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Last month we welcomed our first cohort of students to the new MA in Black British Writing – the first Masters programme of its kind anywhere in the world.

Created and convened by Dr Deirdre Osborne (Theatre and Performance) and Professor Joan Anim-Addo (English and Comparative Literature), the course has been widely welcomed by academics, authors and playwrights 鈥� including children鈥檚 laureate Malorie Blackman OBE. The journalist Hannah Pool described it as a 鈥渓andmark for black culture鈥�, while novelist Alex Wheatle MBE sees it adding 鈥渢o the fabric of British literature鈥�.

Our first group of students are a diverse class, a mixture of ages and nationalities at different points in their education and career path. Understandably, they鈥檝e also got a wide variety of reasons for choosing the course.

Vanessa Igho explains that she always wanted to study black history or black heritage but she鈥檇 automatically turn to America. 鈥淎nd then I saw this degree, and I felt it was moving on from where I stopped at my undergraduate degree, which was understanding that there is a black presence in theatre but that presence was African-American.

鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 quite identify myself, as a black British person, in African-American theatre. So I knew there had to be something in England that I could relate to. This course brings that to light.鈥�

(MA Black British Writing student Vanessa Igho)

Heather Marks鈥� passion for the theatre is obvious, but she says that as she鈥檚 grown to enjoy it even more, she鈥檚 noticed 鈥渢his default whiteness鈥�. She believes the course will give her the foundations she needs to enter the industry in Britain and 鈥渟hake it up, add some colour to it! It needs it. There are so many identities of African and Caribbean heritage that are present in Britain. We鈥檙e here, we have stories that can be told鈥�.

She sees the MA as more than just a course on literature - it鈥檚 also a history degree: 鈥淎s we鈥檙e learning more about this wealth of writers that I had no idea existed before, it鈥檚 also a retelling of history from a different perspective. I think the MA will give me a very strong, well-grounded foundation in black British history, black British writing, the literature of the Caribbean, all these identities and histories and people that have stories that can be told, put on the stage, brought to life, not just in text but in theatre too.鈥�

鈥淚 chose to study Black British Writing because it鈥檚 a story that hasn鈥檛 really been told. Going all the way from primary school to my undergraduate degree I never really studied any black authors,鈥� says Andrea Thomas.

Black history, black literature, is so left out of the European university curriculum.

鈥淎t undergraduate level there鈥檚 often not much push for black students to go on and do their Masters or do their PhD. I think that an MA like Black British Writing will really encourage people.鈥�

Several of the students mention how important it is for black students to aim higher in education. In a country where less than 0.5% of professors are black (there are just 17 black women professors in the UK), and overwhelmingly outside the humanities disciplines, the MA鈥檚 launch comes at a critical time for preparing and empowering scholars in literature, history and performance.

鈥淭he MA Black British Writing allows students of black heritage to study themselves, and that鈥檚 something I鈥檓 big on: learning about your roots, your heritage, and how that can inspire you to aspire. And inspire other people!鈥� explains Vanessa.

鈥淚 think the MA in Black British Writing is a Masters for everyone. What makes it so unique is the inclusiveness. It鈥檚 not just for black British people, or people who identify as that, but for all people who just really want to learn about the history and literature of people in Britain,鈥� Andrea adds.

Just a month into the programme, Andrea has already begun to think about a PhD on Caribbean literature. 鈥淚 really want to work within education as a lecturer but I also want to work with the government to diversify the curriculum more, especially at primary and secondary level,鈥� she adds. 鈥淭he fact that black people and other ethnic minorities aren鈥檛 included in that curriculum, it makes it very difficult for them to succeed and think about going further into higher education.鈥�

(MA Black British Writing student Andrea Thomas)

Gloria Ojosipe, who spent her early childhood in the Caribbean, agrees: 鈥淚 felt this course would enable me to acquire some of the knowledge and understanding about my origins and so much more - It will enable me to motivate others in my community to look at life from a different perspective, knowing that it鈥檚 never too late to achieve your goals in life.鈥�

While many established scholars working in the UK and across the world occasionally teach a class or module incorporating black British writers, or research and write on black British texts, the 牛牛资源 MA is the first dedicated full-length course to explore the output of black writers in-depth, over a full year or two-years part-time.

From Joan Anim-Addo鈥檚 'Imoinda' to Andrea Levy's work, poetry by Fred D'Aguiar, playwright Winsome Pinnock, to Jackie Kay鈥檚 'Adoption Papers', an extensive contemporary reading list provides the course backbone, while students can also expect performances and events featuring the writers studied, and open access to the Black Plays Archive at the National Theatre.

We asked our students what they鈥檇 name as their favourite book, play or poem by a black British writer if they could only choose one. While several said it鈥檚 too early in the course to tell, Vanessa chose Roy Williams鈥� 'Baby Girl'. It is, she said, the first play where she could actually see herself, and her voice, on a stage.

For course leader Dr Deirdre Osborne, it鈥檚 the 鈥渟tartling, radical and experimental鈥� work of playwright Debbie Tucker Green. 鈥淎lthough to say that she鈥檚 a playwright is somewhat narrowing because she puts poetry at the heart of theatre as well as helping restore the balance of opportunities that exist for black actors,鈥� explains Deirdre. 鈥淪he鈥檚 also a film director and inspires a lot of writers that follow her, although unfortunately it hasn鈥檛 resulted in a groundswell of black women writers entering the theatre. That has more to do with the gatekeeping that still exists, whether you鈥檙e black, or a woman.鈥�

鈥淛oan and I found that the work of black British writers was being taught more abroad, in the United States and in Germany for example, than it was an embedded part of the curriculum here where the work is actually produced. We鈥檙e literary activists for including the work of black women writers, in particular, who tend to be further marginalised, or only a few 鈥榮tars鈥� let through.鈥�

The students on our MA in Black British Writing are taking a big step toward changing that.

Visit the course page for more information.