critically and that it’s okay to disagree with them. Sometimes they disagree with themselves years later!
Grab your tea, your water or whatever you usually have while listening to podcasts and chat with us about what love is and how we can all create a love ethic. Also listen to us GUSH over amazing performers like Diana Ross and Tina Turner as well as the songs that have been carrying us through the last couple months.
To support Rebel Women Lit's projects including Like A Real Book Club, become a sustaining member: rebelwomenlit.com/join#sustaining
Follow us on Social Media @RebelWomenLit
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Ashley and Kristina walk into a bar...
...And that's exactly how this conversation felt. In this new episode of Like A Real Book Club, Ashley and Kristina dive into the short and sweet novel by Sarah Ladipo Manyika, "Like A Mule Bringing Ice-cream to the Sun", a story that gets to your bones in under 120 pages.
We talk about how Sarah geniusly weaves several topics together in this small book. From the more overt topic of ageing to issues of homelessness, immigration, the fear of losing one's self, care work and just...so much more.
Get a cocktail (or water) and press play.
Become a sustaining member of Rebel Women Lit: https://www.rebelwomenlit.com/join/#sustaining to support our show and projects.
Shop Like A Mule Bringing Ice-Cream to the Sun: https://www.rebelwomenlit.com/store/october-like-a-mule-bringing-ice-cream-to-the-sun-by-sarah-ladipo-manyika
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Interview with Professor Paulette Ramsay about her recently republished novel Aunt Jen, and her latest novel Letters Home. Share using #LikeARealBookClub on social media. Get Aunt Jen, Letters Home and the other Contemporary Caribbean Classics on www.rebelwomenlit.com/classics Our guest Professor Paulette Ramsay, is a Jamaican poet, translator, journalist, novelist, and academic whose debut novel Aunt Jen (2002) is being republished by Hodder Education, along with her latest novel Letters Home (2021) both novels explore the effects of the Empire Windrush era on family-life for Jamaicans living at home and abroad through a complex mother-daughter relationship. Watch the full 2-hour interview with Paulette Ramsay on our Sustaining Members' blog: rebelwomenlit.com/join#sustainingBecoming a sustaining member also helps Rebel Women Lit maintain and grow its work in the literary arts, and fostering its lit community. Follow @RebelWomenLit on Twitter and Instagram and subscribe to our newsletter & telegram channel: rebelwomenlit.com/newsletters to stay informed on the latest news on classic and contemporary books and what's happening in our literary community.
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Behind the scenes of our inaugural Caribbean Readers' Awards, our inspiration, next year's goals and a bit of tea.
Support our podcast and other RWL projects by becoming a sustaining member: www.rebelwomenlit.com/join#sustaining
Learn more about the Rebel Women Lit Caribbean Readers' Awards and shop the nominees: rebelwomenlit.com/awards
See the Caribbean Readers' Awards in O! Magazine: https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/books/g35179881/rebel-women-lit-caribbean-readers-awards-winners/
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Karen Lord reads chapter one of Unraveling - Rebel Women Lit's book club January 2021 pick.
RSVP for book club and subscribe to receive our monthly picks at rebelwomenlit.com
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A (very) special episode featuring the artist moon - talking about their forthcoming poetry collection, Breaking The Binary, a response to queer lives in Jamaica. This episode features original work by moon:3:57 Yemaya (available on most streaming services and https://www.earthandmoon.net/music) 8:00 Broken Lineage 11:45 Undefined 14:03 Broken Silence 18:05 Unsung You can follow moon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moon.the.artist/This special episode was sponsored by CATAPULT Arts Grant, American Friends of Jamaica, Kingston Creative, Fresh Milk Barbados and you - our sustaining patron members of RWL. To become a member of Rebel Women Lit join us at rebelwomenlit.com/joinFollow @RebelWomenLit on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter if you're interested in joining our (very queer, very Caribbean, always lit) community celebrating diverse & brilliant literature.
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In this new episode of Like A Real Book Club, we traverse a very dark and all too common feature of Caribbean girlhood and womanhood by looking at sexual grooming and sexual violence. Looking through the lenses of popular book to TV adaptations, Tiffany Jackson’s Grown, Jamaican history and our own personal experiences, we talk about the insidiousness of glamourized pedophilia, the oversexualization of Black women’s bodies, why we should leave Minister Marion Hall alone and...so much more.
Further Reading and References
Film
Lady Bird (2017 Film)
Book-to-TV Adaptations
Pretty Little Liars
Gossip Girl
Books/Essays
Grown by Tiffany Jackson rebelwomenlit.com/grown
THICK by Tressie McMillan Cottom
“Property Rights in Pleasure: The Marketing of Enslaved Women’s Sexuality”, by Hilary McD. Beckles - Caribbean Slavery in the Atlantic World
“Queering Feminist Approaches to Gender-based Violence in the Anglophone Caribbean” by Tonya Haynes and Halimah A.F DeShong
Play/Video
Dancehall Queen - https://youtu.be/XAm5n8aQxhI
For Harriet, “Why do Black women performers HAVE to sell sex?“ - https://youtu.be/UeWlySR4wBU
Support our podcast and literary community by becoming a member: rebelwomenlit.com/join
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You know the end of Ari Lennox' 'Chicago Boy' where she asks everyone who is not her friend to leave? That's how this episode feels. Ashley, Jherane and Kristina have an intimate conversation about their experiences with churches, mental health, and of course books.
A 20+ min bonus episode on the books we turn to when we're in a bad mental place is available to our patron members, become a member to get access to our private podcast stream: rebelwomenlit.com/join
Books Mentioned:
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
PATSY by Nicole Dennis Benn
The Last Warner Woman by Kei Miller
Augustown by Kei Miller
Become a Patreon member of our book club: rebelwomenlit.com/join
Shop books and merch: rebelwomenlit.com/store
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One thing about us, we’re gonna intend to talk about one thing and end up talking about 27. It’s been such a long time since we’ve done an episode that everything came pouring out of us. But that’s the beauty of a book club (and the podcasts that are like them) - you get to gush about your favourite things, the things you hate and everything in between with amazing people.
In this episode of the podcast, Ashley, Jherane and Kristina catch each other up on what they’ve been reading; all the reasons Goodreads sucks (and why we’re switching to Storygraph); our vendetta against Alfredo pasta and, perhaps more importantly, why we think Spice and Shenseea would be big fans of Talia Hibbert.
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We’re deep into 2020 now, and both the days and the years to come, look darker than they have in a very long time. No, we’re not just talking about COVID-19. So why not curl up with an appropriate book? Join our verandah chat with Diana McCaulay, author of Daylight Come, a tense futuristic sci-fi story about climate change in the Caribbean.
What makes McCaulay's latest book so remarkable is how terrifyingly realistic she makes the details of the world she builds for her characters, and her readers, to inhabit. In this podcast, we talk about Daylight Come, how she prophecies through fiction writing, her craft, inspiration and the book that made her cry & become a writer.
Purchase Daylight Come at RebelWomenLit.com/DaylightCome
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Have you ever met an author that was truly and genuinely as smart and brilliant as their work? Fortunately for us (because our book choices are goddess-tier), the writers that we’ve gotten to know since the start of 2020 have inspired us and left us gagging at how intimately their intellectual pursuits and their creative work connect. Our April book’s writer, Curdella Forbes, is no exception to this rule.
For this episode of Like A Real Book Club, we sat down with Curdella on her verandah with three cups of tea, beautiful rolling hills before us and some nice, cool breeze washing over us. At least that’s the imagery we had in our heads while we sat in our respective homes. As an academic, it came as no surprise that Curdella’s understanding of the colonial project in the Caribbean is multilayered and complex. In our conversation about this deeply intricate novel, she talks to us about why she chose to use a man with “no skin” as a point of contention for both white people and black people, who were subjects of empire, to confront their ideas of race, worth and success. Throughout this interview, you’ll hear Curdella talk about the importance of writing in Jamaican, the seamless melding of the naturalist and spiritual world in the Jamaican psyche, writing the varied realities of Jamaican women and “our responsibility in the face of human vulnerability”. AND JUST SO MUCH MORE.
Get a cup of your favourite tea, cock yuh ten and enjoy our interview with the very masterful, Curdella Forbes.
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We all know that stories have the power to change us. We've teamed up with BOCAS Lit Fest in Trinidad & Tobago for #ReadCaribbean to select Caribbean books that have had an impact on our lives, and this is the result. No, we didn't do 100 books in this podcast but we chose these page-turners that have helped to shape and influence our thinking. Doing this list we all realised that these were some of the books that made us become love Caribbean books. What book made you become interested (read: obsessed) with Caribbean Literature?_See BOCAS Lit Fest's 100 Caribbean Books and use #MyCaribbeanLibrary on social media to see the amazing responses from readers all over the world! Become a Patreon member of our book club: rebelwomenlit.com/joinShop books and merch: rebelwomenlit.com/store Follow us on Instagram and TwitterBooks Mentioned in This Episode:Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid (included in our Patreon travel club)Beka Lamb by Zee EdgellGardening in the Tropics by Olive Senior The Fear of Stones and other Stories by Kei Miller Caribbean Slavery in the Atlantic World by Verene ShepherdHow Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney
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A spoiler-free review of A Tall History of Sugar by Jamaican novelist Curdella Forbes. In this episode, we talk about the Caribbean's legacy of sugar in the form of our education and careers, economic and political life, and even our diets... and of course the book.
Special shout out to Professor Verene Shepherd and Professor Hilary Beckles.
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