Yvvette Edwards

FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

is a British novelist born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, of Caribbean heritage. Her first novel, ''A Cupboard Full of Coats'', was published in 2011 to much acclaim and prize nominations that included the

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

longlist and the

Commonwealth Book Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

shortlist. Edwards followed this debut work five years later with ''The Mother'' (2016), a novel that "reinforces her accomplishment". She is a contributor to the 2019 anthology ''

New Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, ...

'', edited by

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Let' ...

."Racially profiled in the deodorant aisle"
''

Electric Literature ''Electric Literature'' is an independent publisher founded by Andy Hunter and Scott Lindenbaum in 2009 as a quarterly journal. It launched the first fiction magazine on the iPhone and iPad. The print version of the journal is produced via print ...

'', Issue 367, 29 May 2019.

Biography

Of Caribbean parentage, Yvvette Edwards was born in

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

, north London, and was brought up by her mother, who had migrated to Britain as a child from

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with r ...

. Edwards attended school in Hackney, east London, where she still lives with her family. Her first novel, ''A Cupboard Full of Coats'', was published in 2011 by

Oneworld Publications Oneworld Publications is a British independent publishing firm founded in 1986 by Novin Doostdar and Juliet Mabey originally to publish accessible non-fiction by experts and academics for the general market.

and received many accolades, among them being named a ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' "2011 Best of Fiction" choice, being longlisted for the 2011

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

, shortlisted for the Writers' Guild Awards 2011, shortlisted for the

Waverton Good Read Award The Waverton Good Read Award was founded in 2003 by villagers in Waverton, Cheshire, Waverton, Chester, England, and is based on ''Le Prix de la Cadière d'Azur'', a literary prize awarded by a Provence, Provençal village. Adult debut novels writ ...

2011, shortlisted for the

in 2012, nominated for the 44th NAACP Image Awards in January 2013, nominated for the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

2013, and nominated for the

Hurston-Wright Legacy Award The Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards program honors Black writers in the United States and around the globe for literary achievement. Introduced in 2001, the Legacy Award was the first national award presented to Black writers by a national organizatio ...

2013. It was described by ''

'' as "An impressive debut, particularly notable for its pellucid prose."

Jonathan Barnes Jonathan Barnes, British Academy, FBA (born 26 December 1942 in Wenlock, Shropshire) is an English scholar of Aristotelianism, Aristotelian and ancient philosophy. Education and career He was educated at the City of London School and Balliol Co ...

wrote of it in ''

The Literary Review ''The Literary Review'' is an American literary magazine founded in 1957. The biannual magazine is published internationally by Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, New Jersey. In addition to the publication of short stories, poems, and ...

'': "Rich in emotion but resolutely unsentimental, the story is unspooled with judgement and skill. Information is released at an almost ideal pace and secrets are withheld until the last possible moment. Edwards’s clear, colloquial prose is full of quietly impressive phrase-making. ... The performance is a wholly satisfying one and the novel’s valedictory suggestions of redemption feel earned, solid and real." Edwards' second book, ''The Mother'', published in 2016, received a nomination in the 48th NAACP Image Awards in the category "Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction", and was also a nominee for the

in 2017. Highly recommending the novel, which "delves into the timely issue of violence against and between young black men—both its possible causes, and its heartrending effects on the families involved", ''BookPage'' stated that "Edwards perceptively explores a wide realm of issues ... with compassion for her characters and with intuitive understanding of the effects of loss on a family". '' Paste'' magazine described it as "a powerful work that illuminates the web of ramifications spun from a personal tragedy", and

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

commented on the author's "masterful storytelling". The ''New York Journal of Books'' described it as "a clear-eyed, unsentimental novel about modern city life and the challenges parents face", and concluded: "''The Mother'' is another hit-the-ball-out-of-the-park novel by a writer to watch. Yvvette Edwards should be proud of her work." Her short story "Security" is included in the anthology ''

'' (ed.

, 2019). Edwards was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

in November 2020.

Bibliography

* ''A Cupboard Full of Coats'', UK:

2011
. **US: HarperCollins/Amistad
2016
* ''The Mother'', UK:

Pan Macmillan Pan Books is a publishing imprint (trade name), imprint that first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the United Kingdom, British-based Macmillan Publishers, owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group of Germany. Pan Books b ...

2016
. **US: HarperCollins/Amistad
2016

Awards and nominations

; ''A Cupboard Full of Coats'': * 2011: A ''

'' Best Book of the Year * 2011:

Booker Prize for Fiction The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

shortlist * 2011:

shortlist * 2011: Writers’ Guild Awards shortlist * 2012:

shortlist * 2013: 44th NAACP Image Awards nomination * 2013:

nomination ; ''The Mother'': * 2016: 48th NAACP Image Awards nomination * 2017:

nomination

References

External links

Official website.

Yvvette Edwards page
Eve White Literary Agent. * Norwich Showcase
"Yvvette Edwards reads at Norwich Showcase '12"
NCWonline, 20 March 2012.
"Yvvette Edwards discusses A Cupboard Full of Coats"
Oneworld Publications. 16 September 2011. * Sally Campbell
"Q & A: Yvvette Edwards"
Waterstones blog, 10 April 2016.

Greenacre Writers, 8 June 2016. * Donna Bailey Nurse
"Yvvette Edwards On The Mother"
''Blackiris'', 15 July 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Yvvette Living people 21st-century British novelists 21st-century British women writers Black British women writers British women novelists English people of Montserratian descent Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Writers from London Year of birth missing (living people)