Join authors June Sarpong OBE, Kelechi Okafor and your host Nikesh Shukla as they discuss diversity in publishing and the industry as a whole, exploring their own experiences of becoming published authors.
June Sarpong OBE is a British TV Presenter, award-winning author and a top speaker on diversity, a subject she is passionate about. June has worked in television for two decades and is one of the most widely recognised faces in British television. June a champion for diversity and in October 2019, she became the first Director of Creative Diversity at the BBC. She authored three award-winning books, including ‘Diversity: Six Degrees of Integration’, ‘The Power of Women’ and ‘The Power of Privilege’. She has recently launched a new publishing imprint, ‘The HQ Creative Inclusion Lab’ with Harper Collins, giving a voice to those from underrepresented communities, with a focus on those with a disability, those from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds and people from working-class backgrounds.
Kelechi Okafor is a Nigerian-born, London-based lover of words-whether that’s crafting works of fiction, articles, stageplays or screenplays; from directing others on stage to expressing her thoughts on society one episode at a time alongside esteemed interview guests on her award-winning former podcast Say Your Mind. No matter what form Kelechi’s creativity takes, her work remains rooted in globally relevant conversations and events, framed through a lens of understanding that is firmly anti-colonial, anti-white-supremacy and anti-heteropatriarchy.
Nikesh Shukla is an author, screenwriter and one of the most prominent UK voices on diversity and inclusion in the arts. He is the editor of bestselling essay collection The Good Immigrant, which won the Reader’s Choice at the Books Are My Bag Awards, and was shortlisted for Book of the Year at the British Book Awards. He is the author of a number of novels for both adults and young adults. Nikesh is the co-founder of the literary journal, The Good Journal and The Good Literary Agency and a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a member of the Folio Academy.
