Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo

Born Brazil. Lived Nigeria. Died Cameroon 1927. Brought to imaginary life in’Lara’ revised & expanded (Bloodaxe Books, Oct 2009)

Diana Evans’ first novel ‘26a’ was a huge success and won, among others, the Orange Prize First Novel Award in 2005. ’The Wonder’ is her follow-up. A beautifully written novel set in Notting Hill of both the 1960s and today. I asked...

Helen Oyeyemi is a bit of of a wunderkind. Well, no, she IS the Ultimate Wunderkind! Born in 1984 she has already published three novels, the first written while she was doing her A’Levels at 18, as well as two plays. ...

I am proud to present Pascale Petit as my Guest Blogger. A fascinating poet and former artist… A Suitcase-full of Hummingbirds After nine years’ search I’ve finally found this photo – the trigger for my opening poem ‘The Strait-Jackets’ in The Zoo Father. I original...

‘Over the past ten years, the Caine Prize has done a great deal to foster writing in Africa and bring exciting new African writers to the attention of wider audiences.’ JM Coetzee. This tour of exciting new writers from Africa will launch next Saturday. ...

(Copenhagen) I’ve just completed a British Council writers’ tour (Sept 09): 11 days, 5 countries, 25 readings, talks, workshops, meetings & engagements. Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland, Copenhagen. It was a wonderful trip. Lots of good work and so rewarding in so many ways. I’...

My essay on the book ‘Black Like Me’ (pbd 1959) by John Howard Griffin appeared in the ‘Times’ (of London) newspaper on 12/September/09. I think it’s still a must-read. See below. My essa...

I am available, over the next year, to give readings and talks, run creative writing workshops and take part in residencies/ visiting writer-tutor fellowships, both in the UK and abroad.I have gone on nearly 70 international writer’s tours since 1997, doing the above in a huge variety of settings. ...

In 2006 I was one of three judges of the Poetry Society of Great Britain’s National Poetry Competition. The winner that year was Melanie Drane, with her exquisite poem ‘The Year the Rice-Crop Failed’. Since then we have become friends. Mela...

I first met Roger in the mid 1990s when he was performing with a poetry outfit called Chocolate Art. We’ve known each other ever since and I have to say that Roger is one of the nicest people I know. ...

Rob A. Mackenzie was born in Glasgow. He studied law and then abandoned the possibility of significant personal wealth by switching to theology...

I’m always so delighted when new writers emerge from Africa, especially powerful female voices, and especially when they are published by major publishing houses and therefore have more chance of exposure. Think about it – when did you last read a novel by an African woman writer? (O...