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, the ...

is a British novelist born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 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 the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

longlist and the

Commonwealth Book Prize Commonwealth Foundation has presented a number of prizes since 1987. 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 First ...

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 then youngest publisher as well as the first black female book p ...

Biography

Early years and education

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; anc ...

, 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, wit ...

. Edwards attended school in Hackney, east London, where she still lives with her family.

Writing career

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. Based in London, it later added a li ...

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

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

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

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

, 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, Chester, England, and is based on ''Le Prix de la Cadière d'Azur'', a literary prize awarded by a Provençal village. Adult debut novels written by UK residents and ...

2011, shortlisted for the

in 2012, nominated for the

44th NAACP Image Awards The 44th NAACP Image Awards ceremony, presented by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), honored the best in film, television, recording, and literature of 2012. The ceremony took place on February 1, 2013, at ...

in January 2013, nominated for the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award (), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely ...

2013, and nominated for the

Hurston/Wright Legacy Award The Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards program in the United States honors published Black writers worldwide for literary achievement. Introduced in 2001, the Legacy Award was the first national award presented to Black writers by a national organization ...

2013. It was described by ''

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

Jonathan Barnes Jonathan Barnes, FBA (born 26 December 1942 in Wenlock, Shropshire) is an English scholar of Aristotelian and ancient philosophy. Education and career Barnes, born on December 26, 1942, he was educated at the City of London School and Ballio ...

wrote of it in ''

The Literary Review ''The Literary Review'' is an American literary magazine founded in 1957. Publication was suspended in 2022, and the website notes: "Given the extenuating circumstances and the impact of Covid-19 on institutions of higher education, we do not ...

'': "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 The 48th NAACP Image Awards, presented by the NAACP, honored outstanding representations and achievements of people of color in motion pictures, television, music and literature during the 2016 calendar year. The 48th ceremony was hosted by Antho ...

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 Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, a liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves as ...

'' 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 Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

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 King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

in November 2020. In February 2025, it was announced that a third novel by Edwards, ''Good Good Loving'' – her first in almost a decade – had been acquired by

Virago Press Virago is a British publisher of women's writing and books on feminist topics. Started and run by women in the 1970s and bolstered by the success of the Women's Liberation Movement (WLM), Virago has been credited as one of several British femin ...

for publication in 2026.

Bibliography

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

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

Pan Macmillan Pan Books is a British publishing imprint that first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers, owned by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group of Germany. History Pan Books began as an indepe ...

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 the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

shortlist * 2011:

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

shortlist * 2013:

nomination * 2013:

nomination ; ''The Mother'': * 2016:

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.
"A conversation about The Mother – Yvvette Edwards"
''Writers Mosaic''. Peter Kalu interviews Yvvette Edwards about black crime fiction and her real-life experience of nearly losing her stepson to knife crime. {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Yvvette Living people 21st-century British novelists 21st-century British women writers Black British women writers Black British 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)