What Are You Blurbing, Deesha Philyaw?
In Conversation with Mitchell Kaplan on The Literary Life Podcast
On today’s episode of The Literary Life, Mitchell Kaplan talks with Deesha Philhaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, about the books that she is reading and inspired by right now.
From the episode:
Deesha Philyaw: I think about what Toni Morrison once said, that the whole purpose of having power is to empower someone else. And so there’s power that comes from having a book that has been successful and has won awards. And every day I think to myself, how can I use this power for good and to help other people? And thinking about all the ways that other people, like my friend Kiese Laymon, has used his power to help me.
So that’s how I view the world of blurbing and the importance of it, that it’s literally lending your power and your access to someone else so that their book can be successful too.
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Deesha Philyaw‘s writing on race, parenting, gender, and culture has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, McSweeney’s, the Rumpus, Brevity, TueNight, and elsewhere. Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, she currently lives in Pittsburgh with her daughters.
The Literary Life
Mitchell Kaplan has been a bookseller and has owned the independent bookstores Books & Books for over 35 years. Enter the Literary Life where every week you’ll hear candid conversations with Mitchell and his guests, including Dave Cullen, Min Jin Lee, Lisa Lucas, Tayari Jones, Tina Brown, and Pete Souza.
