Race, the Uncomfortable Truth and Legacy - Author Nikesh Shukla

"I have a platform, I can share that platform with other people, that's what my mum would have expected at this stage of my career. That's why things like The Good Immigrant' came about because a win for me is a win for the community" Nikesh Shukla. Amanda Blainey talks to Nikesh Shukla who is a novelist and screenwriter. His 7th novel Brown Baby will be published in February 2021. Brown Baby is a memoir of race, family, and home that is essentially a love letter written to his children and his mum after her death. It's about loss and rebirth. In this episode, we talk about White privilege Writers of colour How The Good Immigrant came about The predominant white voice in literature Racism and its prevalence in publishing and the arts Normalising our reality Anxiety about being outspoken and burning bridges The problem with diversity panels Interrogating representation and identity How his mum's death permitted him to speak his truth Cooking his way through grief Food as a way to connect to his mum How heritage lives on in us A win for him is a win for the community Roots for change Processing grief through his new book Brown Baby Grieving in a new way since coronavirus Nikesh is the author of Coconut Unlimited (shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award), Meatspace, and the critically acclaimed The One Who Wrote Destiny. He is a contributing editor to the Observer Magazine and was previously their columnist. Nikesh is the editor of the bestselling essay collection, The Good Immigrant, which won the reader's choice at the Books Are My Bag Awards. He co-edited The Good Immigrant USA with Chimene Suleyman. He is the author of two YA novels, Run, Riot (shortlisted for a National Book Award) and The Boxer (longlisted for the Carnegia Medal). Nikesh was one of Time Magazine's cultural leaders, Foreign Policy magazine's 100 Global Thinkers, and The Bookseller's 100 most influential people in publishing in 2016 and 2017. He is the co-founder of the literary journal, The Good Journal, and The Good Literary Agency. Nikesh is a fellow of the Royal Society Of Literature and a member of the Folio Academy. Podcast references https://www.reachoutproject.co.uk/ http://www.nikesh-shukla.com/