“My imprint Dialogue Books focuses on stories, for, about and by people from BAME, LGBTQI+, working-class and disabled communities. As a publisher, I pride myself on first being a reader and a bookseller and having the privilege to create books that tell us about the lives of others that are often left behind. This perspective allows me to think of books that everyone else can fall in love with as well as me. Below are some of the titles I have published in 2019 and I hope they all strike a chord with you.” - Sharmaine Lovegrove, Dialogue Books
SURVIVAL MATH by Mitchell S. Jackson
/autobiography/
An electrifying, dazzlingly written reckoning and an essential addition to the conversation about race and class, Survival Math takes its name from the calculations that award-winning author Mitchell S. Jackson made to survive the Portland, Oregon of his youth. This dynamic book explores gangs and guns, near-death experiences, sex work, masculinity, composite fathers, the concept of ‘hustle’ and the destructive power of addiction – all framed within the story of Jackson, his family and his community.
THE ART OF THE BODY by Alex Allison
/fiction/
The Art of the Body is a novel about dignity and intimacy, tenderness and brutality, unafraid to explore uncommon bodies in unusual ways. Janet is caught between care work and caring for herself. Her life revolves around Sean, a talented fine art student, living and working with cerebral palsy. Both are new to London and far from their families. Both are finding a means of escape through pushing their bodies to the limit. When Sean is faced with an unexpected and deeply personal tragedy, Janet must let her guard down and discover what she’s prepared to fight for.
NUDIBRANCH by Irenosen Okojie
/fiction/
Nudibranch is Okojie’s second collection of short stories and sees offbeat characters caught up in extraordinary situations that test the boundaries of reality - a love hungry goddess arrives on an island inhabited by eunuchs; a girl from Martinique moonlights as a Grace Jones impersonator. Nudibranch is a dark and seductive foray into the surreal.
CYGNET by Season Butler
/fiction/
Cygnet is the story of a young woman battling against the thrashing waves of loneliness and depression, and how she learns to find hope, laughter and her own voice in a world that’s crumbling around her. Season Butler gives us a coming-of-age tale we haven’t heard before, about a young girl resisting the savagery of adulthood as a dying community rejects the promise of youth.
REMEMBERED by Yvonne Battle-Felton
/historical fiction/
Remembered is the debut historical fiction novel by Yvonne Battle-Felton, set in 1910 Philadelphia. A story where Spring, an emancipated slave, is forced to relive a haunting past in order to lead her dying son home. Longlisted for the 2019 Women’s Prize For Fiction, the novel has been compared with Toni Morrison’s Beloved by the Guardian and praised for characters that get under your skin.
THE PRIVATE JOYS OF NNENNA MALONEY by Okechukwu Nzelu
/fiction/
The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney is a comic novel about Nnenna, a half-Nigerian teenager living in modern-day Manchester with her mother Joanie. Okechukwu Nzelu brings us a novel about two women, big questions and lots of laughter in a unique and distinctive new voice.
Find more reading recommendations in our Library section.