Author Kaitlyn Greenidge Talks Freedom and “Libertie”

On episode 68 of the podcast, author Kaitlyn Greenidge joins me to talk about freedom and Libertie. Kaitlyn’s debut novel was the critically acclaimed, We Love You, Charlie Freeman. Her writing has also appeared in Vogue, Glamour, the Wall Street Journal, Elle.com, Buzzfeed, and the Virginia Quarterly Review. She was a contributing editor for LENNY Letter, is currently a contributing writer for The New York Times and recently became the Features Director of Harper’s Bazaar magazine. 

I invited Kaitlyn to talk about her stunning new novel, Libertie, which was just released on March 30, 2021.  Libertie is a coming-of-age story that begins in the second half of the 19th century in New York. It is about a free-born Black woman named Libertie Sampson, who is the dark-skinned daughter of a light-skinned mother, who also happens to be a doctor. Libertie’s mother raises her daughter expecting her to follow in her footsteps into medicine as well. But after the Civil War is fought and the promises of Reconstruction beckon, Libertie imagines a different future for herself. So, when the opportunity to move to Haiti – where Black people are truly free – comes up, she takes it. 

During our illuminating conversation, where I promise there are no spoilers about the novel, Kaitlyn shares the real story Liberite was inspired by; why she wanted to write Black historical fiction that wasn’t about Black exceptionalism; what she thinks freedom is; and why her female characters are so powerful. We also talk about the writing life; Kaitlyn explains why she doesn’t believe in writer’s block, and why she doesn’t think writers should hide from real life. 

This is a wonderfully inspiring episode with a brilliant and down-to-earth author. I hope you love it.

Literary Links from the Show

To learn more about Kaitlyn Greenidge, visit her website.

You can purchase Libertie on bookshop.org or Amazon.

During the episode, Kaitlyn mentioned the book, 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write by Sarah Ruhl. You might want to check it out.

Both the Well Read Black Girl Book Club and Roxanne Gay have chosen Libertie as their May book read. Maybe you want to read along with them.

If you loved this episode of the podcast, you might also love my interview with author Lauren Francis Scharma, whose historical novel, Book of the Little Axe, is also about a Black woman in search of true freedom.

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