Bernardine Evaristo (Chair)

Bernardine Evaristo is the award-winning author of eight books and numerous other works that span the genres of novels, poetry, verse fiction, short fiction, essays, literary criticism, and radio and theatre drama. Her writing and projects are based around her interest in the African diaspora. She was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List this October, replacing the MBE she received in 2009. As a literary activist, Bernardine has set up many successful arts inclusion projects including the Brunel International African Poetry Prize (2012-) and The Complete Works poetry mentoring scheme (2007-2017). She is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University London and Vice Chair of the Royal Society of Literature.