Bernardine Evaristo, with her Booker Prize winning novel Girl, Woman, Other, at London’s Southbank Centre. Photo credit: Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images.

From 30 October to 3 November 2019, over 50 writers from 10 countries will be participating in the fifth Lagos International Poetry Festival, #LIPFest2019. Among the events to be held is a conversation between the 2019 Booker Prize winner Bernadine Evaristo and Brittle Paper‘s deputy editor Otosirieze Obi-Young. The conversation will take place on Saturday, 2 November, 2019, from 4.15pm to 5.30pm, at Freedom Park, Lagos Island, Lagos.

In this conversation, Bernardine Evaristo will speak with Otosirieze Obi-Young about her career as a writer and teacher, and her foundational work with the Brunel International African Poetry Prize and the African Poetry Book Fund.

Bernardine Evaristo is a Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University, London. She is the author of eight books: the poetry collection Island of Abraham (1993); the novels-in-verse Lara (1997) and The Emperor’s Babe (2001); the novella Hello Mum (2010); the novels Soul Tourists (2005), Blonde Roots (2008), and Mr Loverman (2014); and the 2019 Booker Prize winning novel, Girl, Woman, Other (2018). Bernardine has also written for theatre, radio, print-media and for a multi-media collaboration Cityscapes with saxophonist Andy Sheppard and pianist Joanna MacGregor for the City of London Festival in 2003. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Society of Arts, and was awarded an MBE in 2009.

Otosirieze Obi-Young has been Brittle Paper‘s deputy editor since 2016. An editor at 14, he sits on the judging panels of the Miles Morland Writing Scholarship and the Gerald Kraak Prize. Most recently, his work was profiled on Literary Hub.

Bernardine Evaristo will also be leading a workshop on October 31st, and participating in a panel on publishing on November 1st. Otosirieze Obi-Young will also be participating in the same panel on publishing on November 1st and a panel on new writing on November 1st as well. For the full program of events, click here.

We look forward to seeing Bernardine Evaristo and Otosirieze Obi-Young in conversation!