Books reveal the UK’s Black presence
by OLIVE VASSELL
Generations of Black Britain writers continue to leave their mark on the literacy landscape. In telling their stories, they have not only created compelling narratives of love, loss, hardship and triumph, and everything in between, but also revealed the Black presence in locales where their existence had been hidden or was at least unknown.
All over the UK, we find works that focus on Black experiences. These locations are characters themselves that cannot be ignored or divorced from the experiences that unfold from the writer’s pen. This list of books – both fiction and non-fiction – provide a place to begin exploring the myriad of places where Black life is taking place.
England
London
Non-Fiction: Settlers, Journeys Through the Food, Faith and Culture of Black African London, Jim Famurewa
Bloomsbury Publishing, Paperback 2022
Focused on African communities in London, this memoir begins following the post-1960s arrival of Nigerians, Ghanians, Zimbabweans and Somalians to the country. Famurewa centres Black African life in the country’s capital, examining topics such the history or racial discrimination the, legacy of transracial private fostering, as well as modern-day issues and organisations.
London
Fiction: The Situationship, Taylor-Dior RumbleMerky Books Digital, Paperback, 2023
The first book from a collaboration between musician Stormzy’s Merky Books and Penguin Random House this rom-com follows twenty-something, Tia as she navigates dating in an era of apps and the low expectations that go alongside them, as well as situationships (an undefined or more casual relationship). Described as something between Bridget Jones and TV drama, Insecure.
London
Fiction: The Streets, Jacqui Rose
Macmillan Paperback, 2021
Set in the streets of London’s Soho, this hard-hitting gangland thriller focuses on Jo Martin, who ten years earlier was released from prison after serving twelve years of a life sentence. Much has changed in her life, she has a new identity, a different appearance. Introduced to a number of female characters, the reader must navigate the twists and turns of this story to discover who exactly is the new Jo.
The Midlands
Fiction (children): My Name is Sunshine Simpson, GM Linton
Usborne Publishing Paperback, 2023
GM Linton’s children’s book series follows a 10-year-old who lives in a Midland’s town with her family. Her work was inspired by her parents, who arrived in Britain, from Jamaica, as part of the Windrush generation, in the 1950s. She said she wanted to explore her parents’ experiences and those of their offspring.
Northern England
Fiction (young people): And the Stars were Burning Brightly Danielle Jawando
Simon & Schuster Paperback, 2020
Set on a Northern housing estate, Danielle Jawando’s debut novel tells the story of a gifted 17-year-old boy called Al, who takes his own life. His family, including his younger brother, Nathan and his only friend Megan are devastated and try to unravel the mystery behind Al’s death. The story is told from Nathan’s perspective.
Scotland
Across Scotland
Non-Fiction: Black Oot Here: Black Lives in Scotland (Blackness in Britain), Layla-Roxanne Hill, Francesca Sobande
Bloomsbury Academic Paperback, 2022
Layla-Roxanne Hill and Francesca Sobande explore the history and contemporary lives of Black people in Scotland. The book uses interviews, surveys, photography, and analysis of media and archived material, to offer a picture of Black Scotland both in the past and present.
Glasgow
Non-Fiction: Red Dust Road, Jackie Kay
Picador USA Paperback, 2011
This autobiography chronicles the journey of the Scottish poet, novelist and playwright who was born in Edinburgh in 1961 to a Scottish mother and a Nigerian father. Adopted by a white Scottish couple in a Glasgow suburb, Kay’s memoir traces her attempts to discover her history and birth family.
Wales
Cardiff
Fiction: Dat’s Love and Other Stories, Leonora Brito
Penguin Paperback, 2023
Leonara Brito’s short stories are set in the Tiger Bay area of Cardiff, one of the UK’s oldest multicultural communities including significant Caribbean and Somali populations. Born in Cardiff in July 1954, her mother was local and her father was a seaman from Cap Verde, Brito draws on the Afro-Caribbean community as she introduces vibrant characters living fascinating lives and explores race and history.
Llandudno (on the North coast)
Non-Fiction: Sugar and Slate, Charlotte Williams
Penguin Paperback, 2023
Charlotte Williams grew up in the 1960s in a small seaside town on the Welsh coast. Her dad was a young Guyanese artist and academic, and her mum was Welsh This autobiography, which was the 2003 Welsh Book of the Year, explores Williams’ search for identity in her birthplace, as well as her experiences living in Guyana and Nigeria.
Charlotte Williams talks to the Voice newspaper in 2023, two decades after her her work won the Welsh Book of the Year.
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Books reveal the UK’s Black presence
London-born Black Brit journalist Olive Vassell has co-edited and written a chapter on her birthplace for a pioneering book about Europe’s Black communities. Mapping Black Europe: Monuments, Markers, Memories is the first account by Black Europeans who have collectively marked sites of public memory, from monuments and statues to street names and city plaques, in the European capitals they call home.
The capital city is one of eight highlighted in the book, others are Berlin, Brussels, Luxembourg City, Oslo, Paris, Rome and Warsaw. The work highlights the experiences of each city’s Black communities, offering answers to questions, such as: What is the state of Black memory? Which Black philosophical movements have helped to rewrite distorted histories? How is community activism involved?
In London, monuments like the African Caribbean War Memorial and the Mary Seacole statue are spotlighted, revealing extensive histories about how they came to be created and who was involved. The impact of the Black Lives Matter movement is a starting point for all the book’s chapters, including London.
In tracing the long history of Black communities who challenge racism and create their own memorials to mark Black presence and contribution, this publication allows for comparison and for a collective narrative to be formed across the continent, creating a ‘Blackprint of Europe’.
In addition to Vassell, other contributors include co-editor Natasha A. Kelly, as well as Sibo Rugwiza Kanobana (Brussels), Bernardino Tavares, Aleida Vieira (Luxembourg, Epée Hervé Dingong (Paris,) Michelle A. Tisdel (Oslo)l, Kwanza Musi Dos Santos (Rome), and James Omolo (Warsaw).
About the editors
Olive Vassell is a journalist and professor who founded and headed the pioneering Black European news site, Euromight.com (2009-2022). Olive launched BBrit Project in 2022 and was joined by sociologist and writer Lisette Felix in 2023. BBrit Project is a content platform that aims to amplify the people, places, events, histories and ideas that embody the Black British experience.
Natasha A. Kelly, PhD, is a bestselling author and editor of eight books, Natasha acts as curator, artist, filmmaker, theater director and professor. Her film “Millis Awakening” debuted at the 10th Berlin Biennale in 2018. Natasha presently is the founding director of Germany’s first Institute for Black German Arts and Culture.
Mapping Black Europe: Monuments, Markers, Memories
Natasha A. Kelly & Olive Vassell (editors)
Published by Transcript Verlag on March 2023
Hardback £25.73/ €29.00
Free downloadable PDF available: here
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