The poet laureate of Scotland and the author of The Vanishing Half talk about featuring on ‘black reading lists’, the fear of wasting time and that tricky second novel
During the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement this summer, books written by black authors were suddenly on everyone’s wishlists and timelines. They climbed to the top of the bestsellers charts and were picked up by avid anti-racists and clueless Instagram influencers alike. They were also left on the shelves by those who ordered them in a blinding flash of white guilt and didn’t bother to read them. Google “black authors 2020” and you’ll get dozens of reading lists. On many, you’ll see Brit Bennett’s novel, The Vanishing Half, published in June. And on others, you’ll find the work of Jackie Kay, the Scots Makar (Scotland’s poet laureate).
Bennett’s second novel, which I read in the throes of a lonely summer, did not resonate for me just because it focuses on the complexities of race; nor did Jackie Kay’s book Strawgirl, published in 2002, become one of my favourite childhood books purely because it featured a Nigerian-Scottish protagonist whose racial identity I could relate to. Instead, both these books resonated because their authors are warm storytellers with a rich interest in how and why people move through the world. These are writers full of ideas and heart, who will make you care as deeply about their characters as they do, whether a grizzled man injured up a Scottish mountain, or a scared American housewife baking a lopsided cake.
