Serendipity is a Black-led arts organisation and based in Leicester which also publishes several titles a year focusing on Black arts, heritage and cultural politics, including BlackInk, which is a new magazine of international voices from across the African and African Caribbean Diaspora and indigenous communities.

Speaking Stylist.co.uk CEO and artistic director Pawlet Brookes, says: “We are particularly proud of BlackInk, a publication created for 2020’s Black History Month and that has supported over 30 artists and writers. It features original art alongside interviews with the first Black British Olympic gymnast, Black British theatre and international voices.”

Address: online only

Book Love is a multicultural travelling book carnival and online bookshop which is run by a collective of educators, creatives and community members.

They say its their mission to change the lack of culturally inclusive representation in libraries, schools and bookshops and so to combat this Book Love offers a wide range of diverse books to buy online as well as in-person events. 

Buy online with them and check out which fairs and markets they’ll be appearing at next; dates are frequent and London-based.

Address: varies

Afrori books is an extensive online bookshop that specialises in books by Black authors, with one of the biggest selections available to order in the UK.

The idea for Afrori took off after the founders were met with continual frustration in their search for books by Black authors, which they found were “usually in one corner of a book shop, or if outside of London, hardly ever in physical shops.”

The website has only been running for a few months and it’s already going from strength to strength.

Address: online only

Keisha Ehigie is a Nigerian-Jamaican mum who noticed that her young daughter was developing self-esteem issues when she couldn’t see characters that looked like her, or reflected her reality, in the story books she was reading. Ehigie did her own research and discovered that back in 2017 only 1% of UK children’s books had a Black main character.

So, she started Imagine Me Stories, a monthly subscription box which seeks to empower children by providing books with Black main characters and Black history/African activities. 

A one-off box is priced at £24, while three months is £68 and six months is £135. Each box includes two or three book with Black main characters and empowering activities. 

Address: online only

Black Cultural Archives is a library, exhibition space, cafe and shop which dedicated to collecting, preserving and celebrating the histories of African and Caribbean people in Britain.

The archives stocks both fiction and non-fiction books focused on Black British history and experiences, and is known to be a simply wonderful place to spend time and enrich your mind.

Address: 1 Windrush Square, Brixton, London, SW2 1EF

African Books Collective is an online resource which champions African publishers based in Africa, but with a distribution centre in Oxford making it much easier to order their texts if you live in the UK.

From children’s books to non-fiction, the website offers all sorts of genres to explore. It’s also celebrating 30 years of trading this year – what an achievement!

Address: online only  

The Sevenoaks Bookshop is a charming space, located in leafy greater London, south of the centre. The history of the name dates back to 1948 and since then there’s been four owners, most recently Fleur Sinclair who has been at the helm since 2015.

Fleur’s enthusiasm and warmth is evident from the book shop’s social media presence, as is her interest in both physical and online events, all of which are perfect for any bookworms who want to get involved.

As the website says, the shop is delivering books “anywhere and everywhere!” so this is a brilliant resource to buy your books from while in lockdown.

Genres range from travel, fiction, food, Black Lives Matter and more. 

Address: 147 High Street, Sevenoaks, TN13 1XJ

Round Table Books is an inclusion-led bookshop in the heart of Brixton which specialises in underrepresented children’s books, writers and illustrators. It was co-founded by Aimée Felone, who also co-founded Knights Of, an independent publisher championing inclusivity. On top of all this, Felone works on a crowdfund called #inclusiveindies aiming to keep diverse independent publishers and booksellers going through the pandemic.

Unfortunately, the physical store is closed right now because of the pandemic but you can order online or click and collect on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 11am until 3pm.

Address: 97 Granville Arcade, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, London, SW9 8PS.

New Beacon Books was actually the UK’s first ever Black publisher, specialist bookshop and international book distributor, after being founded by John La Rose and Sarah White in London in 1966.

It covers a range of genres from fiction and non-fiction to poetry and children’s books, all from Africa, Caribbean, Asia, African America, Europe, South America and Britain. 

New Beacon Books was in danger of closing permanently in 2017 because of dwindling sales and much of their custom drawn to retailers such as Amazon. But after a community crowd funding project raised £12,000 to keep the bookshop open, it has continued to stand as valuable and much-loved institution of learning for generations to come. This is something we’re sure you’ll agree needs to be continued. 

Address: 76 Stroud Green Road, London, N4 3EN

Pepukayis Books specialises in African-centred books and fostering a space for learning and celebration of African culture in the UK to support the Black community. 

It usually sits within The Maa Maat Cultural Centre,  but you can buy a of selection books online, too. 

Address: The Maa Maat Cultural Centre, 366a High Road, Tottenham, N17 9HT

Image: Unsplash 

Books of Africa is an bookstore and publishers which works on making a whole range of books on history, literature, science, economics, poetry, fiction and finance available to the masses, written by mainly authors with African descent. 

With a dedication share the African experience and view all over the world, Books of Africa has an impressive amount of tomes on this subject and would be a goldmine for anyone looking to further their understanding in this area specifically. 

Address: 16 Overhill Road, East Dulwich, London SE22 0PH

Image: Unsplash 

Jacaranda Books is an award winning independent publisher and bookshop which focuses on showcasing diverse authors both online and in store. 

You’ll find that most of the store’s books fall into the fiction, non-fiction or young adult categories, which centre around the voices and experiences of Black people, people of colour, women and other underrepresented voices.

There’s a curated selection online of Team Jacaranda’s favourite titles including Womanish by Kim McLarin, which is next on our reading list. 

Address: 27 Old Gloucester Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1N 3AX

As a mother and grandmother, Angel Miller, has experienced how it feels to read books to your children which don’t reflect them. 

She knew this needed to change, so she started No Ordinary Bookshop which specialises in children’s books for children of colour, showing a diverse range of characters so that all can recognise themselves in their pages.

Address: online only