Description

A compilation of poems about racism in the workplace, including winning entries from the first Black in White Poetry Competition Poems by Charlotte Shyllon + 32 contributing poets

Foreword by Anna Kyprianou, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, Middlesex University

Charlotte Shyllon is Founder & Director of Transforming Words, a communications and equality, diversity and inclusion consultancy. Raised a diplomat's daughter, she lived in a 'privilege bubble', not knowingly impacted by racism until she entered the world of work. A former pharmacist and award-winning journalist, she has worked in the charity sector and corporate world for over 25 years. Over the years, she encountered occasional incidents of racism and unconscious bias, and just accepted these as something that came with the territory.

In 2020, after the murder of George Floyd, she wrote and published her first book of poems called Black in White about some of these experiences. Inspired to continue to air stories about workplace racism, in 2021 she launched a poetry competition to elicit poems about other people's experiences. Black in White - Community Collection was borne out of that. It showcases 28 of the best entries as well as some guests' poems and several new poems written by Charlotte.

Charlotte is British, of Sierra Leonean parentage. She is a proud mum of two teenagers.