S2 Ep9: Sharmaine Lovegrove: Publisher

The Dorothy Project

Can books change the world? Sharmaine Lovegrove is the founder of the publishing imprint Dialogue Books, which she set up to promote stories by, for, and about queer, disabled, working class, black and minority communities.

As a queer Black woman herself, Sharmaine believes that storytelling creates the dialogue we need to build a more inclusive world. I quite agree.

Her own life story is quite something, from homeless teenager to Berlin bookshop owner and now, one of the leading lights of British publishing.

Sharmaine is also the first Black interviewee on The Dorothy Project. That’s not a track record I’m proud of, and I’m determined to improve that ratio from now on.