Bernardine Evaristo On 5 Modern Poets To Know & Championing Undiscovered Literary Talent
Is there anyone better suited to giving book recommendations than Bernardine Evaristo? After all, the boundary-breaking British writer knows a thing or two about literature, having authored 10 of her own – including the Booker Prize-winning novel Girl, Woman, Other, for which she was the first Black woman and first Black British person to win the award. She has also received more than 80 accolades, nominations, fellowships and honours, and is now the president of the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) – the first writer of colour to hold the position, and the second woman to do so in the RSL’s 200-year history. So it’s safe to say that when Evaristo shares her literary favourites, we immediately add them to our reading lists.
Below, Evaristo has put together a list of five modern poets and writers to note – recommendations that, for her, are deeply personal. Some of these writers took part in the Complete Works scheme, launched by Evaristo in 2008 to open up the literary world to a more diverse range of poets who were struggling to make their voice heard.
Evaristo is continuing this work with her position as president, with the launch of the RSL Scriptorium awards on Friday 25 October at a special event at the British Library. Find out more about this new prize at ‘Mapping the Future: The Complete Works Poets’ (tickets are available now, plus the event will be screened online). This event will celebrate Evaristo’s Complete Works scheme, with readings from some of the poets. It’s accompanied by a book of the same name, featuring work by all 30 writers that have been supported by the scheme over the past 12 years.
08.08.2024
While the anthology offers a taste of the poets’ work, here are five full collections by five of the writers, hand-selected by Evaristo for you to read now…
Bernardine Evaristo’s 5 Modern Poets To Note – & The Works You Should Read First
1. Joelle Taylor: C+unto & Othered Poems (2021)
“Joelle Taylor has written many books and championed many poets, especially on the spoken word scene. This partly autobiographical collection about butch lesbians is like nothing else out there. It’s astonishing, devastating, exhilarating and breathtakingly beautiful. When it won the TS Eliot Prize – the UK’s top poetry award– it was a sign that our society has become more progressive.”
2. Roger Robinson: A Portable Paradise (2019)
“One of my favourite poetry books of recent times by a poet who was publishing books for decades before this one walked off with three top prizes, including the TS Eliot Prize. Robinson’s range and depth are extraordinary, from a hauntingly surreal take on the Grenfell fire tragedy to the most tender poems about the birth of his son. His poems are memorable and this is a magnificent collection.”
3. Caleb Femi: Poor (2020)
“Poor deservedly won the Forward Prize for Best First Poetry Collection. Set on a Peckham housing estate, it’s a heart-stirring ode to Black boys and young Black men, with accompanying artistic photographs. Femi is an important and original new voice in British poetry, speaking from a community that urgently needs to be heard.”
4. Momtaza Mehri: Bad Diaspora Poems (2023)
“Although this is a debut collection, the poetic voice is so sophisticated it feels as if it’s been written by a seasoned writer. It’s a book that will take you on many vivid and startling journeys – across the physical world, into the world of ideas and into different histories, [Mehri] is always making sense and connections between the present and the past.”
5. Mapping the Future: The Complete Works Poets (2023) edited by Karen McCarthy Woolf & Nathalie Teitler
The 30 Black and Asian poets in this anthology, among Britain’s leading new generation of poets, were on a mentoring scheme I founded for poets of colour called Complete Works (2007–2017), when under 1% of poetry books in the UK were by poets of colour. By 2020, it was over 20%. It is testament to the power of inclusion initiatives to reinvigorate art forms with new voices and fresh perspectives.”
Tickets for Mapping the Future: The Complete Works Poets are available here, along with further information about the online screening
Mapping the Future: The Complete Works, edited by Karen McCarthy Woolf and Nathalie Teitler is out now
The RSL Scriptorium Awards will open for applications in spring 2025 and the first residencies will be announced later in the year
