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  • Published: 7 October 2021
  • ISBN: 9780241993637
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 208

Manifesto

A radically honest and inspirational memoir from the Booker Prize winning author of Girl, Woman, Other




The powerful, urgent memoir and manifesto on never giving up from Booker prize-winning trailblazer, Bernardine Evaristo

Bernardine Evaristo's 2019 Booker win - the first by a Black woman - was a revolutionary moment both for British culture and for her. After three decades as a trailblazing writer, teacher and activist, she moved from the margins to centre stage, taking her place in the spotlight at last. Her journey was a long one, but she made it, and she made history.

MANIFESTO is Bernardine Evaristo's intimate and inspirational, no-holds-barred account of how she did it, refusing to let any barriers stand in her way. She charts her creative rebellion against the mainstream and her life-long commitment to the imaginative exploration of 'untold' stories. And drawing deeply on her own experiences, she offers a vital contribution to current conversations around social issues such as race, class, feminism, sexuality and aging.

This is a unique book about staying true to yourself and to your vision. It's about how to be unstoppable - in your craft, your work, your life. It is Bernardine Evaristo's manifesto for never giving up.

  • Published: 7 October 2021
  • ISBN: 9780241993637
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 208

About the author

Bernardine Evaristo

Bernardine Evaristo is the author of Lara, winner of the Emma Best Book Award in 1999, The Emperor's Babe and Soul Tourists. She is a former Poet in Residence at the Museum of London, and her work has been widely anthologized. She won a prestigious Arts Council Writers Award in 2000.

Also by Bernardine Evaristo

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Praise for Manifesto

The most striking feature of this moving and enjoyable book is her fearless openness. When the publishing world looked closed to her she prised it open with her daring fiction

The Sunday Times

Manifesto combines the personal with the practical to powerful effect

The Guardian

The autobiographical parts of the book serve as vivid lessons about the power of change, growth and self-confidence

The Daily Telegraph

A bold memoir. Prepare to be inspired

Psychologies

Bernardine Evaristo is one of Britain's best writers, an iconic and unique voice, filled with warmth, subtlety and humanity. Exceptional

Nikesh Shukla, author of Brown Baby and The Good Immigrant

Bernardine Evaristo is one of those writers who should be read by everyone, everywhere

Elif Shafak, author of the bestselling The Island of Missing Trees

Bernardine Evaristo is the most daring, imaginative and innovative of writers

Inua Ellams

This honest, engaging memoir shares such gems . . . the perfect read for anyone who dreams big

The Times & The Sunday Times, Book of the Year

A meditation on personal transformation, cultural inequalities, activism, belonging, love and friendships - and above all, the power of creativity

New Statesman

How I wish when I was 18, that someone - if not necessarily my school - had also thrust Manifesto into my hands

Evening Standard

Shimmers with unfailing self-belief and a strong vein of humility

The Spectator

Raw and emotive . . . a powerful account of how Evaristo got to the top of her game - it's moving, but there's also much humour and joy

Independent

Manifesto serves as not only a beautifully written, measured companion piece to the fictionalised lives of Girl, Woman, Other, but as a testament to Evaristo's own trailblazing commitment to creativity, education and activism

Buzzfeed

This humorous and eye-opening memoir is fascinating . . . and beautifully told

Sunday Telegraph, Five Books That Will Make You See the World Differently