Welcome to our first episode of Beloved, by Toni Morrison. In this episode, Shari and Rhea introduce their four week reading of this powerful novel by way of poetry. Rhea discusses how poetry has helped her digest the intensity of the narrative by reading poetry along the way. They talked about Morrison as a writer, her beliefs about fiction, narrative, and the participatory compact she makes with the reader. Rhea explains how her regular process for reading has drastically adjusted with reading this novel, and why this new approach feels like the right one for now. They discuss memory as a narrative device: how memory functions in Beloved, how it is the subject matter within the story, now it is guiding the story’s structure, how it is a theme, and how Morrison is using memory as a theme to explore other big ideas. And they talk about memory as it relates to language: how language and memory both reside in our bodies, how this shows up in the characters, and what it means for us as readers moving forward into Morrison’s world of Beloved.

Show Notes:

* Toni Morrison essay: “Memory, Creation, and Writing”

* The Source of Self Regard

* African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song

If you’d like to go deeper into this week’s reading, or want some help as you discuss Beloved with a friend or reading group, here is a PDF of this episode’s outline and detailed book notes.

Finally, look for Rhea’s Beloved Reading Guide to drop soon!

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