On episode 53 of the Reed, Write, & Create podcast, we’re going Behind the Book with David Ruggles, founder of the first Black-owned bookstore in the United States. D. Ruggles Books set the precedent for Black-owned bookstores to become community spaces for freedom and liberation.

We’re going Behind the Book on the Reed, Write, & Create podcast with Sylvia Arthur, founder of the Library of Africa and the African Diaspora (LOATAD), a private library in Accra, Ghana. Learn how and why Sylvia decided to turn her personal library into a “shrine” to her literary ancestors, and open the doors to everyone.

The Reed, Write, & Create podcast is back for Season five, and we’re going behind the book to share the stories of people whose work depends on the free circulation of books in society. Our first guest is Emely Rumble, a bibliotherapist from the Bronx.

Veronica Chambers has some good advice for emerging and established BIPoC writers. On episode 39 of the Reed, Write, & Create podcast, Chambers, a New York Times bestselling author of more than 25 books, shares the secrets to her literary success. Plus, she shares the process, pain, and pleasure of writing historical fiction in her new novel, Ida in Love and in Trouble.