BOOKS


football and discussions about how a collective Black influence has shaped the modern game.


Forthcoming titles Black Authors’ Preview


Jessica Jones Own It: How to Build Confidence, Completely Love Yourself and Embrace Your Body Welbeck, Feb 2022, £11.45, 9781789562864 Motivational comedian Jess Jones—a.k.a. the Fat Funny One—is bringing her engaging and funny views on body confidence to her new book Own It. Through her story, tailored advice and practical exer- cises, she intends to teach a generation of women to “wholeheartedly love themselves”.


Guilaine Kinouani Living While Black: The Guide to Overcoming Racial Trauma Ebury, 3rd June, £12.99, 9781529109436 Radical psychologist and anti-racist educator Kinouani explores the diverse experiences of Black people around the world and uses case studies to offer guidance on how to practise true self-care, set boundaries, process microagressions, navigate the dating world, and more.


Kazvare Knox Stay Woke, Kids Canongate , 16th Sep, £9.99, 9781838853556 Illustrator Knox’s collec- tion of limericks tackles issues of race and toxic masculinity in a “delight- fully caustic and refresh- ing book” alongside her bold and colourful illustrations.


Giselle La-Pompe Moore Take it In Ebury, March 2022, £14.99, 9781846047077 Spiritual guide and teacher La-Pompe Moore reveals how we can reset our mindset by embracing everyday spirituality to nurture the life we can see for ourselves. Manifesting the current trend in the Mind, Body and Spirit space, this is sure to be a hit.


50 9th April 2021


Nice Leng’ete The Girls in the Wild Fig Tree Headline, 14th Sep, £16.99, 9781472275802 Activist Leng’ete, one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in 2018, tells the story of how she ran away from home multiple times to avoid being subjected to female genital mutila- tion (FGM), and how she has since has helped more than 16,000 people avoid FGM in Kenya and Tanzania.


Vanessa Nakate A Bigger Picture Pan Mac, 2nd Nov, £16.02, 9780358654506 “We are on the front line but we are not on the front page,” says Nakate, who was cropped out of a photograph she was in featuring Greta Thunberg and three other white activists by the Associated Press. Her book traces the links between the climate crisis and anti-racism, as well as telling her own personal story.


Leroy Logan Closing Ranks: My Life as a Cop SPCK,17th Sep, £14.99, 9780281083466 The true story behind Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe: Red White and Blue” (Logan was portrayed by John Boyega), Logan’s autobiography gives a behind-the-scenes look at the workings of the Met police.


Elizabeth Ogabi Side Hustle in Progress HarperNonfiction, 24th June, £10.99, 9780008455002 In our modern, increas- ingly remote world, a lot of us have, or are keen to develop, a side-hustle to fulfil our dreams of world domination and universal prestige. Ogabi’s “practical and prescrip- tive” handbook combines inspiration, advice and ideas to help readers feel empowered and excited about their business ideas.


Natalie Morris Mixed/Other Trapeze, 15th April, £16.99, 9781409197140 Building on her astute column in Metro comes Morris’ exploration of what it means to be mixed-race in the UK today. As mixed-race people are the fastest- growing ethnic group, and with the birth of the first interracial royal child, it’s high time that mixed-race issues—including “black- fishing” and fetishisation— are explored.


Dambisa Moyo How Boards Work Little, Brown,6th May, £25, 9780349128412 As a prize-winning econo- mist and veteran board director, Moyo offers her unique insight into the work of corporate boards and why their work is so important in society.


Florence Olajide Coconut: A Memoir of Belonging, Identity and Finding Home Thread, 25th May, £8.99, 9781909770652 A generation of Nigerian children were born in Britain in the 1950s and ’60s, privately fostered by white families, then taken to Nigeria by their parents. In Coconut—named for the racial slur used to describe people thought to have denied their Black heritage in favour of a white one— Olajide recounts her story of loss and loneliness.


Hodder, 28th Oct, £16.99, 9781529341935 Part memoir, part “disruptive” polemic, this as-yet-untitled book from spoken-word artist and social commenta- tor George the Poet is being compared to Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer…, Akala’s Natives and Jay-Z’s Decoded.


Billy Porter Unprotected: A Memoir Abrams Press, 14th October, £20.36, 9781419746192 Unprotected is the revealing autobiography about race, sexuality and art, from the incompa- rable star of “Pose” and Broadway’s “Kinky Boots”.


Questlove Music is History Abrams Image, 28th Oct, £21.84, 978 1419751431 From drummer and DJ Questlove comes an around-the-world-in- 500-songs masterclass in music. Music is History takes an in-depth look into the 500 most influ- ential songs that have changed not just popular music, but the world.


Editor’s Choice


David Harewood


Maybe I Don’t Belong Here... Pan Mac, 2nd September, £20, 9781529064131


When he was 23, Harewood suffered a psychotic breakdown and ended up being physically detained by police, sedated, hospitalised and sectioned. While making his documentary about his experience “Psychosis & Me”, Harewood came to understand how race and racism play a huge part in the mental health treatment of Black and other people of colour. Investigating the shocking but not surprising statistics around mental health in the UK and how the numbers are stacked against Black people, this is an impor- tant and powerful read.


Tolani Shoneye, Audrey Indome & Milena Sanchez Keep the Receipts Headline, 8th July, £16.99, 9781472282576 The women behind the huge “Receipts” podcasts are bringing us a “hilari- ous and audacious” book in which they get “super honest” about their life experience and lessons.


Chloe Pierre Take Care Headline, January 2022, 16.99, 978 1472286000 Pierre, the founder of thy.self, a brand pushing to make self-care more inclusive, is inspiring Black women to take time to care for themselves in this handbook; it centres on their wellness and mental health.


George the Poet Untitled


Nova Reid The Good Ally HQ, 2nd Sep, £16.99, 9780008439484 Full of “punch, humour and hope”, The Good Ally is a book on how to become a better ally, for those who want to expand their knowledge and understanding of systemic racism.


June Sarpong


The Only One in the Room HQ, May 2022, £20, 9780008412371 Broadcaster and activ- ist Sarpong’s memoir takes us from her early


childhood in Ghana to her experiences as a Black woman forging a career in the media, where she was often the only Black person in the room. A till-point version of her polemic Diversify: The Power of Women is also coming this May.


Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah The Sex Lives of African Women Dialogue, 22nd July, £18.99, 9780349701653 Sekyiamah is the co-founder of a blog launched to help provide a space for African women to discuss sex and sexual- ity. In the vein of Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women, Sekyiamah’s book tells the stories of individual women from across Africa and its diaspora as they speak of their diverse experiences of sex, sexu- alities and relationships.


Clint Smith How the Word is Passed Dialogue,1st June, £20, 978-0349701172 How the Word is Passed sees Smith visit seven places that were built by enslaved people. By revealing how slavery


is hidden in plain sight, Smith shows us how the history of slavery is not only relevant, but still alive today.


Raphael & Opeyemi Sofoluke Twice as Hard DK, 3rd June, £16.99, 9780241501030 A book about what it means to be Black in the working world, with practical steps on how to overcome prejudice to find success, Twice as Hard is an exploration of Black identity in the workplace by husband- and-wife team Raphael and Opeyemi Sofoluke.


Paula Sutton


Hill House Living: The Art of Creating a Joyful Life Ebury, 14th October, £22, 9781529109658 Sutton is “our care-free Black auntie”, living her best life in the English countryside. Referred to as “the queen of cottagecore”, she has packed Hill House Living full of creative tips on how to upcycle, create a unique style and cosy home, and find joy in the little things.


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