1. BERNARDINE EVARISTO

Now a household name in the literary world, since becoming the first Black woman to win the Booker Prize in 2019 with her fantastic novel Girl, Woman, Other, Bernardine Evaristo is an expert in her craft, exploring the African and Caribbean diaspora with such nuance and charisma, you can’t help but fall in love with her characters and work. Staff favorites include Mr Loverman, whose closeted protagonist is so well fleshed out that, despite his flaws, you can’t help but fall for his wit and charm; and Blonde Roots, a satirical novel which reverses the roles of the transatlantic slave trade, entertaining, gorgeously written and thought provoking in equal measures. Aside from her fiction writing, Evaristo is also a poet, an essayist, an academic, and an advocate for diversity in literature. A mustread author for all.