Bernardine Evaristo: from never giving up to the Booker Prize

In 2019, two writers shared the prestigious British Booker Prize. One was Margaret Atwood, whose book The Handmaid’s Tale gave rise to the television series of the same name, and the other one was Bernardine Evaristo.

The now 62-year-old daughter of a British mother and a Nigerian father was the first woman of colour ever to receive the award. By then, Evaristo had been writing novels, essays and plays for a quarter of a century. Some of her books, such as the satire Blonde Roots, which outlines an alternative history in which Africans trade European slaves, had generated some attention in Britain. But the breakthrough only came with the ambitious novel Girl, Woman, Other, which sketches fictional portraits of eleven women and one non-binary person between the ages of 19 and 93. Evaristo wanted the book, which covers themes of racism, class, feminism, sexuality and parenthood, to tell life stories that normally remain untold. All in an unusual style and plenty of poetry and humour.

Since then Evaristo has written another collection of essays called Manifesto: On Never Giving Up. It is a self-examination in seven chapters, recounting her life from childhood through her coming of age in London to her hotly contested literary career. Comprehensive memoirs, in other words, that are at once a plea for self-confidence and the development of a strong personality of one’s own.

Apart from writing, Evaristo has spent some of her time and energy trying to make the world a better place. Back in 1982, she founded the Theatre of Black Women. She also teaches and has spearheaded new poetry awards and inclusive writing courses. She is the new president of the Royal Society of Literature and is currently curating the series “Black Britain: Writing Back” for the Penguin publishing house, bringing old classics back into print. Enough stuff to talk about in an extended conversation in Brussels.

MEET THE AUTHOR: BERNARDINE EVARISTO
28/10, 20.00, KBR, www.passaporta.be