Gather Me

Praise

“Gather Me is a beautiful, deeply introspective, and tender journey. Edim is one of the most important nurturers of the Black literary tradition, and now she stands elegantly within it as a writer.”—Imani Perry, National Book Award-winning author of South to America

“Gather Me is a beautiful portrait of a full life that has been buoyed by an expansive, and ever-growing love for words and for language. What a gift, to have that love reflected outward.”—Hanif Abdurraqib, author of There’s Always This Year

“With candor and tenderness, Glory Edim gathers us as if welcoming us to her porch or stoop or kitchen table, a sacred space where she whispers her poignant testimony and reveals her scars. It’s proof that words—written and spoken—enlighten, restore, heal. This ode to Black scribes is a resting place and a balm.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Renée Watson

“Gather Me offers a tender homage to the books that have cradled Glory Edim through life’s storms, stitching together pieces of her identity with the delicate thread of story. This memoir pulses with the quiet strength of a woman who, through the pages of literature, finds not just solace but a fierce sense of belonging and purpose.”—Frederick Joseph, New York Times bestselling author of Patriarchy Blues

“Edim etches a wholly specific route into the story of literary longing that necessarily invites readers to be carried. If ever there was a piece of art that ritualized the transgressive wonder of tender hand-holding and show-and-tell, it is Gather Me.”—Kiese Laymon, award-winning author of Heavy: An American Memoir

“Glory Edim’s Gather Me is a moving memoir and a powerful testament to Black literature’s capacity to heal, guide, and help us become the best women, mothers, lovers, and daughters we can be—and a reminder to offer ourselves grace in the journey.”—Naomi Jackson, author of The Star Side of Bird Hill

“Glory Edim’s memoir in praise is more than just a legend of storytellers to study, it’s a gorgeous guide to a life full of empathy and healing. In Gather Me, Edim has written a profound testimony of how to re-emerge and soar in the wake of life’s storms.”—Mahogany L. Browne, author of Chrome Valley

“Gather Me is a book-lover’s memoir. It’s for those of us who have been nourished, challenged, comforted, emboldened, and transformed by books; those of us who have found ourselves, our communities, and our purpose through books.”—Maggie Smith, New York Times bestselling author of You Could Make This Place Beautiful

“Heartfelt and absorbing . . . Readers who enjoy coming-of-age memoirs will find much to love.”—Booklist, starred review
 
“A highly person memoir . . . [Edim] shares how books became an escape and a classroom. Her book is most compelling when she describes her interactions with these books, including the ways she interpreted them initially and reinterpreted them upon subsequent readings. . . . This title is a strong and welcome addition to the genre of biblio-memoirs.”—Library Journal

“Professional bibliophile pays tribute to the books that made her…. Edim rose to prominence as the founder of Well-Read Black Girl, an influential and far-reaching literary organization. In Gather Me, she reflects on a lifetime of devoted reading. From childhood on, whatever was going on in Edim’s life, books were a constant presence in her survival and self-development. . . . Gather Me is a book for anyone who has ever loved books. A love story that attests to the power of literature.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Edim beautifully illuminates how discovering or revisiting formative texts can confer all the warmth and wisdom of chatting with a clutch of aunties.”—Publishers Weekly