On Tuesday, April 5, 2022, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall met with British author, academic, and 2019 Booker Prize winner, Professor Bernardine Evaristo, at Clarence House in London, England. On November 30, 2021, Professor Evaristo became the new President of the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) after it was announced that Professor Dame Marina Warner would be retiring. Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall is Patron of the Royal Society of Literature.

According to a press release via the RSL, Professor Evaristo was:

“…elected a Fellow of the RSL in 2004 and has been a pivotal part of a wide range of the Society’s programmes and committees, from chairing events to running workshops for young people. She served as Vice-Chair of the RSL’s governing Council, as Chair of its Programmes Committee (with oversight of public events, publications and outreach programmes) and most recently as Vice-President since November 2020. Evaristo is currently the Chair of the RSL’s Open Fellowship recruitment panel in its first year; she also took part in the 40 Under 40 Fellowship initiative as a panellist. In 2021, Evaristo was appointed a Sky Arts Ambassador and launched the Sky Arts RSL Writers Awards providing mentoring with RSL Fellows to emerging writers of colour.”

To learn more about Ms. Evaristo please click here to read an article about her life from The New Yorker magazine.