Nicola Sturgeon has said readers have a responsibility to pressurise the publishing industry to include more diversity.

The Scottish First Minister was chairing an interview with writer Bernardine Evaristo about her novel Girl, Woman, Other as part of the online Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Her Booker Prize-winning publication focuses on the experiences of black British women, while the author told the audience that the Black Lives Matter movement had helped to highlight the works of other ethnic minority writers.

Ms Sturgeon said: “As readers, we have all got a responsibility to make sure that this progress is sustained.

“I think there’s a huge appetite to read much more diversity of thought and opinion and experience, and we have all got to put pressure on the industry to make sure that happens.”

The First Minister said Evaristo’s novel had been among her favourites of the year when she read it.

After the event, she tweeted: “This was a joy. It was such a privilege to hear @BernardineEvari talk about her writing and what motivates it, and also about winning the @TheBookerPrizes. If you haven’t read ‘Girl, Woman, Other’ yet, I highly recommend it.”