#28 An overnight success, years in the making
On being unstoppable, rejecting convention, and creativity.
I’ve always had the impression Bernardine Evaristo is a badass woman. Don’t ask me why; I just knew it. I might as well rely on French this time around when I say she has that ‘je ne sais quoi’, that ‘quelque chose’ that gives her an edge; she’s charismatic, confident, and well, sexy. I realise the latter adjective might not be the first that comes to mind about a 62-year-old female novelist (God, I’m such an ageist – shame on me!), but the evening I got to see Evaristo on stage at Southbank Centre reading an extract from her first non-fiction book, “Manifesto: On Never Giving Up,” there was one thing that crossed my mind: This woman is unstoppable. The bright pink suit and her emblematic bandana also helped.
“Romantic love. Random sex. Hopeless crushes. Short-lived flings. Proper relationships. All of these experiences contributed to making me the person and writer I became.”
Evaristo has been vocal in the press about the nearly ten years of her life lived as a lesbian. Perhaps it wasn’t surprising then to commence her speech about TMD (The Mental Dominatrix), the woman twice her age with whom she was in a toxic, controlling relationship for a big part of the 80s. But it’s more than being open about one’s identity and sexuality; that decade was Evaristo’s time of exploration spent as a “black womanist,” attending lesbian walks, being inspired by – and experimenting writing – poetry, and discovering a true love of the arts. She co-founded Britain’s first black theatre company, and it was around this time when she developed her political voice and highlighted the lack of black women in arts and beyond.
“I am addicted to the adventure of storytelling as my most powerful means of communication.”
Growing up as a mixed-race woman, with a British-Nigerian father (“of the brown immigrant class”) and a British, Catholic mother (whose “education and profession were considered middle class, even though her parents were working class”), Evaristo depicts the the complexities of Britain’s class system and notices how it changes when you bring gender, race, and culture into the mix. Her need to be understood, to belong, and to express herself, have brought her closer to writing – poetry, prose, or a blend of the two (she calls “Girl, Woman, Other” fusion fiction). Evaristo’s first book, a collection entitled “Island of Abraham”, was published in 1994 by a small publishing house and got little notice. Her big break didn’t come until 2001 when “The Emperor’s Babe” was published by Hamish Hamilton, an imprint of Penguin. Even then, she wasn’t widely known. Not as much as she is known today, after her Booker prize victory: Bernardine Evaristo – a poet, bestselling novelist, activist, professor, editor, and judge of literary prizes.
“When I won the Booker Prize in 2019 for my novel ‘Girl, Woman, Other,’ I became an ‘overnight success’ – after forty years working professionally in the arts.”
At Southbank Centre, Evaristo speaks about how her whole life was about rejecting convention, rebelling against the mainstream, and finding herself. Of course, it’s never been easy: she failed two of her A-levels and didn’t receive any advance money for her first two books. In her early days as a writer, Evaristo used to print flyers about her poetry and walk around bookshops in the hope more people will read her work. She would write, rewrite, and rewrite again, playing with language and form, sometimes for years. It would also happen to throw her manuscripts in the bin and start over. Becoming a full-time writer meant taking a leap of faith and give up on an office job to focus on what brings her joy the most.
“I moved five times in my forties, twice in my fifties, finally and quite joyfully bonding myself to a mortgage at the age of fifty-five, nearly forty years after I’d left my family home. […] My living situations and conditions, and my decisions around earning money, had been a commitment to my creativity. Writing became a room of my own; writing became my permanent home.”
Evaristo always dreamed big, although she would keep her dreams for herself so not to be discouraged or ridiculed. She knew her time would come eventually, and it did come. Winning the Booker was on her bucket list, it turns out.
“Manifesto” is part memoir, part a manual on perseverance and following your dreams. As cheesy as it sounds, Evaristo knew where she deserves to be and didn’t hold back (she even took personal development courses – slightly judging her for this, but okay).
When asked what’s her proudest achievement, Evaristo takes a moment to reflect and then she cracks a smile, saying proudly: “Writing all the books I’ve written.”
Riiight. Enough with the pep talk. Let’s get to this week’s news: We’ve got Sally Rooney (yes, again!), Dave Grohl, Adele, Squid Game, and more.
Until next Friday…
Happy reading, happy learning,
Teodora x
Are you reading this on Substack or have you been forwarded this email? Sign up and don’t miss out on any issue! 👇
🥁 📚 The latest in the literary world
I was quiet about Sally Rooney for about two weeks and, honestly, I was hoping it’d take longer. 🙄 Rooney’s back in the news after she refused to have her latest novel, “Beautiful World, Where Are You”, translated into Hebrew due to her stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict. “I simply do not feel it would be right for me under the present circumstances to accept a new contract with an Israeli company that does not publicly distance itself from apartheid and support the UN-stipulated rights of the Palestinian people,” said Rooney in a statement. 🤔
The 2021 T.S. Eliot Prize shortlist for poetry has been announced and boy, it must have been a tough one for the judges! 177 poetry collections were submitted and only ten made the cut – ten books that “sound clear and compelling voices of the moment.” We’ll know the winner on January, 10 when he/she/they will receive a £25,000 cheque. 💰
Congratulations to Dave Grohl for his memoir “The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music” that just rocked its way straight into the New York Times Bestseller list as number one in the first week on sale. 👏 The same success for the Foo Fighters/ Nirvana legend on the British book market, Grohl becoming the first musician to swipe the UK top spot since Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” in 2016! 🤩 Sorry, Osman, but it was about bloody time! BONUS: 12 things to take away from Dave Grohl’s memoir via Rolling Stone (+ Foo Fighters’ new cover story in the same magazine). 🎸
Another memoir on the horizon, this time from the youngest ever female investor to appear on BBC 1’s Den Dragons’ Den (and one of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing stars) Sara Davies! 💃 “We Can All Make It: My Story” will be published by Transworld Digital, a Penguin Random House imprint, in April 2022, and will tell Davies’ story from running a business from her student bedroom to becoming one of Britain's biggest business names. 🤩
A man read all 27,000 comic books that Marvel published between 1961 and today (aka “the longest continuous, self-contained work of fiction ever created: over half a million pages to date and growing”). The result is “All of the Marvels” and the Marvel formula for a successful comic book (monsters + romance + superheroes + topicality). 🦸 Personally, I could have told you this evident truth without reading 27,000 comic books, but hey, let’s cut this man some slack. Plus, the New York Times reviewer found the book “magnificently marvellous.” And the cover is decent. All in all, Teodora, stop being so cynical, will you? 🙈
🎧 📰 👀 My media diet this week
Adele season is here! 🙌 Until her new album, ‘30’, drops in November, here’s an interview with her in Vogue, the first one in five years. 😱 Why read it? The artist opens up about her divorce, body image, and her new ‘self-redemption’ record. Also, Adele’s life summed up in her own words: “I was drunk as a fart on 21; I really don’t remember much, I just remember being really sad. On 25, I was obviously sober as anything, because I was a new mum. That one, I was sort of more in tune with what I thought people might want or not want. With this one, I made the very conscious decision to be like, for the first time in my life, actually, ‘What do I want?’” 🤔
Everybody’s eating like it’s the 90s again. Why read this? This is a quick and light read on the history of food in the 90s. Apparently espresso martinis, pesto, and sun-dried tomatoes have made a “comeback”. 🍸 ☕ 🍅 Really? It’s got to do with the Italian cuisine boom and… TikTok. *sigh* 🙄
I finally watched Netflix’s “Squid Game” and for a week I’ve been reading a lot about the series that’s poised to become (or has become in the meantime?) the most-watched show in the streamer’s history. The point about the sloppy subtitles got to me, as I’m a big fan of watching foreign films/series in their original language and recognising the art of preserving nuances and meaning. (I used to volunteer as a subtitler at a film festival years ago. Retrospectively, I was probably useless.) “Have you tried dubbed films?” Glad you asked. Watching dubbed films is grounds for a break-up to me. My boyfriend stopped trying after I almost compromised for half an episode of Money Heist. Call me stubborn or unflexible, but dubbed films should be banned. 🛑 Therefore, please, let’s make subtitles better. 🙏 BONUS: The TikTok that went viral and sparked a debate on the inconsistencies and errors in Squid Game’s subtitles.
📌 Random news in brief
Before you order your iPhone 13 Pro Max whatever, Nokia ‘brick’ 6310 is back! It’s got Snake and a 22-day life battery! 🐍 Beat that, Apple! 🍎
Every time I try to convince myself London is not thaaaaat expensive: A car parking space opposite Harrods is up for sale at £250,000. 🚘 💸
Am I finally in fashion?! Extravagant eye bags have become this year’s “hottest look.” (Blame TikTok.) 💁♀️ 🙄
Before we say goodbye… 🥺
If you liked this issue of the newsletter, please click on the 💜 button, so I know I’m doing a good job. There’s always the option to leave a comment with your feedback. I promise I’ll always reply!
💡 Knowledge is no power. Sharing it, that’s power. Why not post about this on social media or forward this email to a pal?