Author Chat with Liberty Brooke

I am joined by another fellow Michigan area-related author, Liberty Brooke. Liberty, how are you? I am fantastic. Thank you so much for having me. Of course. Well, thank you so much for coming in and you do quite a bit. So not only are you an author, but you're a reader, you read to kids. So you're just like a jack of all trades. But before we kind of get into that, tell us a little bit about who you are and how you became an author. I am from the Michigan area. I'm not currently living full-time in Detroit, but I attend school in Detroit. I had a really kind of odd writing pathway, I guess, because I started as a fiction writer and then realized that I actually love poetry instead. And that was a little bit more my calling. So I started writing God is a Lesbian. I got involved with a lot of local orgs like Vantage here in Detroit. And that really kind of just pushed me to really take those steps. Yeah. And so your book is really interesting. And like you said, the title is called God is a Lesbian. And I have to ask, have you had any controversy with that title in your inbox? Like, what are you doing? I absolutely have. I think my title is definitely this kind of invocation and provocation at the same time. And I've had a lot of people who, before they've even read my work, are immediately like, oh, this is terrible. This is insane. What do you mean? God can't be a lesbian. It's God. And to that, I think I just say, read it. Read it. Because my works are in no way meant to be a dig at any religious folks. It's in no way meant to be this, you know, big moment of kind of rejection. It's more so a moment of connection, right? So it's taking something like religion that we're very familiar with and this particular like Christian Abrahamic religion, where the subjects of like God and queerness often are shown to clash and bringing them together and showing that you can question tradition for the sake of building community. Now, with this book, is it kind of like a love letter with poetry, or is there a story within it? You know, I'd say it's a little bit of both. It's kind of a letter to really everyone, but especially little girls who want to have a clear understanding of self and who want to see representation of people like themselves in community, right? I found when I was very young and looking for representation for queer women myself, that I often found this very kind of self-centered sense of identity, and it left me wanting more in terms of communal identity. And so God is a Lesbian is meant to be this point of representation for young queer women and everyone, really, to encourage them to not only get to know themselves, but get to know who they are in relation to their community and to really get out there. And I think you're doing a great job because with that title, that's giving more people reason to grab it because they're kind of like, what the heck? And then they get into it and they're like, oh, okay. So I think you did good on both aspects of like drawing attention, but then at the same time, like kind of making people think beyond their nose of like what could be more out there. And so aside from that, you also read to kids and you informed me that the Detroit Mercy has a really cool program. It's called RX for Reading. And I think it's really important because I had never heard about it. And so tell us a little bit about what goes into this program for the little ones. Oh, there's so much that goes into it. I'd say the biggest key starting point is presence, right? So RX for Reading is hosted on the University of Detroit Mercy's campus. It's hosted in our English department. It started in 2014, but it's grown so much since then. Our entire team is volunteer based, right? So our team is not paid to show up. It's simply important to us that we do. So the goal is to help combat the literacy crisis right now and to show up for children in underfunded areas and to encourage them to not only read themselves, but let them know that we are also here to read to them, right? They don't have to do this on their own. And unfortunately, in today's climate, there's a lot of children who need that mentorship and need physical presence alongside that reading material. So we distribute roughly 7,500 books a month for free with the help of all of our community partners. And we show up in classrooms to read those books to the children and then allow them to take them home. And that act of presence and mentorship and then letting them take it home and share it with those that they care about is truly invaluable. And I think it's cool too, because when you're reading to kids, that also ups your reading as well. So like, you know how some people are on Goodreads and they're like, oh, I have a goal of 100 or 150 books. Well, read to the little ones and that'll help you with your goal. So Liberty, what else do you have to say to fellow book lovers out there, especially because the community is just constantly growing? I would say one of the immediate things that comes to mind is to just pick up a book and read. Start anywhere, right? The literacy crisis is very real. I know I've mentioned it a couple of times. It's something that I advocate for a lot, that and reading banned books. And it's like, well, those are very daunting things, right? To hear someone say, take on the literacy crisis and, you know, help support the children of our future. It's very daunting. It seems like this immeasurable task and it's so hard to know where to start. And then I say, just start. Pick up a book, show up in a classroom, you know, read an instruction manual, read the terms and conditions before you click that box, right? Literally anywhere, just start. It doesn't matter what genre, it doesn't matter the author or the reading level. Who cares if the book is below your reading level? Read it, start, enjoy it, talk about it, right? Help foster that love for literature. Yeah, and even if it's only like maybe a couple pages a day, like as long as you're reading, because like before I started this show, I had a lot more free time. So I was reading like a book a week. Now I'm like, where is the time going? Because it's like by the time I get off, I'm ready to go to bed because you got to get up and come back to work. But I'm like, as long as I read at least one to two books a month, I feel like I'm okay. But then I'm always talking about books. So I feel like it's essentially doing, you know, doing the same thing. Instead of reading, I'm yapping. So, you know, there we go. Part of literacy is talking. Part of literacy is talking, like reading helps improve your verbal communication skills. It helps improve your critical thinking skills. Talking, I'd even say word searches count. Yeah, there we go. See, my mom does though. So see mom, you're reading even though you're not. There you go. So Liberty, thank you so much for taking the time to come and chat with us. I greatly appreciate it. And continue doing the work in the community promoting reading. Thank you so much, Syd.