First black woman to win Booker prize Bernadine Evaristo reveals she struggled with racial identity as a child and would cross the road to avoid being seen with her ‘very dark-skinned’ father

• Bernadine Evaristo has revealed that she struggled with racial identity as a child 
• She grew up in Woolwich, southeast London during the 60s and 70s 
• ‘There was nothing around us to tell us that being a person of colour was a good thing ,’ she recalled during an interview on Desert Island Discs 

By SOPHIE TANNO FOR MAILONLINE via https://www.dailymail.co.uk/

The first black woman to win a Booker prize, Bernadine Evaristo, has revealed that she struggled with racial identity as a child. 

Evaristo recalled how growing up in the 60s and 70s she would deliberately cross the road to avoid being seen with her ‘very dark-skinned’ father because she ‘didn’t want to be associated with him’. 

The acclaimed author, 61, grew up in Woolwich, southeast London and was the daughter of a white English teacher and a Nigerian welder. 

Speaking on today’s Desert Island Discs on Radio 4, Evaristo recalled: ‘I remember…

Read More: First black woman to win Booker prize Bernadine Evaristo reveals she struggled with racial identity as a child and would cross the road to avoid being seen with her ‘very dark-skinned’ father