Since the launch of the Rethinking ‘Diversity’ in Publishing report on Tuesday 23 June 2020, we have been running a series of online events to open up the conversation about what will bring about sustained systemic change to the publishing industry.

The report found that the publishing industry continues to see writers of colour as a commercial risk, with an on-going mistrust about which audiences they will appeal to and that writers of colour have to ‘conform’ to the dominant white middle-class narrative that runs throughout publishing.

To discuss the report’s findings, Rethinking ‘Diversity’: the future of the publishing pipeline and meeting the needs of writers of colour brings together #Merky Books author Derek Owusu ('That Reminds Me'), publisher Aimée Felone (Knights Of and Round Table Books), author and co-founder of The Good Agency Nikesh Shukla, writer, academic and co-founder of The Jhalak Prize Professor Sunny Singh and literary agent Emma Paterson (Aitken Alexander Associates).

They will be discussing: the myths around ‘audience’ and ‘quality’; what development, mentoring and investment opportunities need to be in place for writers of colour for them to be agented and acquired and how to truly create equity for writers of colour?

The event will be chaired by Joy Francis, Executive Director, Words of Colour.

You will receive an email with the Zoom link one hour prior to the event starting at 12pm on Friday 26 June 2020.

The event will be BSL interpreted by Sharan Thind and Ali Pottinger. The panel part of the event will be recorded and an edited version will be made available online.

About the Report

Led by Dr Anamik Saha and Dr Sandra van Lente in partnership with Goldsmiths, University of London, Spread the Word and The Bookseller and with a foreword by Bernardine Evaristo, Rethinking ‘Diversity in Publishing is the first academic study in the UK into trade fiction and the publishing industry. It was published by Goldsmiths Press on Tuesday 23 June 2020. The report looks at how cultural production itself may disadvantage writers of colour. It highlights the obstacles, assumptions and practices that writers of colour face in getting their work to readers and provides recommendations for change.

You can download and read the Rethinking ‘Diversity’ in Publishing Report and Executive Summary at www.rethinkingdiversity.org.uk

#RethinkingDiversity #RethinkingDiversityWeek