Square Peg acquires Blay's 'vital' essay collection Carefree Black Girls

Square Peg will publish an “exciting and vital” essay collection, Carefree Black Girls, by film and culture journalist Zeba Blay with a foreword from broadcaster Clara Amfo. 

“Carefree Black Girls is a celebration of Black women who have been pioneers through their style, sounds and everyday lives,” the Vintage imprint said. Square Peg editor Mireille Harper bought UK and Commonwealth rights directly from the author. The collection will be published in October 2021. 

The blurb reads: “In 2013, film and culture critic Zeba Blay was one of the first people to coin the viral term #carefreeblackgirls on Twitter. As she says, it was "a way to carve out a space of celebration and freedom for Black women online". 

“In this collection of essays, Blay expands on this initial idea by delving into the work and lasting achievements of influential Black women in popular culture — writers, artists, actresses, dancers, hip-hop stars — whose contributions often come in the face of bigotry, misogynoir, and stereotypes. Blay celebrates the strength and fortitude of these Black women, while also examining the many stereotypes and rigid identities that have clung to them.” 

The writing is described as “luminous and sharp, expansive and intimate”, and “seeks a path forward to a culture and society in which Black women and their art are appreciated and celebrated”. 

Blay is a film and culture critic who has written for the New York Times and the Village Voice among others.  Formerly senior culture writer at HuffPost, Blay has spent her nearly decade-long career writing about pop culture at the intersection of race, gender and identity. Born in Accra, Ghana, she is based in the New York.

She said: “It means so much to me to be able to release Carefree Black Girls in the UK. I am deeply grateful to Square Peg and Vintage for helping my words reach an even wider audience of people than I could ever have imagined, particularly Black women and girls. I wrote this book for us.” 

Harper said: “I’m a long-time lover of Zeba’s writing and mood-lifting Instagram energy boards. I read Carefree Black Girls in two hours after it landed in my inbox and knew instantly that we were going to publish it at Square Peg. Illustrating how Black women have paved the way historically, lived radical lives and influenced popular culture on a world scale, it is both celebratory, intricate and nourishing. From the policing of fat Black women’s bodies and how Black women have reclaimed pleasure and desire, to incredible thought-pieces on icons such as Mel B and Cardi B, these essays are passionate, evocative and nuanced in equal measure.” 

She added: “Zeba is a phenomenal writer and I feel blessed to be able to publish this in the UK, with the utterly joyous Clara Amfo joining forces with Zeba on what makes for a beautiful introduction to an equally brilliant book. I hope Carefree Black Girls is cherished by all who have the pleasure of reading it.”