Gloria Naylor Author

Gloria Naylor (1950-2016) was born in New York City. She received her B.A. in English from Brooklyn College and her M.A. in Afro-American studies from Yale. Her books include The Women of Brewster Place, which won both the American Book Award and the National Book Award for first novel and was also adapted into a film by Oprah Winfrey; Linden Hills; Mama Day; Bailey's Cafe and The Men of Brewster Place. She taught writing and literature at George Washington University, New York University, Boston University, and Cornell University. Irenosen Okojie is a Nigerian British writer. Her debut novel Butterfly Fish won a Betty Trask award and was shortlisted for an Edinburgh International First Book Award. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, the Observer, the Guardian, the BBC and the Huffington Post amongst other publications. Her short story collection Speak Gigantular was shortlisted for the Edgehill Short Story Prize, the Jhalak Prize, the Saboteur Awards and nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award. Nudibranch, her second collection was longlisted for the Jhalak Prize, the story Grace Jones won the 2020 AKO Caine Prize. A fellow and Vice Chair of The Royal Society of Literature, she is the co-presenter of the BBC's Novels That Shaped Our World podcast, Turn Up For The Books. She was awarded an MBE For Services to Literature in 2021.