News 17 June 2020
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Renni Eddo-Lodge Becomes First Black British Author To Top UK Book Charts

17 June 2020
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Renni Eddo-Lodge has become the first black British author to top the UK book charts with her award-winning, non-fiction book, Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race.

In the week to June 13, Eddo-Lodge’s book took the top spot in the top 50 of Nielsen BookScan, making her the first black British author to take the number 1 position since the official chart was launched in 1998.


The only other black author to top the charts is former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama who landed No 1 with her 2018 memoir, Becoming.


Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People
has been described as “the essential handbook for anyone who wants to understand race relations in British society”, with Eddo-Lodge exploring topics from “eradicated black history to the inextricable link between class and race”.

Renni Eddo-Lodge has reacted to the news of her making history in the UK book charts, saying: “Feels absolutely wild to have broken this record […] My work stands on the shoulders of so many Black British literary giants – Bernadine Evaristo, Benjamin Zephaniah, Zadie Smith, Andrea Levy, Stella Dadzie, Stuart Hall, Linton K Johnson, Jackie Kay, Gary Younge – to name a few.”

Eddo-Lodge is one of many black authors who have been storming the book UK charts in the past few weeks following the recent Black Lives Matter protests across the globe.