Page 31 - Powerlist 2019 - Digital Edition

Dr Delia Jarrett-Macauley

Chair, The Caine Prize; Arts, Fashion & Design
Award-winning political writer

An accomplished writer, academic and broadcaster with a
career spanning more than 20 years, Delia has published
three books, the most recent being her first novel, Moses,
Citizen and Me, which received the Orwell Prize for political
writing. She is the first woman and first person of colour to
chair the prestigious Caine Prize.
A multi-disciplinary scholar in history, literature
and cultural politics, Delia was recently a fellow on
‘Multicultural Shakespeare’ at the University of Warwick.
This year, Delia has written a chapter for the Cambridge
History of Black and Asian British Writing, edited by
Shusheila Nasta and Mark Stein. She has also written
creative non-fiction, The Bedford Women, for Margaret
Busby’s forthcoming collection, Daughters of Africa II; and
completed a research project on equalities in theatre for
young people. Delia was also the guest speaker at the Royal
Over-Seas League’s Chairman’s Lunch.
Her university teaching career began in 1989, when she
ran the first black women’s studies courses on the MA in
Women’s Studies at the University of Kent. Based on that
Valerie Brandes programme of work, she subsequently edited the 1996
Founder and CEO, Jacaranda Books anthology Reconstructing Womanhood, Reconstructing
Feminism: Writings on Black Women, the first British
feminist anthology to examine concepts of womanhood and
Valerie has spent her career championing diverse voices. feminism within the context of “race” and ethnicity.
She founded publishing house Jacaranda Books to challenge Delia has been a visiting fellow in Gender Studies at
the status quo and bring fresh voices to the literary scene. the London School of Economics and has taught a range of
In February 2018, she launched her brainchild, the Twenty courses at the universities of Kent, London and Middlesex.
in 2020 project, in partnership with Joy Francis of Words of She has also trained teachers at Goldsmith’s College,
Colour, a creative communications agency that promotes, London, and has contributed to many professional
facilitates and develops writers of colour. The ambitious development courses in Europe at a range of institutions,
project will see Jacaranda Books publish 20 black British including the Amsterdam Summer University and the King
writers in the year 2020, including adult fiction, non-fiction Baudouin Foundation (Brussels).
and poetry. Working with Words of Colour, the writers of
Twenty in 2020 will form part of a nationwide multi-media,
multi-platform marketing, promotional and sales campaign.
Valerie is an ardent promoter of diversity and inclusivity
in publishing. She is passionate about equality and social
justice. She is currently a Dissertation Supervisor and
Mentor for the Publishing MA at Kingston University, and
gives talks across the UK on publishing, inclusivity and
female entrepreneurship.
Valerie began as a bookseller for Barnes and Noble in
the US, before becoming a teacher of creative writing and
working as office manager at successful UK independent
publishing house Profile Books.
In 2012, she launched Jacaranda. The first publication
was Jacqueline Shaw’s coffee table tome Fashion Africa,
released in February 2014. Under Valerie’s leadership
the Jacaranda Books brand is increasingly recognised as
the publisher of choice for diverse, new writing and an
example of black excellence within publishing.
She has introduced voices from across Africa, Asia and
the Americas, and has also delved into commercial fiction,
including romance series From Pasta to Pigfoot by British-
Ghanaian author Frances Mensah Williams, and a new
Caribbean crime series by Jamaican author Paula Lennon.

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