Booker Prize winning author Bernardine Evaristo has announced that she will donate her entire £100,000 Women’s Prize Outstanding Contribution award to support emerging women writers of colour. The award, presented in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, was given to Evaristo in recognition of her transformative impact on literature and her unwavering dedication to amplifying underrepresented voices in the literary world.
Evaristo received the honour from the Women’s Prize Trust, with funding from Bukhman Philanthropies, in a moment that could have been purely about her personal achievements. Yet, rather than treating it as a personal milestone alone, she has chosen to turn it into an opportunity for others. Speaking on the decision, she described the award as “an unexpected blessing in my life” and said it felt only natural to invest it back into the community of women writers whose voices need to be heard. “It seems fitting that I spend this substantial sum supporting other women writers,” she explained, making it clear that her success is intertwined with the successes she can help inspire.
This gesture is entirely in keeping with Evaristo’s career, which has been defined not only by literary excellence but by a consistent and strategic activism for inclusion. From her early years, she was committed to creating spaces for underrepresented voices. In 1982, she co-founded Britain’s first Black women’s theatre company, a bold move at a time when the mainstream stage offered few opportunities for women of colour. She later went on to develop The Complete Works mentoring scheme, which nurtured Black and Asian poets in the United Kingdom. Over its ten year run, the initiative transformed the literary landscape, with the proportion of published poets of colour rising from under one percent to over ten percent.
Her efforts have never been limited to the UK alone. In 2012, Evaristo established the Brunel International African Poetry Prize, later renamed the Evaristo Prize for African Poetry, which brought global attention to emerging African poets. In 2024, she launched the RSL Scriptorium Awards, offering ten writers in need of dedicated creative space the opportunity to stay for a month in her own Kent cottage. She has also championed overlooked voices through her Black Britain: Writing Back series, republishing forgotten works by writers of colour and restoring them to the literary conversation.
Evaristo’s leadership extends into the highest levels of British literary institutions. She is the President of the Royal Society of Literature, the first person of colour and only the second woman to hold the role in the society’s more than two hundred year history. From this position, she has continued to push for systemic change and greater inclusion in the industry.
Speaking to The Guardian, Evaristo was clear about her mission: “I am here to open doors.” Her words reflect a lifetime shaped by her upbringing in working class, racially tense Woolwich, where she learned firsthand the challenges faced by those who are marginalized. For her, influence is a responsibility, and the platforms she has earned are to be used to make sure others can walk through doors that once seemed permanently closed.
While she has not yet revealed the precise details of how the £100,000 will be allocated, there is widespread anticipation within the literary community. Whether it becomes the foundation for a new mentorship scheme, a grant program, a writers’ retreat, or a combination of such efforts, it is certain that the funds will be guided by her principles of inclusivity, creativity, and empowerment.
Bernardine Evaristo’s decision is more than an act of generosity. It is a statement of values and a living example of what it means to create change from within. By redirecting her own recognition into opportunities for others, she reminds the world that the greatest measure of success is not simply what one achieves, but what one makes possible for others. As the literary world celebrates her remarkable achievement, it is clear that her most enduring legacy will be the doors she has opened and the paths she has illuminated for the writers yet to come.
