Bernardine Evaristo fears publishers may lose interest in black authors

Diversity in book industry must be sustained, and start at the top, Booker prize-winning author tells Hay festival

The Booker prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo says she fears that publishers' interest in black authors may be only a trend or fashion" that could wane unless the business becomes more diverse.

Evaristo, who was the first black woman to win the literary prize for her novel Girl, Woman, Other in 2019, said that the Black Lives Matter movement and the murder of George Floyd in 2020 really did shake the industry to the core" and had marked a turning point in previously excluded" authors getting book deals.