Bernardine Evaristo: A BBC Radio Collection: Including original writing for radio, plus full-cast adaptations of The Emperor’s Babe and Hello Mum

Written by Bernardine Evaristo

Narrated by Bernardine Evaristo, Michelle Asante, Paul Chahidi and 14 more

Full-cast dramatisations and original plays and stories from the award-winning author.

Bernardine Evaristo won the Booker Prize 2019 with her novel, Girl, Woman, Other and the one-off Women's Prize Outstanding Contribution Award in 2025. The author of ten books, her 2013 novel Mr Loverman was adapted into a BBC 1 drama series in 2024, winning two BAFTAS. She has received over 90 awards and honours and is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University of London. Featured here are some of her most innovative works, as well as an illuminating documentary about her life and career.

The Emperor’s Babe – Set in AD 211, this drama adaptation of Evaristo’s 2001 verse novel, follows Zuleika, of Nubian heritage, who grows up wild and adventurous in Roman London and has a dangerous affair with the Roman emperor, Septimius Severus

Hello Mum – Fourteen-year-old Jerome grows up on a rough housing estate and makes a mistake that has disastrous consequences. Now he needs his mother to understand why - and what the world looks like through his eyes. A powerful tale adapted from Evaristo’s 2010 novella

Madam Bitterfly and the Stockwell Diva - Feisty South Londoner, Charmayne, is determined to make it big in Hollywood – no matter what it takes…A wickedly comical take on the hierarchy of colour, told in verse

Medea – Mapping the Edge – Three writers: Amanda Dalton, Alison Fell and Evaristo, wrote three versions of the Medea myth featuring characters from Greece, Yemen and Yorkshire, which were integrated into a stunning and unique single drama. Originally staged as a promenade theatre production by Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, with WilsonWilson Company. Dalton adapted it for radio

On Top of the World – A woman's feelings of alienation and isolation lead her to the frozen landscape of the beautiful Arctic

London Choral Celestial Jazz – Bernardine Evaristo reads her own experimental verse short story, inspired by Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood, and featuring four very different Black women who navigate the high-octane, adrenaline-charged streets of contemporary London

Profile: Bernardine Evaristo –A radio documentary about Bernardine Evaristo and her life

Original Text copyright © Bernardine Evaristo 2001 (The Emperor’s Babe), 2003 (Madam Bitterfly and the Stockwell Diva), 2005 (On Top of the World), 2010 (Hello Mum), 2014 (London Choral Celestial Jazz), 2003 (Medea – Mapping the Edge) text copyright © Amanda Dalton, Alison Fell and Bernardine Evaristo

Content Warning: contains strong language and deals with themes of racism

Written by Bernardine Evaristo

The Emperor’s Babe
Zuleika – Michelle Asante
Felix – Paul Chahidi
Alba – Alex Tregear
Valeria – Hannah Wood
Tranio – Rick Warden
Severus – Terence Anderson

Hello Mum
Jerome – Anthony Welsh
Adrian/Boy – Damson Idris
Kimisi – Nadine Marshall
Delmar – Malachi Kirby
Keith – Jude Akuwudike
Dexter – Alex Lanipekun
with Robert Blythe, Joe Sims

Madam Bitterfly and the Stockwell Diva
Charmayne – Petra Letang
Sonia – Sharon Duncan-Brewster
Hortense – Dona Croll
Rhona – Stephanie Turner
Keisha – Clare Perkins
Principal – Martin Hyder

Medea – Mapping the Edge
Mildred – June Broughton
Young Mildred – Tassia Messimeris
Jamal – Sushil Chudasama
Gerald – Martin Pirongs
Nadia – Sara Powell
Jason – Danny Seward
Maddy – Lexi Strauss
Texan – Deka Walmsley
Narrator – David Fleeshman

On Top of the World
Read by Adjoa Andoh

London Choral Celestial Jazz
Read by Bernardine Evaristo

Profile: Bernard

• Language: English
• Publisher: BBC Digital Audio
• Release date: Sep 11, 2025
• ISBN: 9781529917956

Bernardine Evaristo

Bernardine Evaristo won the Booker Prize 2019 with her eighth book, Girl, Woman, Other. Her many other awards include the British Book Awards Novel of the Year and Author of the Year 2020. She is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University London and President of the Royal Society of Literature (est. 1820), the second woman and first person of color to assume this role.