A Liverpool man who became a celebrated author, poet and academic despite being left semi-literate following a traumatic childhood in the care system has been awarded an honorary degree from Liverpool Hope University.
Malik Al Nasir, an award-winning researcher at the University of Cambridge, was conferred a Doctor of Letters at a graduation ceremony held at Liverpool Cathedral on Tuesday 23 July.
He received the award in recognition of his literary and academic work, including his contribution to the study of Liverpool’s links with slavery and his profound coming of age memoir, Letters to Gil, which charts the harrowing experiences in care that left him homeless and destitute.
Entering the care system at the age of nine, Malik suffered racism and brutality until his release at 18, when a chance meeting with activist and poet, Gil Scott-Heron, changed his life.
Under Scott-Heron’s mentorship, Malik used poetry to teach himself to read and write and went on to graduate from all three of Liverpool’s universities, completing his BA in Geography and Sociology at Liverpool Hope in 1996.
He used the skills developed at university to research his own childhood in care and successfully sued Liverpool City Council, receiving substantial compensation and a public apology from the city’s Lord Mayor in 2003 after ten years of litigation.
Since then, Malik has established himself as a highly regarded researcher and author. Following the release of his memoir, he traced his ancestry back to Demerara in Guyana and, in the process, shed new light on Britain’s role in the slave trade.
Malik’s remarkable story entered the public consciousness in 2020 following a BBC article which went viral. This had a seismic effect on his life and career, resulting in a fully-funded scholarship from the Economic and Social Research Council for a PhD in history at the University of Cambridge and a two-book deal with the William Collins imprint of HarperCollins.
In 2023, Malik received the Vice-Chancellor’s Social Impact Award at the University of Cambridge in recognition of his work on the Sandbach Tinne Project, which received widespread public acclaim and spawned a number of projects looking at the slaveholding dynasty known as Sandbach Tinne.
During his time at the University of Cambridge, he has also been recognised with the Cambridge Society for the Application of Research CSAR Award for Outstanding Research, the Cambridge Student Award for Widening Access and Participation and the Sydney Smith Memorial Prize For Outstanding Research, awarded by St Catharine’s College in recognition of outstanding achievement and contribution to the artistic and literary life of the college.
Reflecting on his honorary degree, Malik said: “Having grown up in care, I didn’t get a conventional education and, as such, didn’t have the standard entry requirements to attend university.
“However, the tutors at Liverpool Hope gave me an opportunity and that was the beginning of an academic journey that saw me graduate from all three of Liverpool’s universities and opened a pathway to my current PhD study at St Catharine’s College at the University of Cambridge, where I have won several awards, including the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Global Social Impact.
“It is a huge honour to be further awarded an honorary doctorate at my alma mater - Liverpool Hope.
“I am forever grateful to them for giving me that first leg up on the academic ladder, which has taken me from the very bottom to the very top.”
Professor Claire Ozanne, Liverpool Hope University Vice-Chancellor, added: “We are immensely proud to award Malik this honorary degree.
“His extraordinary journey from a child left traumatised and failed by the care system to a celebrated author and academic is truly inspirational.
“Malik’s remarkable story reflects the transformative power of education and the resilience, courage and perseverance he has demonstrated throughout his life is an example to us all.”