Award winning novelist and playwright Bernardine Evaristo, born in London to an English mother and Nigerian father was educated at Eltham Hill Girls Grammar School and the Rose Bruford College of Speech & Drama. Evaristo trained as an actress and began her career in theatre before becoming a full-time writer. In 1982 Evaristo founded the first Black Women's theatre company in the UK, with fellow Rose Bruford students Patricia Hilaire and Paulette Randall.