Photo sourced via Instagram @bernardineevaristo.

Booker Prize winning British-Nigerian author Bernardine Evaristo had a packed year in 2022 with events, awards, honorary doctorate degrees, and many travel opportunities as her writing talent was recognized by numerous organizations and people.

Here is a brief glimpse into some special moments in 2022. All content is drawn from her Instagram, so feel free to scroll through her feed for more.

January

Evaristo made it to the Forbes 50 Over 50 List in 2022. What a brilliant achievement to start off the year with a bang!

February

In February, Evaristo published numerous media articles on well-known digital platforms such as her homage to Toni Morrison on Literary Hub, a “Person of Interest” Feature on the New Yorker where she was interviewed by Anna Russell, and an interview with Warsan Shire on Guardian Review.

March

Evaristo received Stylist Magazine’s Remarkable Women “Writer of the Year” Award.

April

Evaristo published an essay in the Guardian celebrating the artistic triumph of older Black women.

May

Evaristo’s brother Charlie Evaristo Boyce had a solo exhibition at Leicester Gallery and Evaristo proudly went to the exhibit to celebrate her brother’s art.

June

Evaristo spent a joyful day in Covent Garden with the first in-person gathering of 100 members of the Black Writers Guild (established 2020), formed to lobby for the inclusion of black writers who are often least included in all areas of British publishing.

Evaristo’s essay “A War with Words” was published in the Point of View slot at BBC Radio 4.

July

Evaristo was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from Glasgow Caledonian University in July.

Evaristo met up with the Royal Society of Literature at the Grand Hall of Battersea Arts Centre with a mass induction, where she presided as Madame President of over 100 Fellows & Honorary Fellows from 2020-2022. She also spoke to poet & the Royal Society of Literature Chair, Daljit Nagra, about Girl, Woman, Other this summer for the Royal Reading Room.

August

Evaristo answered questions about her writing and latest memoir at the Louisiana Literature Festival near Copenhagen, Denmark, and also spent some time sightseeing.

September

Evaristo visited Lyon, France for a wedding and wrote a quick Insta poem:

Last weekend/ a wedding in France with my husband’s family/ a chateau in the middle of the countryside/ endless vineyards/ a fountain in the grounds/ slowing down to the peaceful sound and soothing sight of running water/ time to breathe/ sit in the moment/ savour life/ reflect/ prepare/ re-energise for a busy autumn teaching and touring.


Evaristo went on a short visit to the Venice Biennale in Venice, Italy to see Sonia Boyce and Simone Leigh and their wonderful art. Both artists won the Golden Lion this year at the Biennale.

As part of the Rolex Mentor & Protege Arts Initiative, Evaristo was invited to be the literature mentor for 2023-2024, and she chose the talented novelist, Ayesha Harruna Attah (from Ghana, based in Senegal) as her protege.


She visited the Zagreb International Festival of Literature in Croatia and also did some brief sightseeing.


Evaristo won the Writer Award at the inaugural Soho House Writers’ Awards at 180 Strand! The trophy was a Golden Picante replica, the Soho House signature cocktail.

She also visited Berlin and Hamburg in Germany and got to meet her German publishers Tropen Verlag for the first time along with her wonderful German translator,Tanja Handels, and the staff at She Said Books. Evaristo also did a Deutche Welle TV interview in Haus de Berliner Festspiel along with an on-stage interview with UK writer Sara Rahman for the International Literature Festival Berlin.

October

Evaristo’s latest A Point of View “Notions of Blackness” was published on BBC Sound. Along with that, her piece on literary London was published in the New York Times.

Evaristo was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts by London South Bank University at the Royal Festival Hall in October.

She threw a huge paperback launch party for her latest memoir Manifesto: On Never Giving Up. Go HERE for more details and photos.

She visited Obidos, Portugal to attend FOLIO, the Obidos International Literary Festival. Evaristo stayed in The Literary Man hotel just outside the city walls, home to 70,000 books that are everywhere you walk and look.

Evaristo interviewed Edward Enninful about his memoir A Visible Man at the  Manchester Literature Festival. She says of the memoir and the interview:

The memoir is fantastic and shows us what it took for him to become the most important person in fashion – Editor of British Vogue & European Editorial Director of Vogue – and in both roles revolutionising the representation of women. He was the best and loveliest interviewee – so warm, down-to-earth, straight-talking, funny and charismatic. The Royal Northern College of Music auditorium was packed and the audience hung on to his every word. It was a wonderful evening with a wonderful man.

Evaristo also visited Brussels, Belgium for an interview about Manifesto at Passa Porta, the International House of Literature in Brussels.

November

Evaristo visited Amsterdam and Utrecht at the beginning of the month and stayed at the Ambassade Hotel, a hotel with a “literary vibe.” She was interviewed by Tirsa With at the University of Utrecht, for their “One Book, One Campus” month. Girl, Woman, Other was the chosen book this year. She was also Interviewed by Ikenna Azuike at Paradiso for the Brainwash Festival.

Next up, Evaristo delivered the 49th annual Baggs Memorial Happiness Lecture in the magnificent Great Hall (built 1900) at the University of Birmingham.

Evaristo was interviewed by the Stylist Magazine and talks about some of the themes in Manifesto to the magazine editor Lisa Smosarski at the inspirational annual “Stylist Live” event. She says in her caption:

The audience was primarily female, and predominantly in their 20s and 30s, I think. I enjoyed talking about the success strategies I’ve developed in my life – the powerful positive thinking, single-minded drive, ambitious goal-setting, overcoming obstacles. I remember needing to hear this myself when I was younger, and to still hear it, actually, because we never stop developing as individuals, escpecially if we choose self-growth as a way of life. I know that my life story, especially breaking through as a writer after forty years in the arts, speaks to them – what does it take to keep going and growing?

Evaristo received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts and Letters awarded by the prestigious King’s College London and wore a graduation gown designed by Vivienne Westwood.

Evaristo then travelled to Iceland for the the Iceland Noir festival in Reykjavik, to which she was invited to as a guest of honor. She also visited the home of Halldor Laxness (1902-1998), author of Independent People and many other novels.

December has just begun, but we are sure Evaristo’s month will be filled with joyous moments and travel based on the rest of her year. Follow Evaristo on Instagram for more news!