Grace Ly

Grace Ly (born in 1979) is a French writer, podcaster and anti-racist and feminist activist.

Early life Ly's parents are Cambodian Chinese. They fled the Cambodian Civil War and the Khmer Rouge regime and arrived to France in the 1970s. In Grenoble, her father initially ran an Asian food restaurant. Ly and her family were the only Asians in their neighborhood. When Ly was 6 years old, her family moved to Paris. The blog evolved from food to also discuss racial stereotypes that are associated with Asian food and East and South East Asian communities more broadly. This led Ly to launch the web-series Ça reste entre nous (It Stays Between Us), where French-Asian public figures discuss their heritage and how they experience their identities. Ly's first novel Une jeune fille modèle (A model young girl) was published in 2018.

Anti-racist work In 2018 Ly launched the podcast Kiffe Ta Race (Pardon My Race in French) together with the French journalist Rokhaya Diallo. Ly and Rokhaya Diallo interview academics and thinkers to discuss the difficult relationship between the French state and race, which difficult relationship contributes to the marginalization of racialised minorities in the country. Ly denounced the alleged colour blindness of the French state, as a convenient framing to avoid taking stock of the rampant discrimination in the society. She calls the attitude arrogant.

Contributions to public debates and literary events

Together with Hengameh Yaghoobifarah, she curated the 2021 edition of the Read My World Festival in Amsterdam. She spoke as a distinguished international guest at the following year’s edition in 2022 about motherhood. Ly is a frequent contributor to debates at academic institutions In France on the questions of racism and classism. Ly cites among her literary influences author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.