Books to read for Black History Month

On October 27 to 28 the Black British Book Festival is coming back to Southbank for its third year as ‘Europe’s largest celebration of Black literature’.

There will be a public reading from Little Mix star, Leigh-Anne Pinnock for her yet-to-be published book Believe and many other events such as a Black book marketplace, workshops and masterclasses.

Here we round up books to read during Black History Month.

Believe by Leigh-Anne Pinnock

“I found my power when I realized it was within me, within my skin and within my soul” – Believe

An empowering story about the dark side of being in one of the country’s biggest girl bands. Pinnock’s memoir addresses the challenges she faced as a Black woman in the entertainment industry and how she got through them. Coming out on 26 October.

Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih

This novel is a powerful and evocative examination of colonisation and the impact it had on African societies. Published in 1966, it tells the story of a man who lived in London, after the First World War where he was seen and treated differently and how this leads him to take revenge.

Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga

A revised copy of the already popular book with an added chapter where David Olusoga covers the Black Lives Matter protests and the Windrush scandal. The book starts all the way back in Roman Britain. Olusoga describes how the lives of Black and white Britons have been entwined for centuries

White Teeth by Zadie Smith

Described as a groundbreaking novel of a vibrant multicultural London, across three generations.

It’s a classic piece of fiction that deals with friendships as well as war and is loved by critics and its readers. It is a funny must read about how the past can come back and bite you.

The Trees by Percival Everett

A contemporary fiction novel where an investigation of recent murders in a small town in Mississippi are thought to connect to a murder that happened years before, leading them to expose a buried history. In it Everett takes direct aim at racism and police violence.