The Woolwich poet laureate 2019, has jointly won the Booker Prize with author Margaret Atwood.

It's very rare that two people should win the prize as the last time this happened was in 1992.

Bernardine Evaristo, is the first black woman to be awarded the Booker Prize.

She wins with Girl, Woman, Other, her eighth book of fiction, which she has written alongside essays, drama and writing for BBC radio.

Greenwich council said: "Huge congratulations to both! Bernardine Evari is the first black woman to win the Prize & is our Woolwich poet laureate '19.

And Margaret Atwood gave the keynote at the inaugural Moon Festival this year, part of Royal Greenwich Festivals."

The judges said about Bernardine: “A must-read about modern Britain and womanhood. This is an impressive, fierce novel about the lives of black British families, their struggles, pains, laughter, longings and loves.

"With a dazzling rhythm, Evaristo takes us on a journey of intergenerational stories, moving through different spaces and heritages: African, Caribbean, European. Her 12 main characters manifest the highs and lows of our social life. They are artists, bankers, teachers, cleaners, housewives, and are at various stages of womanhood, from adolescence to old age.

"Her style is passionate, razor-sharp, brimming with energy and humour. There is never a single moment of dullness in this book and the pace does not allow you to turn away from its momentum. The language wraps the reader by force, with the quality of oral traditions and poetry. This is a novel that deserves to be read aloud and to be performed and celebrated in all kinds of media.”

The Booker Prize has been jointly awarded twice before, to Nadine Gordimer and Stanley Middleton in 1974 and to Michael Ondaatje and Barry Unsworth in 1992.

In 1993, the rules were changed so that only one author could win the prize.

This is the first time since then that two authors have been announced as joint-winners.

The 2019 winners will share the £50,000 prize money.

It is the second time that Atwood has won the Booker Prize, having won in 2000 with The Blind Assassin.

This year she won for her newest piece of fiction and the follow up to The Handmaids Tail, The Testaments.

Chair of the 2019 judges, Peter Florence, comments: “This ten month process has been a wild adventure. In the room today we talked for five hours about books we love. Two novels we cannot compromise on. They are both phenomenal books that will delight readers and will resonate for ages to come.”