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 at the beginning of her career. She is currently taking part in Hachette UK’s inaugural Grow Your Story Programme (2021) and was selected for DHH Pitch in December 2020.

In fact, 2020 was – in some ways – a good year. Longlisted for mentorships with Penguin (#WriteNow – top 300 out of 3,700), Spread the Word (London Writers Awards – top 8% out of 250), and David Higham Associates (New Writers’ Weekend – top 20 out of 275), she was also selected to take part in 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 4,000 followers on @aminasbookshelf.  

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