Faces of Her Studio NYC: Meet: Gwendolyn

Interview by Shayna Viola

“What kind of creative do you identify as?

Writer & Activist

Tell us about you. What inspires you?

I am a multi-hyphenate storyteller, but I’m most proud of my work as a children’s book author. I’m a Black woman, and Black women’s histories, like so many other histories, are often just an asterisk or a sidekick to what people see as larger, more important histories. Or it’s erased and distorted entirely. The great responsibility of writing children’s books is that we get to be part of the beginning of their understanding of the world. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to make a child feel like their life and their world isn’t marginal to everyone else’s. It’s amazing to speak across generations and say “Look, isn’t our history amazing, what do you think is interesting?” I think right now, especially as we see books about marginalized histories being banned, there’s a huge emphasis on representation…”

To read the rest of the interview, visit herstudionewyork.com.