The mythical Black British Crime Writer
The mythical Black British Crime Writer
Not a unicorn
October in the United Kingdom is Black History Month. Unlike the United States, who celebrate Black History Month in February, we get an entire 31 days to celebrate everything Black, which in a nutshell means our Caribbean and African roots, literature, music, sports, food, well you get the gist.
I can’t say that I spent the previous nine months anxiously waiting for Black History Month and then broke into joy on the 1st October. I hesitate to say that I’m cynical about the occasion but I would say that I’m very pragmatic about the dedication of an entire month to Black History. I’m Black (Grenadian, or British Grenadian which seems to be new trend, to be precise), 365 days of the year. My Blackness will not disappear into the void once the clock strikes midnight on Friday 1 November 2024. What is considered, Black literature, music, culture etc shouldn’t just be ‘celebrated’ once a year. We’re constantly told the UK is a multicultural country and that we’re part of the fabric of society. If that’s true, then there should be more of an effort to ensure that Black culture is always seen every day, which brings me on to the true point of my newsletter today.
Today, Monday 28 October 2024 at 7pm (gmt), I’ll be live on my YouTube channel (nadinemathesonauthor) and on Facebook (nadinemathesonbooks) for a Black History Month, Crime Writers Special and I’ll be in conversation with authors, Dorothy Koomson, Amen Alonge and Leye Adenle.
Yes, I know that I sound like a bit of a hypocrite, banging on about celebrating Black voices every day and then specifically having a special for ‘Black History Month’ but stick with me. Once I’d decided to host a live episode, I had to put together a list of Black crime writers published in the UK. I sat down, started writing my list, stopped after a few minutes and said to myself, “That can’t be it”.
I had 15 names on my list. 15 Black crime writers traditionally published in the UK. 15! I shook my head and then emailed Dorothy Koomson and asked her “Who am I missing from this list?’ A short while later, I received a response and added three more writers to the list. 18. A grand total of 18 Black Crime Writers published in the UK. 18 is a ridiculous number. Where are we?
In 2022, “UK consumers bought 348 million books in 2022, at a value of £2.5 billion (US$3.07 billion)”1 And according to the Bookseller, “The top 1,000 bestselling authors of last year sold a combined 98.5 million units for £763.9m, according to Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market (TCM) data.”2
Guess how many of those 1000 bestselling authors were Black?
23.
No. That’s not a typo. You’ve read that correctly. 23 books were written by Black authors? And another statistic for you. Guess how many of those 23 books were crime fiction?
Zero. Zilch. Nada.
This statistic is mind blowing for many reasons, but the main reason is that crime fiction is the biggest selling genre in the UK. To say that there is an inbalance is an understatement.
Where are the Black Crime Writers in the UK? That is a very good question and it’s one that I’ve been asked in interviews before. The truth is that there is no good reason why there aren’t more Black crime writers being published in the UK. It’s not as if we’re not writing. All you need to do is scroll through any social media platform to find an aspiring Black Crime Writer. Black crime writers are not a mythical unicorn. We do exist.
Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’, published in 1841, is considered to be the first modern crime story. ‘The Conjure Man Dies’ by Rudolph Fisher published in 1932 was the first detective novel written by an African American Man. The UK wouldn’t see a Black British woman publish a crime novel until 1997 with the release of ‘Without Prejudice’ by Nicola Williams. I spoke to Nicola Williams, a barrister and a judge about her debut novel and her second novel, ‘Until Proven Innocent’, which was published in 2023 on my podcast, The Conversation with Nadine Matheson. Another fact for you. The first Black British Writer to win a Crime Writers Association Award was Dreda Say Mitchell nearly 20 years ago, in 2005 with her debut novel, Running Hot. It seems as though Black British crime writers are as frequent as a comet.
Black Crime Writers shouldn’t be a once in a generation phenomenon in the UK. Crime Writer, Mike Phillips, who was born in Guyana and is known for his crime fiction series, featuring black journalist Sam Dean, has suggested there is “still a reluctance to see the black detective as hero” and I think that he may be right. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been asked why I made the main character in my series, Detective Inspector Anjelica Henley, Black? Why should the question be asked at all. Is it that shocking to have a black character playing the hero and not the villain. Is it that shocking to see a Black character fighting to put someone behind bars and not be the character who has just left a jail cell?
Fiction should hold a mirror to life, therefore, a black woman or man taking the lead in a crime novel should be the norm. Once again, in my life as criminal defence lawyer, I’ve lost count of the number of Black men and women who have sat on the other side of the table questioning my client in a police interview or have stood on the opposite side of the court room prosecuting my case. Why shouldn’t a black person be the star of a psychological thriller?
There are so many calls for publishing to diversify but it needs to go further than just a call. It needs to go further than a random social media post ‘celebrating Black Writers’ that gets lost in the algorithm. Publishers shouldn’t be picking up a submission and thinking ‘Oh this is a Black writer; how can I market this? This is a Black book. Black books don’t really sell?’ They should be thinking ‘This is a great book, by a great writer. Let’s make it a bestseller.’ The lack of promotion, being invisible, is one of the main reasons why the number of Black Crime Writers is less than 20. My mum has a saying ‘You can sell a worm if you market it well’. Publish us and promote us and there will be less of these ‘Where are the Black Crime Writers?’ articles. Black crime writers are fed up with being ‘the story’. There is no good reason why a Black crime writer isn’t one of the 1000 bestselling authors in the UK. There should be more than just 18 of us.
Here is my list of Black British Crime Writers. I’m convinced that there are more than just 18 writers. Add to the list in the comments:
1. Mike Phillips
2. Dreda Say Mitchell
3. Nicola Williams
4. Louise Hare
5. Amen Alonge
6. Christie Newport
7. Scarlett Brade
8. Leye Adenle
9. Rachel Edwards
10. Jacob Ross
11. Parker Bilal
12. Lloyd Otis
13. Olivia Issac- Henry
14. Alexandra Wilson
15. Stella Oni
16. David Beckler
17. Nadine Matheson
18. Dorothy Koomson
*To be Published in 2025
-Leodora Darlington
-Mel Pennant
1. Nielsen Book Data 2022: ‘A Slight Decline in UK Book Sales by Porter Anderson, March 22, 2023
2. The Bookseller, ‘Imbalances still remain’ when it comes to Black authors in the bestsellers’ lists, May 31, 2024
18 is a crazy number. There has to be more. Maybe, Yvette Edwards. She wrote 'The Mother.' but I can't think of any more 🤔