Stories Left Untold: Ibi Zoboi on Secrets Lost and Found

The Reading Culture

“As my own mother is aging, she's telling me … before I take this to my grave, here is something you should know. So the secrets are coming out. And as more and more secrets are revealed, I'm learning more about myself.” - Ibi Zoboi

Ibi Zoboi writes to remember—her own story, her family’s legacy, and the long history of migration, myth, and memory that shaped them both. For Ibi, storytelling is a form of resistance and reclamation. It’s how she makes sense of the secrets that shaped her life and gives voice to those left out of the narrative. A National Book Award finalist and the bestselling author of American Street, Pride, Star Child, and (S)Kin, Ibi’s work blurs the line between folklore and futurism.

In this episode, Stories Left Untold: Ibi Zoboi on Secrets Lost and Found, she opens up about growing up Haitian in 1980s Brooklyn, discovering a half-sister decades later, and finding her way to writing through soap operas, Stephen King, and the voices of women who came before her. She also shares how a Vodou ceremony in Brooklyn changed her relationship to her culture, why she always sought out elders and activists, and how she’s still learning to push back against the pressure to fit a mold—on the page and off.

Ibi’s reading challenge, Haitian Creations, celebrates stories of migration and identity from first-generation and immigrant voices—stories that, like hers, speak to the truths we inherit and the ones we uncover for ourselves.

Download Ibi’s reading challenge at thereadingculturepod.com/ibi-zoboi

And this week’s Beanstack Featured Librarian is once again William Shaller, the librarian at Hoffman Middle School in Houston, Texas. This time, he shares how a surprise resurgence of Twilight led to an unforgettable moment of joy and connection in his school library.

Show Chapters

Chapter 1: Under The Table

Chapter 2: Danny Boy

Chapter 3: Two Thousand Suns

Chapter 4: Brooklyn Vodou

Chapter 5: Ghosted

Chapter 6: Reading Challenge

Chapter 7: Beanstack Featured Librarian

Links

• The Reading Culture
• The Reading Culture Newsletter Signup
• Follow The Reading Culture on Instagram (for giveaways and bonus content)
• Ibi Zoboi
• Ibi Zoboi Instagram
• Two Thousand Seasons
• Beanstack resources to build your community’s reading culture
• Jordan Lloyd Bookey

Host and Production Credits

Host: Jordan Lloyd Bookey
Producers: Mel Webb and Lower Street Media
Script Editors: Josia Lamberto-Egan, Mel Webb, Jordan Lloyd Bookey