Evaristo and Carty-Williams: First Black Authors to Win Top British Book Awards

Bernardine Evaristo and Candice Carty-Williams have won top prizes at the British Book awards for Author of the Year, and Book of the Year respectively.  Carty Williams' novel Queenie is the first by a black author to win Book of the Year - of which she says "I shouldn't and won't be the last".  Evaristo, who also shared the 2019 Booker for her book Girl, Woman, Other with Margaret Atwood (The Testatments) has the honour to be Author of the Year - again the first black writer to win this category.  Evaristo comments "I've been writing for a very long time, and it's incredibly gratifying to know that my work is finally reaching a wider readership".

A shake-up in publishing is another result of the tragic death of George Floyd as the industry awakens to inequality in its ranks.  Let it be a permanent change.