Malika Booker | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1970 (age 54–55) London, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Goldsmiths, University of London |
| Occupation(s) | Poet and artist |
| Awards | Cholmondeley Award (2019) |
| Website | malikabooker |
Malika Booker (born 1970)[1] is a British writer, poet and multi-disciplinary artist, who is considered[by whom?] "a pioneer of the presentspoken word movement" in the UK.[2][3] Her writing spans different genres of storytelling, including poetry, theatre, monologue, installation and education, and her work has appeared widely in journals and anthologies. Organizations for which she has worked includeArts Council England, theBBC,British Council,Wellcome Trust,National Theatre,Royal Shakespeare Company,Arvon, andHampton Court Palace.[4]
Malika Booker was born in London, UK,[1] toGuyanese andGrenadian parents. She grew up in Guyana and returned to the UK aged 13, with her parents.[5]
Booker began writing and performing poetry while studying anthropology atGoldsmiths, University of London.[5] She founded the poetry collective Malika's Kitchen, which also includedNick Makoha. She took part inThe Complete Works mentoring programme. Her first collection of poetry,Pepper Seed, was published byPeepal Tree Press in 2013 and was shortlisted for theSeamus Heaney Centre prize for best first full collection published in the UK and Ireland.[6] She was the inaugural Poet In Residence at theRoyal Shakespeare Company.[7]
Booker's poem "Nine Nights", first published inThe Poetry Review in autumn 2016, was shortlisted for Best Single Poem in the 2017Forward Prize.[8]
She has written for radio and for the stage, and her work has appeared in journals and anthologies includingBittersweet: Contemporary Black Women’s Poetry (1998),The India International Journal (2005),Ten New Poets (2010),Out of Bounds, Black & Asian Poets (2012), andNew Daughters of Africa (2019).
In 2019, Booker received aCholmondeley Award for her outstanding contribution to poetry.[9]
In 2020, Booker won theForward Prize for "Best Single Poem – Written" for "The Little Miracles", published in Magma.[10] In 2023 she won that prize for that category again, which made her the first woman to win that prize for that category twice. Her 2023 win was for a poem called “Libation”, which thePoetry Review first published.[11]
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