Lois Cudjoe - Editorial Expert

In Outsiders: The Outside is Yours, Ollie Olanipekun and Nadeem Perera examine how racialised marginalisation has kept people of colour isolated from nature. They look at why outdoor industries are lacking in diverse racial representation and dispel the heavily internalised myth, within some ethnic communities, that these spaces are only for white people. They candidly address the ways in which people of colour have been coerced by the demands of capitalism to remain in concrete, urbanised parts of Britain, removed from the transformative and healing benefits that nature brings. It’s for this reason that the authors urge readers ... View Full Review

Accompanied by a four-part BBC documentary that aired in 2016, Black and British seeks to reorient our view of Black British history towards a more global perspective. Currently, Black history is still heavily marginalised, sidelined and diminished as some niche historical category that only concerns Black people and has no interconnected global significance to other more prominent periods of time. For example, during the first American Revolution of the late 18th century, countless African slaves fought on the side of the British to quell rebellions that were arising in the colonies, a fact that has been wholly removed from record. It&... View Full Review

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is a biographical-style novel about the riotous rise to fame of a misfit, interracial, punk duo. Over 40 years on and Opal & Nev are performing a reunion concert at Derringdo Festival, giving respected editor of Aural magazine, Sunny Shelton, the opportunity to write a book recounting their controversial story, a story to which she is tragically linked. Walton’s documentary-esque novel is an alternate take on 70s era music as we know it but with Opal & Nev as part of the same canon as such artists as Mick Jagger and David ... View Full Review

Glory is an irreverent, political satire novel, set in a fictitious Zimbabwe called Jidada, where animals are governed by a corrupt dictator, an Old Horse who fought for the country’s independence during the Liberation War of colonial times and whose rulership is so uncontested that he can even command the sun. But when a military coup ousts him from office, the ‘mals’ of Jidada wonder if it finally means an end to the oppressive regime of the Party of Power. Will the Opposition pave a new way forward to freedom or will the ‘mals’ ... View Full Review

After Salahuddin’s mother, Misbah, becomes severely ill, her tragic death leaves Salahuddin to take sole charge of the Cloud’s Rest Inn motel she worked so hard to build, whilst caring for his alcoholic father, even if by criminal means. Meanwhile Noor dreams of escaping Juniper, hoping to get into college so she can be free of her abusive, self-hating uncle who resents and berates her for embracing her Pakistani heritage. More than just the framing of anguish and trauma, All My Rage is also a story of promise, of channeling rage and injustice into overcoming adversity ... View Full Review

Set in modern-day New York, Detransition, Baby is a detailed portrayal of the multiplicity of motherhood and queer relationships, analysed through the lens of three trans and cis women. It's about the messiness and scope of gender identity in a gender limiting world, the complexity of trans modes of being, as it explores the murky depths of taboo and humanity. I loved how intricate and mentally stimulating this novel was. It’s use of description and symbolism added a cogent layer of profundity to the story. Such as the way it expounds upon Reese’s “Sex in ... View Full Review

Disorientation reads like a tongue-in-cheek satire novel, but behind the sardonic façade exists a complex web of meaningful commentary. Think Don't Look Up but in a literary setting with much more Asian American representation and a less dire ending. Chou is very intentional with her writing. It's hard not to be drawn in by the eloquent way in which she writes about literature and poetry from the initial pages. I was immediately transfixed. But once the scandal breaks out, Chou's writing takes on a sharpness that almost mimics the tumult of the plot. The prose becomes interspersed with ... View Full Review

After reading the glowing masterpiece that was Love In Colour, a short story collection and Babalola's debut, I was struck by the lush prose and deeply emotive voice, so of course I was excited to read her latest release; Honey & Spice. This young and vibing novel is a summery, feel-good celebration of Blackness, Africanness and love. Babalola's writing exudes rich, flavoursome romance. I was so obsessed with her tasteful descriptions and the current feel of the story that I didn't mind having what felt like a plethora of archetypal romance clichés being thrown at me right until ... View Full Review