Welcome to Amina’s Bookshelf, a one-stop-shop for diverse book reviews, recommendations and reading lists. I’m Amina, a book-obsessed aspiring author, and I want to highlight a range of books featuring and written by people of colour. Check out my short stories and give me a cheeky follow to keep up with my latest literary musings. I also wrote the following bio for myself. Apologies if it’s a little bit wanky…..

About Me

Amina Makele is British-Nigerian writer working on her debut historical novel, which was longlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Prize 2024.

She is an alumnae of Hachette UK’s inaugural Grow Your Story Programme (2021) and has been shortlisted for various writing memberships including Penguin (#WriteNow – top 300 out of 3,700), Spread the Word (London Writers Awards – top 8% out of 250), David Higham Associates (New Writers’ Weekend – top 20 out of 275), and HarperCollins Author Academy (top 15 out of 800).

After graduating from the University of Bristol in 2012 with a BA in Classical Studies, Amina began working as government press officer. During this time she completed short courses with City Lit (2014) and the Faber Academy (2019), and was tutored by Malorie Blackman and Melvin Burgess through the Arvon Foundation (2014), and William Ryan through Writers & Artists (2019). She is also an active part of the #bookstagram community, where she regularly posts reviews to over 25,000 followers on @aminasbookshelf.  

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