Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Books

Derek Owusu's top 5 books by black British men

'Safe: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space' editor Derek Owusu gives us his rundown of the best reads by black British male authors

Kill The Black One First

by Michael Fuller

This provocatively titled memoir is one of a kind and offers up a perspective that is lacking in the current discourse surrounding race in Britain.

Prisoner To The Streets

by Robyn Travis

Travis is the voice of a generation whose adept use of language is without equal. Prisoner To The Streets is a book we need to put into the hands of so many young black boys in Britain.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Hold

by Michael Donkor

Michael Donkor is the freshest new voice in Black British literature, and Hold crosses borders and brings Ghanaian culture to life in Britain.

Think Like A White Man

by Boulé Whytelaw III, as told to Nelz Abbey

A satirical work of non-fiction in the same vein as The Sellout by Paul Beatty. I have no doubt this is the book to shake up 2019 the same way Renni Eddo Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race did in 2017.

Kumukanda

by Kayo Chingonyi

Chingonyi is the living writer who inspires and influences me the most. The texture and sincerity of his poems ensures that I always aim for honesty in mine.

Safe: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space, edited by Derek Owusu, is released on March 7

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

READER-SUPPORTED SINCE 1991

Reader-supported journalism that doesn’t just report problems, it helps solve them.

Recommended for you

View all
The Other Girl by Annie Ernaux review – grief's rippling effects
Books

The Other Girl by Annie Ernaux review – grief's rippling effects

Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood review – evoking our collective Covid brain fog
Books

Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood review – evoking our collective Covid brain fog

These inspiring women in history flew in the face of patriarchal norms
History

These inspiring women in history flew in the face of patriarchal norms

Top 5 literary dystopias, chosen by award-winning author Matt Greene
Books

Top 5 literary dystopias, chosen by award-winning author Matt Greene