Bernardine Evaristo
Encyclopedia
Bernardine Evaristo MBE
FRSL FRSA is a British
author
.
She was born in London
to an English mother and Nigerian Father and was raised in Woolwich
, south east London.
Lara, a verse novel, based on her family history with roots in England, Nigeria, Ireland, Germany and Brazil. (Bloodaxe Books 2009). It is a revised and expanded (by a third) version of an earlier edition of the book.
Hello Mum, a Quick Reads novella about teenage knife crime. (Penguin, 2010.)
Blonde Roots, her first fully prose novel, in which she created a fictional world where Africans enslave Europeans. (Penguin UK 2008/Penguin US 2009.)
Soul Tourists, a novel that fuses poetry and prose fiction. Stanley and Jessie drive across Europe in the late Eighties. En route Stanley encounters many ghosts of colour from European history including Pushkin, Shakespeare’s 'Dark Lady of the Sonnets', Mary Seacole, the Chevalier de St. George and Alessandro dei Medici. (Penguin 2005.)
The Emperor’s Babe, a verse novel about a black girl called Zuleika who grows up in Roman London nearly 2000 years ago. (Penguin UK 2001/ Penguin US 2002.)
She co-edited the anthology of Black and Asian poets Ten with poet Daljit Nagra (Bloodaxe Books 2010.) This is part of The Complete Works project. (See below. )
She also co-edited, with poet Karen McCarthy, a special issue of Wasafiri called Black Britain: Beyond Definition (Routledge 2010.)
And she co-edited the New Writing Anthology NW15 in 2007 with the novelist Maggie Gee (Granta/British Council.)
Evaristo writes book reviews for The Times, Guardian, Independent and Financial Times newspapers. She has also written for theatre, magazines and written drama and fiction for BBC Radio 4.
She has held many writing fellowships and residencies such as at Georgetown University, Washington DC; Barnard College/Columbia University, New York; University of the Western Cape, South Africa; the Virginia Arts Festival and the University of East Anglia
, UK. Since 1997 she has been on seventy international writing tours which involve writer-residencies and fellowships, book tours, teaching creative writing workshops as well as conference and literary festival appearances. She has been a visiting tutor at Goldsmith's College, University of London, a Creative Writing Fellow at Oxford Brookes University and in September 2011 she will teach the six month inaugural UEA/Guardian newspaper course in creative writing for beginners.
In 2006 Bernardine Evaristo initiated an Arts Council report into why black and Asian poets were not getting published in the UK that revealed that under 1% of all poetry books are by poets of colour. When the report was published she initiated a poets' mentoring scheme called The Complete Works (TCW) with Spread the Word http://www.spreadtheword.org.uk literature development agency. TCW imentored ten poets who worked with ten of Britain's leading poets over the course of two years.
In 2009 Bernardine became a patron of Westminster Befriend A Family, a twenty year-old voluntary organisation that works with disadvantaged families in Westminster.
2010 The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award (nominee - current) US
2010 Poetry Book Society Commendation for poetry anthology 'Ten', co-ed with Daljit Nagra
2009 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award (nominated/longlist)
2009 Big Red Read Award (Fiction and overall winner)
2009 Awarded an MBE in Queen's Birthday Honours List
2009 Winner, Orange Prize Youth Panel Award
2009 Orange Prize for Fiction (longlist)
2006 Elected a Fellow, Royal Society of Arts
2004 Elected a Fellow, Royal Society of Literature
2003 NESTA Fellowship Award
2000 Arts Council Writers Award
1999 BT EMMA Best Book Award
Evaristo's books have been A Book of the Year nine times for British newspapers.
The Emperor's Babe was on the 'Times' '100 Best Books of the Decade' list in November 2009.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
FRSL FRSA is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
.
She was born in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to an English mother and Nigerian Father and was raised in Woolwich
Woolwich
Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
, south east London.
Work
Evaristo is the author of six books that include:Lara, a verse novel, based on her family history with roots in England, Nigeria, Ireland, Germany and Brazil. (Bloodaxe Books 2009). It is a revised and expanded (by a third) version of an earlier edition of the book.
Hello Mum, a Quick Reads novella about teenage knife crime. (Penguin, 2010.)
Blonde Roots, her first fully prose novel, in which she created a fictional world where Africans enslave Europeans. (Penguin UK 2008/Penguin US 2009.)
Soul Tourists, a novel that fuses poetry and prose fiction. Stanley and Jessie drive across Europe in the late Eighties. En route Stanley encounters many ghosts of colour from European history including Pushkin, Shakespeare’s 'Dark Lady of the Sonnets', Mary Seacole, the Chevalier de St. George and Alessandro dei Medici. (Penguin 2005.)
The Emperor’s Babe, a verse novel about a black girl called Zuleika who grows up in Roman London nearly 2000 years ago. (Penguin UK 2001/ Penguin US 2002.)
She co-edited the anthology of Black and Asian poets Ten with poet Daljit Nagra (Bloodaxe Books 2010.) This is part of The Complete Works project. (See below. )
She also co-edited, with poet Karen McCarthy, a special issue of Wasafiri called Black Britain: Beyond Definition (Routledge 2010.)
And she co-edited the New Writing Anthology NW15 in 2007 with the novelist Maggie Gee (Granta/British Council.)
Evaristo writes book reviews for The Times, Guardian, Independent and Financial Times newspapers. She has also written for theatre, magazines and written drama and fiction for BBC Radio 4.
She has held many writing fellowships and residencies such as at Georgetown University, Washington DC; Barnard College/Columbia University, New York; University of the Western Cape, South Africa; the Virginia Arts Festival and the University of East Anglia
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
, UK. Since 1997 she has been on seventy international writing tours which involve writer-residencies and fellowships, book tours, teaching creative writing workshops as well as conference and literary festival appearances. She has been a visiting tutor at Goldsmith's College, University of London, a Creative Writing Fellow at Oxford Brookes University and in September 2011 she will teach the six month inaugural UEA/Guardian newspaper course in creative writing for beginners.
In 2006 Bernardine Evaristo initiated an Arts Council report into why black and Asian poets were not getting published in the UK that revealed that under 1% of all poetry books are by poets of colour. When the report was published she initiated a poets' mentoring scheme called The Complete Works (TCW) with Spread the Word http://www.spreadtheword.org.uk literature development agency. TCW imentored ten poets who worked with ten of Britain's leading poets over the course of two years.
In 2009 Bernardine became a patron of Westminster Befriend A Family, a twenty year-old voluntary organisation that works with disadvantaged families in Westminster.
Honours and Awards
Her awards and honors include the EMMA Best Book Award, Arts Council Writers Award, a NESTA Fellowship Award, Blonde Roots was long-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction and won the inaugural Orange Prize Youth Panel and the Big Red Read Award - both in 2009. Blonde Roots is also currently on the long-list for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. In November 2009 The Emperor's Babe was selected by the Times newspaper (UK) as one of the '100 Best Books of the Decade'. Bernardine Evaristo was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2004, of the Royal Society of Arts in 2006, and she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours List.2010 The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award (nominee - current) US
2010 Poetry Book Society Commendation for poetry anthology 'Ten', co-ed with Daljit Nagra
2009 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award (nominated/longlist)
2009 Big Red Read Award (Fiction and overall winner)
2009 Awarded an MBE in Queen's Birthday Honours List
2009 Winner, Orange Prize Youth Panel Award
2009 Orange Prize for Fiction (longlist)
2006 Elected a Fellow, Royal Society of Arts
2004 Elected a Fellow, Royal Society of Literature
2003 NESTA Fellowship Award
2000 Arts Council Writers Award
1999 BT EMMA Best Book Award
Evaristo's books have been A Book of the Year nine times for British newspapers.
The Emperor's Babe was on the 'Times' '100 Best Books of the Decade' list in November 2009.
External links
- British Council Arts Group
- http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=3694Webcast interview at Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
] - Bernadine Evaristo's website and blog
- BBC raw Quick Reads - Hello Mum by Bernardine Evaristo