I’m very interested in power and how you succeed. We were half-caste, half-breeds, and we weren’t supposed to exist. I’m incredibly honoured to serve in this inaugural role as I go from public companies to the public university space, and I’m thrilled to be back home again among my fellow Bruins.”. And we know that race does not exist, right? It was a very fertile time, and dear Ken Livingstone at County Hall used to fund a lot of arts groups. BE: I set up the Brunel International African Poetry Prize in 2012. Bernardine Evaristo was in an ebullient mood when she joined me and an audience at a branch of Foyles bookshop in London, three days after she became the first black woman to win the Booker Prize – jointly with Margaret Atwood, in a rule-breaking decision by the judges. We’ve lived long lives; we’ve had so many experiences. There’s a book called Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin. Her “fusion fiction” novel, Girl Woman, Other, was recently shortlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize. BE: I wanted to explore the idea of a polyamorous relationship as something that is acceptable and part of her life. The concept of race and being viewed as an outsider affected us from the moment we were born, but it took until adulthood for me to be able to articulate the sense of never quite fitting in. I teach a lot of immigrant children at Brunel University: they don’t quite know how to get on, and they need to be shown. So when I claim my identity as a black woman, I’m categorising myself according to how society categorises me, but I’m making a positive statement about it. This website uses cookies to help us give you the best experience when you visit our website. Sex! This sense of disapproval of my parent’s marriage and their mixed-race kids was the shadow story of my childhood. I’m not applying feminist ideology to the book. Then Carole does get on, and a gulf opens between them. Bernardine Evaristo, professor of creative writing at Brunel University London, studied acting and later gained a PhD in creative writing at Goldsmiths, University of London. Some are homophobic, some are feminists, some don’t even know what feminism is. Once registered you can read a total of 3 articles each month, plus: Already registered or a current subscriber?Sign in now, The University of London’s new vice-chancellor reflects on her Canadian working class roots, leadership lessons from local government and her time in 10 Downing Street, The futurist on her gutsy mum, why technology should liberate not control, and how graduates are turning their backs on Silicon Valley, The historian on what we can learn from the study of the past, how different nations view their heritage, and whether capitalism is here to stay, The author of Merchants of Doubt on dealing with climate change deniers, pursuing your passions and the importance of a walk outside, preferably with a dog. At the same time the African Poetry Book Fund was founded by Kwame Dawes at the University of Nebraska, and we’ve collaborated with my prize and his various prizes and publications to bring more African poets to the fore. Do you live by any motto or philosophy? I excelled in drama and enjoyed the classics, languages and English literature. I thought I could do the same with poetry. NS: You set up your own theatre company in 1982. So pretty much the day we left, we formed Theatre of Black Women, which was Britain’s first black women’s theatre company. I remember the Booker judges years ago: they were all these Tory politicians! What were the origins of the Brunel International African Poetry Prize?I founded the prize in order to develop African poetry, which was almost nowhere on the international literary landscape in 2012. If you like what you're reading online, why not take advantage of our subscription and get unlimited access to all of Times Higher Education's content? Tell us about a couple of people you’ve always admired.Dame Mary Beard and “Dame” Michelle Obama. Diversifying the curriculum. She tells Christiane just what it means. You might as well kill yourself. Professor Angwin previously worked on mergers and acquisitions as a senior investment banker with firms such as Hambros Bank and Banque Paribas. My writing is shaped by the dichotomies of my childhood, of belonging and not belonging, the black and white of it, the socialist activist father and the Roman Catholic inculcation. What are the key areas where you would like to see British universities doing more for black students?Everything needs to improve. It’s about constant variety and fluidity. Do you think that’s a particularly deep gulf between first- and second-generation immigrants? Lots of… drink! I was so frustrated that we were not peopling the pages of fiction in this country that I just thought, “I’m going to create as many different characters as I can.” But in the end I thought I had in a sense made my point with 12 of these women. Bernardine Evaristo on her historic Booker win, Global parallels to Trump's coronavirus diagnosis, Fmr. OK, it took 50 years, but the fact that I have won the Booker with a book about 12 different black women – a very queer, female, experimental book – I think that’s a sign that our society has changed considerably. He probably felt emotionally singed but somehow liked it. Often students find the process of discovery very exciting, such as realising that they can tell a novel through Twitter posts. In the 1980s a lot of people who felt they were marginalised got together: there were gay groups, women’s groups, disability groups, black groups and so on. Todd Landman, pro vice-chancellor for Nottingham’s Faculty of Social Sciences, said that Professor Angwin “brings outstanding experience from both industry and academia which will benefit our teaching staff and students”. negotiator: UK decision risks 'violence in N. Ireland', Eliot Cohen: I'm ashamed of the party I used to belong to, Chuck Schumer: Mitch McConnell is 'appalling', He managed Obama's 2008 campaign and gives Trump credit for this, Gore: Trump's climate denial 'fuels' protesters, US Amb. The one thing Bummi does is to give Carole an English name, because she understands that a Nigerian name will hold her back. He previously edited the Saturday Review section of the Times, and can be found on Twitter as @tom_gatti. She will be joined on the panel by TV presenter Vick Hope, novelist Elizabeth Day, columnist Nesrine Malik and news presenter Sarah-Jane Mee. But he would say things for effect. Race is a lived experience, and this is the reality of these women. Tom Gatti is Deputy Editor of the New Statesman. Bernardine’s novel Girl, Woman, Other won the Booker Prize 2019, and in 2020, the British Book Award’s Author of the Year and Fiction Book of the Year, and the Indie Book Award for Fiction.The novel has been nominated for many other awards. Enjoy the struggles that come your way, including poverty, because it will be the making of you. It was in verse; there was a style that I found that I really liked. Several, I have to say: cancel tuition fees; cancel [subsidies] to private schools; force Oxbridge to ensure their intake statistically reflects the state/private school demographics [in the wider population]. Mary Osako, former head of global corporate communications at Amazon, has been named the University of California, Los Angeles’ vice-chancellor for strategic communications, a newly created post overseeing the institution’s marketing, media relations, executive communications, public outreach and special events and protocol units. Girl, Woman, Other won the Booker prize in 2019 and fiction book … I was gay then, and I was in a television programme called One in Five, which was shown on New Year’s Day in 1983, soon after Channel 4 launched. The challenges lie in trying to get them to develop their own unique voice in a classroom setting when they are still in the early stages of becoming writers. He thought gay people should be hung. How did that come about? Professor Bale is co-author of the recently published Footsoldiers: Political Party Membership in the 21st Century and is a prominent commentator on politics in the media. Cigarettes! You can code-switch, and separate the two parts of yourself: the part that will succeed in this predominantly white world, and the part that can just express yourself naturally. If, say, a white male writer were to write a book about 12 different kinds of white men, the chances are he’s not going to say that they’re white men, because whiteness is the default. When you’re writing about Britain in the 1920s, or about your own youth in the 1980s, and considering the progress that’s been made since, do you feel hopeful or depressed? He will join from Lancaster University, where he is currently the Sir Roland Smith professor in strategic management and head of department for entrepreneurship and strategy. #bernardineevaristo A post shared by Bernardine Evaristo (@bernardineevaristo) on Mar 21, 2020 at 3:08pm PDT We interviewed and photographed Evaristo …