Grace Nichols

In celebration of the Guyanese British writer Grace Nichols winning the 2026 Royal Society of Literature Pioneer prize – awarded to women writers over the age of 60 who trailblazed in the industry when it was much more difficult to – we have curated a special bundle of issues from the Wasafiri archive that either feature or engage with her work.

Nichols, 76, has long been a groundbreaking poet. Awarded the Commonwealth Poetry Prize in 1983, she has published numerous collections for both adults and children and continues to release new work to this day. Her history with Wasafiri is also well-established: an interview with her features in our women's issue (published in 1988); Joseph Coelho reviews her collection Picasso, I Want My Face Back in a 2010 issue; and her original poetry is included in two more recent issues, including our 35th anniversary issue.

This bundle offers an excellent resource for scholars and readers of Nichols' work, Black British poetry, and Caribbean British literature more widely.