Podcast #40: Beryl Gilroy

The star of our 40th (!) episode is author, educator, and therapist Beryl Gilroy. Born in what was then British Guiana, she trained as a teacher before migrating to London in 1952 as part of the Windrush generation and worked all manner of jobs until becoming one of the very first Black head teachers in the UK. Her groundbreaking debut, Black Teacher (1976), documented her journey up to that point, and she’d keep publishing until her death in 2001. Telling her story is Berlin-based author Divya Ghelani.

And if you want to attend a very special live Dead Ladies Show via Zoom next month, join us at StAnza, Scotland’s International Poetry Festival, on 11 March (free tickets available here).

Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, RadioPublic, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, and Acast.

Show notes:

Lulu: very notably not a dead lady

Her debut book is due to be reissued this summer by Faber & Faber

Some of her other books, all available from the great Peepal Tree Press

A short interview with Beryl’s colleague (and supporter!) Yvonne Connolly, who was the UK’s first head teacher

The original illustration of Prince Bumpo in *Doctor Dolittle*

Divya in ACUD’s balmy courtyard last September, when this episode was recorded

Sadly, the campaign Divya mentions to rename Beryl’s school in her honor did not succeed. Read more about that here.

The podcast is created, produced, edited, and presented by Susan Stone. Our theme music is “Little Lily Swing” by Tri-Tachyon.

Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with a new episode next month.

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