Bry's profile
In the belly of the beast, family histories are made up of memories, terrors, and tragedies. With roots in Lowcountry South Carolina, Bry Reed uses creative nonfiction and art criticism to situate herself in time. As an independent scholar and artist, she builds on the postcolonial criticisms from Édouard Glissant and African (diasporic) storytelling traditions. Following Glissant’s intellectual footsteps she uses print and oral traditions to present her family history. In this way, she delves into the historical, economic, and social phenomena that shape working-class Black Baltimore. Her work connects that intimate portrait of her family's history to broader labor and artistic movements creating nonfiction that disrupts cohesive presentations of Black life in the West.
Bry Reed is a Baltimore-born and bred artist passionate about cultivating her local artistic community. She's a Rubys Artist Grant awardee, a board member for Writers in Baltimore Schools, and a Fellowship Advisor with New Generations Scholars Youth Archival Fellowship. Her work has appeared in The Baltimore Beat and The Washington Post, and she co-edited the essay collection Surviving The Future: Abolitionist Queer Strategies with Raven Hudson and Shuli Branson for PM Press. Additionally, she enjoys engaging with other artists, community members, and thinkers in public forums. She has been featured on panels in collaboration with CityLit Project, Greedy Reads, Red Emma's, The Clifton House, and other local art organizations.
