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Freda Epum

@fredaepum.bsky.social
1.8K followers 469 following 55 posts

✨ Writer, artist, and consultant. 📍OH 🌽 & AZ 🌵 📚 THE GLOOMY GIRL VARIETY SHOW: A MEMOIR (Jan' 25 @feministpress) PhD-ing in English Lit Newsletter @ fredaepum.substack.com #fibromyalgia #chronicillness | 🇳🇬 🏳️‍🌈 www.fredaepum.com

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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Last year I suffered through dangerous chronic pain from an untreated iatrogenic prolactinoma--after 10 years of polypharmacy including 8 years on a antipsychotic for Bipolar disorder that I did not have that was truly complex trauma--alongside fibromyalgia and genetic connective tissue disorder...
brittlepaper.com
Nigerian Author Freda Epum is Sick and Needs Our Help
Nigerian author Freda Epum, whose work we've featured on Brittle Paper, is facing a difficult health crisis and needs our support. After being diagnosed with a pituitary tumor this year, Freda has en...
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Jackie Domenus @jackiedwrites.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
AWP recap in photos. 📸 Great readings, lovely writers. Completely exhausted, but good vibes overall. @zoebossiere.bsky.social @womanistbae.bsky.social @earthtokb.bsky.social @fredaepum.bsky.social @krysmalcolmbelc.bsky.social
Copy of the book No Offense: A Memoir in Essays in front of the 2025 AWP signFive memoir authors holding copies of their booksThree nonfiction authors posing in front of Skylight Books signDisplay of various books and merch from the AWP conference
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Harare Review of Books @hararereview.com · 04/04/2025
📝 @fredaepum.bsky.social Out now from @feministpress.bsky.social Paperback: bookshop.org/a/90290/9781... Ebook also available on Bookshop.org
bookshop.org
The Gloomy Girl Variety Show: A Memoir
A Memoir
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Todd Dillard @toddedillard.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
sometimes it seems like people want to get published like it will Solve Their Problems and I just want to confirm that after you publish they don't give you a new childhood, you still have to live with yourself, it's just that some of that self is on display this month at a Review
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Jeffrey Pryor @blueca1971.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Hey there! There's a GoFundMe campaign to help someone get a set of false teeth, as they’re on disability and can’t afford it on their own. Every donation, no matter how small, makes a real difference, so please consider clicking the link below to contribute or share it with others.
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Queer Fortress @fortress-frederick.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
HHS plans to remove gender dysphoria from disability protections under Section 504—but 17 GOP AGs are still pushing a lawsuit that could gut all federal disability protections. Schools, hospitals, and workplaces could refuse accommodations. #DisabilityRights #TransRights \
19thnews.org
Federal government to remove gender dysphoria from protected disabilities list
It’s unclear what the move means for a related lawsuit that could dismantle protections for all people with disabilities.
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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
This image captures the joy of 155 strangers signing up to hear me to talk about my first book.
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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Thanks for having me @debutiful.bsky.social!
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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Next stop on the Gloomy Girl tour! See you soon LA!
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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Thanks so much @ironhorselitrev.bsky.social! Gloomy Girl is also perfect for upcoming Mental Health Awareness month in May! 😉
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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Reposting for awareness.
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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Still glowing from my book launch last week!
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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
Guys Gloomy Girl is officially on shelves next week! And so is my book launch! I'll be sharing more press and good news throughout this month! First, another Most Anticipated List from the Chicago Review of Books! chireviewofbooks.com/2025/01/06/o...
chireviewofbooks.com
Our Most Anticipated 2025 Books - Chicago Review of Books
15 books you need to add to your 2025 reading list.
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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
It's happening!!!
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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Feeling so fortunate to be alive at the same time as Nikki Giovanni. I started writing about home in 2015 and love seeing how Nikki Giovanni contemplated home in 1974. Writing helps us find belonging across time. #booksky #blacksky #writingcommunity #history #art #authors #poetry #artists #writing
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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
Guys, I'm a Most Anticipated 😭. Thank you so much Debutiful, for naming Gloomy Girl one of the most anticipated debut books of 2025! Who knew my ruminating on hopefully making the list was ✨manifesting✨ Very happy the book's innovative structure is getting some shine. 😌
A grid of books from Debutiful's Most Anticipated Debut Books of 2025From the publisher: Merging memoir, poetry, and criticism, this radical literary revue traces a first-generation Nigerian American’s search for home and belonging on her own terms.

I don’t cover a lot of memoirs, but when I do, I want it to push and challenge me. This promises to push what a memoir does in a new direction.A tweet reading "women shoot their shot by thinking about you smh" "first of all it's called manifesting"
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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Gloomy Girl's Amazon ranking shot up over the last week! Thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered! If you read the book and liked it (hopefully 🥹), I would love it if you could leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Or request it at your local library or book store. Linking both pages below. 🖤
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Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
One of the single best things you can do for us on #InternationalDayofPeoplewithDisabilities is to wear a mask. Make public spaces safe for us again. Join us in demanding masks in healthcare. Refuse to leave us by the wayside.
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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Illinois has put an end to the injustice of cash bail. And it’s working better than anyone expected.
thenation.com
Illinois Has Put an End to the Injustice of Cash Bail
Amid a national backlash against criminal justice reform, Illinois has achieved something extraordinary. It’s working better than anyone expected.
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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
"I came to theory because I was hurting-the pain within me was so intense...I came to theory desperate, wanting to comprehend-to grasp what was happening around and within me. I saw in theory then a location for healing." - Toni Morrison. Here’s me at the start of my book and me now. Out Jan 15!
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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
So I've applied for some grants and fellowships that would allow me to be a full-time writer for a while if I got them! *Fingers crossed*
A Black woman with box braids in a low ponytail and white sweater sits at a wooden desk writing in a journal.
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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
Proud of myself for pushing through to the next newsletter entry! This piece features art from Gloomy Girl. And started as a response to a prompt from new writer friend Zeba Blay in her Pop Culture is Personal class: a manifesto on why we write. As always, here's a sneak peak.
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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
I've relaunched my newsletter! 🎉 Finally feeling a little more room to breathe this year and I decided to relaunch my newsletter. Pub day is January 14! Have you pre-ordered? 👀. Here's a sneak peak (links to all sources are in the newsletter itself. --- Why talk about identity and publishing?
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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Ive noticed the same issue with the history packs. I didn't bother pointing it out, because what would be the point? It feels weird to ASK to include BIPOC historians, if you can't even see us as part of your community.
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Saeed Jones @theferocity.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Hi, here are some quick notes about the upcoming holidays. If your absence from the holiday table is a political act, don’t assume your silence communicates your politics. Tell them why. “I don’t break bread with people just attempted to poison me.”
saeedjones.substack.com
Some Quick Notes Toward The Holidays
I’m just saying.
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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Kendrick Lamar just dropped the music video for "Squabble Up"
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darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
i thought the rap battle arena *was* the court of law
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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
That's my bb 🥰
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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
#AcademicSky #BVM Here's an intro post. I'm Freda. I'm a writer, artist, social justice consultant, and educator. My debut memoir, The Gloomy Girl Variety Show, comes out in Jan. with Feminist Press. My style blends cultural criticism, personal narrative, & pop culture, from a Black feminist lens.
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Nanjala @nanjala.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
I knew I was spending too much time online when I saw an email with the subject line “It’s Giving Tuesday” and my first thought was “what kind of vibe does Tuesday give?”
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Alicia Whitley @aliciawhitley.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
Oh! Yes to all of this! I think my favorite is when your program tells you to take care of your mental health but doesn’t change anything structurally about the program to address concerns. Taking care of mental health is then added to the list of all the other areas I feel like a failure.
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 17/11/2024
Black working class voters have to choose to minimize racism while white working class voters get the option of investing in the psychological wages of whiteness. The choice Black folks make doesn’t suggest “no economic anxiety.” It suggests “racism anxiety takes higher precedent.”
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meriahnichols.bsky.social @meriahnichols.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Race & Disability Syllabus with all the things to analyze #Project2025 on racial & disability justice. Organized by the mandate's chapters and themes, users can submit their own resources to contribute to the knowledge base using the embedded form. docs.google.com/document/d/e...
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Dr. Nicole Lee Schroeder @nicole-lee-sch.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
If youre following me, I really hope youre also following Long Covid and Covid Conscious threads there. These topics have few followers right now, but theyre critical to disability justice.
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Natasha Bernal @natashabernal.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Since moving here from the hellscape that is X, my feed is somehow now full of posts about how awesome libraries are and I am HERE FOR IT! Support your local libraries, they provide a warm space safe for everyone and the free gift of knowledge!
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Dr. Dawn Wright @deepseadawn.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
Feature request: ability to bookmark please 🙏🏾 🧪 #scipol #academicsky
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CantlonLab @cantlonlab.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
The AAUP has been defending academic freedom for over a century. They offer legal support and organize faculty across campuses. Expanding AAUP chapters can strengthen our defenses and power. This is a resource we should be using—and GROWING. Join it. www.aaupfoundation.org/special-fund...
aaupfoundation.org
Legal Defense Fund
The Legal Defense Fund has helped professors across the country in lawsuits involving legal issues of national significance in higher education.
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Imani Gandy @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 15/11/2024
I don't know a single Black woman planning to attend any women's marches and I truly believe that the energy would be better spent having small coffee klatsches in your community where you actually talk to your fucking Trump loving lady neighbors and family members. But nobody wants to do that.
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If you know you know @privatechand.bsky.social · 10/11/2024
The research for this essay means the most to me. The second part of my research traces the contemporary effects of the amnesia around slavery on the descendants of a historically enslaved community in India and is forthcoming. 🗃️ #earlymodern #skystorians www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Slavery, Mobility, and Identity on the Western Coast of India, Sixteenth–Eighteenth Centuries | Comparative Studies in Society and History | Cambridge Core
Slavery, Mobility, and Identity on the Western Coast of India, Sixteenth–Eighteenth Centuries
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Electric Literature @electricliterature.com · 14/11/2024
AJ Romriell on “The Last of Us,” the Great Salt Lake, and the painful, complicated days and weeks after he received his positive HIV diagnosis
buff.ly
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p.e. neloms 🤎 @theauthorpen.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
Goodreads is owned by Jeff Bezos. A better alternative is StoryGraph, a Black woman-owned platform. And before y’all start, you can transfer all your Goodreads data to Storygraph so you literally have no excuse.
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Gabe Ortíz @tusk81.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
“This moment demands we all recognize the importance of trans ppl in our lives, as family, friends, neighbors, classmates, colleagues, and fellow Americans who are as essential to a future that is more free, more just, and more equitable for all.” glaad.org/resources-fo... #TransgenderAwarenessWeek
glaad.org
GLAAD Unveils New Resources for Transgender Awareness Week, November 13–19 | GLAAD
Today marks the beginning of Transgender Awareness Week 2004. The week, celebrated each year from November 13-19, is dedicated to raising visibility and awareness about transgender and gender non-conf...
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✠ 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 - 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 🇨🇦 🇬🇱 🖇️ 𝟾𝟼𝟺𝟽 @unauthorizedbeast.bsky.social · 11/11/2024
Stephen King just got thrown off twitter for calling Musk the First Lady.
media.tenor.com
a woman is laughing with the words la guarimba film festival written below her
ALT: a woman is laughing with the words la guarimba film festival written below her
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FLAVOR FLAV ⏰ @flavorflav.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
Most people don’t know that slavery still exists. Amendment 13 abolishes slavery except where imprisoned. There should be no exceptions to abolish slavery.
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Freda Epum @fredaepum.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
Hey #chronicillness friends, looking to make more friends with #fibromyalgia, #pcos, and #chronicpain. Especially other #blackwomen! <3
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