This year in the wake of the BLM protests around the world we have decided to run this year’s reading challenge with a focus on Black and minority writers and literature.

The event will have special guest, the Vice-Chancellor, who is a lifelong supporter of the challenge. The challenge itself will be introduced and there will be a discussion on Black history within literature.

The challenge invites participants to pick six reads and record, rate and review them in a personal reading diary within a six month period (January 2021 – June 2021).

After completing and returning your diary, participants are presented a certificate from the Vice-Chancellor and the first to complete is entered into a UNISON prize draw, held at the celebration event.

Black and Minority Writers List (for ideas)

1. A Feminist Manifesto in 15 Suggestions (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
2. The 392 (Ashley Hickson-Lovence)
3. Africa 39: New Writing From Africa South of the Sahara (Ellah Wakatama Allfrey)
4. Africa, Amazing Africa: Country by Country (Atinuke (Author), Mouni Feddag (Illustrator))
5. African Europeans: An Untold History (Olivette Otele)
6. Afropean: Notes From Black Europe (Johny Pitts)
7. All Boys Aren’t Blue (George M. Johnson)
8. All the Days Past, All the Days to Come (Mildred D. Taylor)
9. All the Things We Never Knew (Lista Tamani)
10. Americanah (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
11. And the Stars Were Burning Brightly (Danielle Jawando)
12. Andrea Levy: The Long Song
13. Assata: An Autobiography (Assata Shakur)
14. Astro Girl (Ken Wilson-Max)
15. B Is for Baby (Atinuke)
16. Back to Black: Retelling Black Radicalism for the 21st Century (Blackness in Britain)
17. (Kehinde Andrews)
18. Bad Love (Maame Blue)
19. Baller Boys (Venessa Taylor & Illustrated by Kenneth Ghann)
20. Becoming Dinah (Kit De Waal)
21. Belonging in Brixton: An Ethnography of Migrant West Indian Elders in Brixton,
22. London (Dr Audrey Allwood)
23. Ben Okri the Famished Road
24. Black and British: A Forgotten History (David Olusoga)
25. Black and British: A Short, Essential History (David Olusoga)
26. Black Boy: A Record of Youth and Childhood (Richard Wright)
27. Black Brother, Black Brother (Jewell Parker Rhodes)
28. The Black Flamingo (Dean Atta)
29. Black Girl Unlimited (Echo Brown)
30. The Black Jacobins
31. The Black Kids (Christina Hammonds Reed)
32. BLACK MARXISM the Making of the Black Radical Tradition (Cedric J. Robinson)
33. Black Panther: World of Wakanda (Roxane Gay)
34. Black Sunday (Tola Rotimi Abraham)
35. Black, Listed: Black British Culture Explored (Jeffrey Boakye)
36. The Book of Echoes (Rosanna Amaka)
37. Book of the Little Axe (Lauren Francis-Sharma)
38. Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
39. Brit(Ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging (Afua Hirsch)
40. Burgerz (Travis Alabanza)
41. Butter Honey Pig Bread (Francesca Ekwuyasi)
42. Cane Warriors (Alex Wheatle)
43. Character Breakdown (Zawe Ashton)
44. Chicken in the Kitchen (Nnedi Okorafor (Author), Mehrdokht Amini (Illustr)
45. Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Tome Adeyemi)
46. The City We Became (N K Jemisin)
47. Clap When You Land (Elizabeth Acevedo)
48. The Clapback: Your Guide to Calling Out Racist Stereotypes (Elijah Lawal)
49. Clean Getaway (Nic Stone)
50. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
51. The Colour of Madness Anthology: Exploring BAME Mental Health in the UK (Samara Linton)
52. Coming to England (Floella Benjamin (Illustrated by Diane Ewan))
53. The Confessions of Frannie Langton (Sara Collins)
54. Crossfire (Malorie Blackman)
55. The Daily Assortment of Astonishing Things: The Caine Prize for African Writing (Assorted)
56. Darling (Rachel Edwards)
57. Daughters of Niri (Reni K. Amayo)
58. The Death of Vivek Oji (Akwaeke Emezi)
59. Deathless Divide (Justina Ireland)
60. Different Strokes (Cecil Harris)
61. Diver’s Daughter: A Tudor Story (Patrice Lawrence)
62. Diversify: An Award-Winning Guide to Why Inclusion Is Better for Everyone (June Sarpong)
63. Don’t Touch My Hair (Emma Dabiri)
64. Dreaming in a Nightmare: Finding a Way Forward in a World That’s Holding You Back (Jeremiah Emmanuel)
65. Early Departures (Justin A. Reynolds)
66. Eight Pieces of Silva (Patrice Lawrence)
67. Empire Windrush: Fifty Years of Writing About Black Britain (Onyekachi Wambu)
68. Everything I Never Told You (Celeste Ng)
69. Familiar Stranger (Stuart Hall)
70. Fattily Ever After: Fat, Black Girl’s Guide to Living Life Unapologetically (Stephanie Yeboah)
71. Felix Ever After (Kacen Callender)
72. Feminism, Interrupted: Disrupting Power (Lola Olufemi)
73. The First Woman (Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi)
74. Freedom (Catherine Johnson)
75. From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation (Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor)
76. From Bobby to Babylon (Darcus Howe)
77. Ghost (Jason Reynolds)
78. The Gilded Ones (Namina Forna)
79. The Girl With the Louding Voice (Abi Daré)
80. Girl, Woman, Other (Bernardine Evaristo)
81. Girl: Essays on Black Womanhood (Kenya Hunt)
82. Given (Nandi Taylor)
83. Gloria (Kerry Young)
84. The God Child (Nana Oforiatta Ayim)
85. The Grassling Book (Elizabeth-Jane Burnett)
86. Grown (Tiffany D. Jackson)
87. Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law (Haben Girma)
88. The Half-God of Rainfall (Inua Ellams)
89. Harriet Tubman: A Journey to Freedom (Sandra Agard)
90. Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America (R. Eric Thomas)
91. Here to Stay, Here to Fight (Edited by Paul Field, Robin Bunce,Leila Howe Et Al)
92. Hitting a Straight Lick With a Crooked Stick: Stories (Zora Neale Hurston)
93. Hold (Michael Donkor)
94. Homecoming: Voices of the Windrush Generation (Colin Grant)
95. Hood Feminism (Mikki Kendall)
96. House of Music: Raising the Kanneh-Masons (Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason)
97. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (Walter Rodney)
98. I Am Not Your Baby Mother (Candice Brathwaite)
99. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou
100. I Will Not Be Erased: Our Stories About Growing Up as People of Colour (Gal-Dem)
101. If I Don’t Have You (Sareeta Domingo)
102. In Black and White: A Young Barrister’s Story of Race and Class in a Broken Justice
103. System (Alexandra Wilson)
104. In Dependence (Sarah Ladipo Manyika)
105. In the Palace of Flowers (Victoria Princewill)
106. In Search of Equilibrium (Theresa Lola)
107. The Infinite (Patience Agbabi)
108. Intimations (Zadie Smith)
109. It’s not about the Burqa (Mariam Khan)
110. Jupiter Jones (S I Martin)
111. Just Us (Claudia Rankine)
112. Kitch: A Fictional Biograhpy of a Calypso Icon (Anthony Joseph)
113. Lakewood (Megan Giddings)
114. Legendborn (Tracy Deonn)
115. The Long Song (Andrea Levy)
116. Little Fires Everywhere (Celeste Ng)
117. Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History (Vashti Harrison)
118. Look Up! (Nathan Byron)
119. Lote (Shola Von Reinhold)
120. Loud Black Girls: 20 Black Women Writers Ask: What’s Next? (Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené)
121. Love in Colour: Mythical Tales From Around the World, Retold (Bolu Babalola)
     Mayombe (Pepetela)
122. Me and White Supremacy (Layla Saad & Robin DiAngelo)
123. Memorial (Bryan Washington)
124. Mic Drop (Sharna Jackson)
125. The Mother (Yvvette Edwards)
126. Mother Country: Real Stories of the Windrush Children (Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff)
127. My Hair (Hannah Lee)
128. My Name Is Why (Lemn Sissay)
129. Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire (Akala)
130. New Daughters of Africa (Various Authors)
131. Not So Pure and Simple (Lamar Giles)
132. Now That I’ve Found You (Kristina Forest)
133. Nudibranch (Irenosen Okojie)
134. Oh My Gods (Alexandra Sheppard)
135. The Only Black Girls in Town (Brandy Colbert)
136. The Orchard of Lost Souls (Nadifa Mohamed)
137. Ordinary People (Diana Evans)
138. Out of Bounds: British Black & Asian Poets (Jackie Kay)
139. Out of Darkness, Shining Light (Pettina Gappah)
140. Pao (Kerry Young)
141. Parable of the Brown Girl (Khristi Lauren Adams)
142. Paradise by Toni Morrison
143. Petals of Blood (Ngugi Wa Thiong’o)
144. Poor (Caleb Femi)
145. The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney (Okechukwu Nzelu)
146. Punching the Air (Ibi Zoboi)
147. Queen of Freedom: Defending Jamaica (Catherine Johnson)
148. Queenie (Candice Carty-Williams)
149. Race to the Frozen North: The Matthew Henson Story (Catherine Johnson)
150. Rainbow Milk (Paul Mendez)
151. Real Life (Brandon Taylor)
152. Remembered (Yvonne Battle-Felton)
153. Remembrance (Rita Woods)
154. The Returnees (Elizabeth Okoh)
155. Riot Baby (Tochi Onyebuchi)
156. Rise Up: The #Merky Story So Far (Stormzy)
157. Safe: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space (Derek Owusu)
158. Saving Savannah (Tonya Bolden)
159. Sensuous Knowledge: A Black Feminist Approach for Everyone (Minna Salami)
160. The Shadow King (Maaza Mengiste)
161. Shame on Me (Tessa Mcwatt)
162. Show me a Mountain (Kerry Young)
163. Silver Sparrow
164. Small Island (Andrea Levy)
165. So You Want to Talk About Race (Ijeoma Oluo)
166. A Song Below Water (Bethany C. Morrow)
167. A Song of Wraiths and Ruin (Roseanne A. Brown)
168. Sounds Like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital (Lloyd Bradley)
169. The Space Between Black and White (Esuantsiwa Jane Goldsmith)
170. Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You (Jason Reynolds & Ibram X.Kendi)
171. A Story About Afiya (James Berry (Illustrated by Anna Cunha))
172. The Story of Windrush (K.M Chimbiri)
173. Such a Fun Age (Kiley Reid)
174. Sulwe (Lupita Nyong’o)
175. Surge (Joy Bernard)
176. Takes Is High: Life After the American Dream (Mychal Denzel Smith)
177. Taking Up Space: The Black Girl’s Manifesto for Change (Chelsea Kwakye)
178. Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth (Warsan Shire)
179. Teaching to Transgress (Bell Hooks)
180. Tell Me Your Secret (Dorothy Koomson)
181. The Terrible (Yrsa Daley-Ward)
182. Them and Us (Bali Rai)
183. That Reminds Me (Derek Owusu)
184. There Ain’t No Black in the Union Jack (Paul Gilroy)
185. These Ghosts Are Family (Maisy Card)
186. Think Like a White Man: Conquering the World . . . While Black (Whytelaw III, Dr Boulé)
187. This Book Is Anti-Racist (Tiffany Jewell)
188. This Is My America (Kim Johnson)
189. This Is What I Know About Art (Kimberly Drew)
190. This Lovely City (Louise Hare)
191. This Mournable Body (Tsitsi Dangarembga)
192. Through the Leopard’s Gaze (Njambi McGrath)
193. Transcendent Kingdom (Yaa Gyasi)
194. Tristan Strong Book 1: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (Kwame Mbalia)
195. The Undefeated (Kwame Alexander, Kadir Nelson (Illustrator))
196. Under Solomon Skies (Berni Sorga-Millwood)
197. The Underground Railroad (Colson Whitehead)
198. The Vanishing Half (Brit Bennett)
199. The Water Dancer (Ta-Nehisi Coates)
200. We Need New Stories: Challenging the Toxic Myths Behind Our Age of Discontent (Nesrine Malik)
201. We should all be Feminists (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
202. We Want Our Bodies Back (Jessica Care More)
203. When Life Gives You Mangos (Kereen Getten)
204. When You Were Everything (Ashley Woodfolk)
205. Who Am I, Again? (Lenny Henry)
206. Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race (Reni Eddo-Lodge)
207. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (Jung Chang)
208. Windrush (Mike Phillips)
209. Windrush Child (Benjamin Zephaniah)
210. Windrush Songs (James Berry)
211. Windrush: Portrait of a Generation (Jim Grover)
212. Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice (By Mahogany L. Browne and Illustrated by Theodore)
213. Wolf Light (Yaba Badoe)
214. Women, Race & Class (Angela Y. Davis)
215. Wonderful Adventures of Mrs.Seacole in Many Lands (Mary Seacole)
216. The Worst Best Man (Mia Sosa)
217. Wow, No Thank You (Samantha Irby)
218. You Should See Me in a Crown (Leah Johnson)
219. Young, Gifted and Black: Meet 52 Black Heroes From Past and Present (Jamia
220. Wilson & Andrea Pippins)
221. Your Silence Will Not Protect You (Audre Lorde)
222. Zombie XI: The Boy Who Got Sick of Warming the Bench (Pete Kalu)