Today we’d like to introduce you to Bailey Williams.
Hi Bailey, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida by my parents who love to read and always made sure my siblings and I understood the importance of being well-read. I grew up with books all around me and I very quickly took to the wonders of literature. When I was about eight years old, my love for reading morphed into a passion and talent for writing. In 2021, I graduated from the University of Central Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. Currently, I write fiction stories – some of which have been published in literary magazines – and I write online book reviews that explore stories from and about marginalized communities. Inspired by this desire to uplift underrepresented voices, and my own heritage as a Black Jamaican-American woman, I founded the Bare Bookery Book Club – a virtual book club that brings light to fiction books and authors across the African and Caribbean diaspora. I also use social media as a platform to uplift bookstores and bookish events I visit locally and while traveling using digital content I create.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Truthfully, my biggest challenge has been getting out of my own way. You really have to put yourself out there when it comes to the arts, and as an introvert and a Cancer that’s something I’m not always comfortable doing. But my passion for my craft and my belief in my talent is what propelled me to keep going. I’m nowhere near the finish line but once I learned to trust myself more, I was able to enjoy the process and focus on getting better every day. I became more confident posting content on social media, doing outreach for my book club, and submitting my stories to publications. I have also been able to organically build connections with others who share bookish interests or work in the literary field, such as influencers and authors.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My two passion projects at the moment are my book club and my writing. About nine months ago, I started a virtual book club called the Bare Bookery Book Club to uplift stories and authors across the Caribbean and African diaspora. Currently the club has five members and so far we’ve read books that represent several cultures across the world including those from Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Barbados, Nigeria, and Ghana. I am proud of how this club has enabled members, including myself, to bond with one another over our mutual love of fiction while expanding our knowledge about other cultures and histories. I also have a blog where I publish book reviews that offer an in-depth exploration of certain themes and messages within the stories I read on my own or with my club. Through this blog, I have made even more connections with other readers who have either read the same stories I reviewed and had positive reactions to my take on them, or want to read these stories because of my reviews.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Literature will never not be essential to our world. With that being said, I only see my industry moving forward. However, I hope that along with that forward movement comes the increased amplification of voices that are currently underrepresented in publishing – including BIPOC, Caribbean, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, etc. – in a time where our nation’s leaders are actively working to eradicate those stories and knowledge about them by limiting public access to them. It’s important for people to see themselves in the books they read, and for others to have a more diverse reading experience and a broader understanding of the world beyond their norm. This was one of my main goals when I started the Bare Bookery Book Club, and I’d like to see more governments, publishers, and industry professionals making similar efforts to spotlight stories that are as vibrant, unique, and impactful as the cultures they hail from.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/barebookery
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barebookery
- Medium: https://medium.com/@barebookery
- Other: https://link.bookumapp.com/DnOHI9cAsUb
