Has publishing really become more diverse?
By Danuta Kean
Courttia Newland has been here before. In 1997, it seemed as if the British book industry might finally have recognised it was out of step with the multicultural society that surrounded it. Writers of colour including Newland, Zadie Smith and Monica Ali were picking up sizable advances as the trade promised a step change. No longer would the doors of London publishers be time machines, transporting the unwary from one of the world’s most diverse cities to a monoculture that was a throwback to the 1950s. The books and the people who published them were going to be different.
Twenty years on, as the industry launches another drive for inclusivity, Newland is not holding his breath. “We are really wary because we have seen it all before,” he says. “A few people are championed and then people lose interest because they think the issue has been addressed. And then it all reverts back to the way it was before.” Read more
Source: The Guardian
