Celebrated British author Bernardine Evaristo has received a unique honour in the form of the Women’s Prize Trust Outstanding Contribution Award, a one-off accolade announced ahead of the annual Women’s Prize Trust summer gathering in London. Evaristo’s win recognises not just her literary achievements, but also decades spent advocating for the voices of those who often go unheard in literature, particularly people from underrepresented backgrounds.
The Women’s Prize Trust, famously known for the Women’s Prize for Fiction which has been spotlighting outstanding female writers since its founding in 1996, selected Evaristo as the inaugural – and currently only – recipient of this special title. It comes as the organisation marks the 30th anniversary of its fiction prize, using the occasion to honour an individual whose work has been transformative both on and off the page.
Evaristo, age 66, is perhaps best known for sharing the 2019 Booker Prize for her novel “Girl, Woman, Other,” a book hailed for its deep exploration of identity, race, and society in contemporary Britain. This new recognition will see her presented with both the award and a substantial financial prize of £100,000 during a ceremony scheduled for 12 June.
Expressing her response to the announcement, Evaristo said, “I am completely overwhelmed and overjoyed to receive this unique award.” She went on to highlight her longstanding admiration for the Women’s Prize Trust, saying, “Over the last three decades I have witnessed with great respect how the Women’s Prize for Fiction has so bravely and brilliantly championed and developed women’s writing from an inclusive stance.” Evaristo shared that she intends to reinvest her award winnings to create opportunities for other women writers, promising further details in the coming months.
This year’s summer event will also see formal commendations offered to the most recent winners of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Non-Fiction category, which last year were awarded to V V Ganeshananthan and Naomi Klein, respectively. Evaristo will be recognised alongside them, underscoring her ongoing influence in literary circles both in the UK and internationally.
The eligibility criteria for receiving this outstanding contribution accolade required candidates to have been either longlisted or victorious in the Women’s Prize for Fiction at any time over the past 30 years, and to have published a minimum of five books over their careers. The selection was made by a judging panel led by author and Women’s Prize founder Kate Mosse, who explained the difficulty in choosing from a field of “exceptional contemporary writers.”
Speaking about Evaristo’s win, Mosse described her works as “beautiful, ambitious and inventive,” remarking on the broad artistic range evident in her plays, poetry, essays, monologues, and memoir, as well as her award-winning fiction. Mosse added, “Books encourage empathy, they offer alternative and diverse points of view; they help us to stand in other people’s shoes and to see our own worlds in the mirror. We felt that Bernardine Evaristo’s dazzling skill and courage to take risks made her the ideal recipient.”
Throughout her prolific four-decade career, Evaristo – who was born in Woolwich, south London, and is of Anglo-Nigerian heritage – has persistently drawn attention to the experiences of modern British women and the stories of those within the African diaspora. Beyond her writing, she is lauded for launching mentorship and support schemes tailored for marginalised writers, notably the Complete Works mentoring scheme for poets, which has nurtured new talent across the UK.
Her storytelling has crossed mediums, with several books including “The Emperor’s Babe” and “Hello Mum” adapted for BBC Radio 4 plays, reaching fresh audiences. Evaristo’s novel “Mr Loverman,” exploring complex relationships and identity, has recently been reimagined as an eight-part BBC drama starring Lennie James and Ariyon Bakare — both actors receiving BAFTA awards in May for their performances.
As the Women’s Prize Trust commemorates three decades championing diversity and excellence in literature, Evaristo’s recognition resonates as a testament to the progress made and the work still to be done. Both her creative output and her steadfast commitment to inclusion ensure her contributions will continue to inspire generations of storytellers and readers alike.