To be a Literary Native: Lessons in diversifying the London literary scene

In a personal essay, Salma Ibrahim discusses her experiences as a woman of colour in the London Literary scene and how she created Literary Natives to break the mould. In the beginning, I wasn’t prepared for how lonely the business of writing a novel could be. I had to look inwardly for my subject matter and… Read More

What’s the point of a literature festival? | Bare Lit 2017

by Henna Zamurd-Butt  Literature festivals don’t have a point, right? Or at least not one that can get into the writing and move it around. The text is fixed on paper and pixel by the time we get to discussing it. Perhaps for the literary establishment the text is fixed, but here where Bare Lit… Read More

Black Lives Black Words is a conversation held across continents | Madani Younis

It’s on us. It’s always been on us. From Claudia Jones to Michael X, from Frank Crichlow to Darcus Howe to Doreen and Neville Lawrence, there is a rich and fierce tradition of resistance that has defined the past century in this great city. 2016 was a significant year in the UK. Following the Brexit… Read More

And the winner of the inaugural Jhalak Prize is…

Today, we announce the winner of the first ever Jhalak Prize for Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour. Jacob Ross, novelist, short story writer and tutor, wins the £1000 prize with his first foray into crime fiction, The Bone Readers. The book, described by judge Musa Okwonga as ‘by turns thrilling, visceral… Read More

Stories of migration and exile: in conversation with writer Olumide Popoola

by Yasmin Gunaratnam  “Calculate is angry because all of his things were stolen in Puglia. He has nothing but his good English. He went to the police…He didn’t think. Next thing he was standing in a police station and someone wanted to fingerprint him. But you can’t get fingerprinted there. Unless you want to stay.… Read More

The ‘N’ word through the ages: The madness of HP Lovecraft

By Phenderson Djeli Clark When, long ago, the gods created Earth In Jove’s fair image Man was shaped at birth. The beasts for lesser parts were next designed; Yet were they too remote from humankind. To fill the gap, and join the rest to Man, Tåh’Olympian host conceiv’d a clever plan. A beast they wrought, in… Read More