04.11.16
www.thebookseller.com
THE LEAD STORY DIVERSITY IN UK PUBLISHING
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way we will tackle the overwhelming lack of diversity and the fact that the content we produce doesn’t always reflect the society in which we live today. If the decision makers aren’t diverse, then neither will our books be.” Dixon commented: “Widening the
backgrounds of literary agents is an important factor, and companies need to look at their recruitment practices and internships and see what they can do to be more attractive as a profession to talented and ambitious BAME candidates. Organisations such as Creative Access can be valuable partners, but I think [literary] agencies have to make it very clear that they are actively seeking to hire in a more open fashion as well. Taking on interns and entry-level staff only via personal recommendation, in the old-fashioned publishing style, limits the pool of talent to those already connected. The publishing industry needs to seek to forge new connections.” Jenny Todd, publisher at Canongate, said there was “lots of work being done” when it came to improving the diversity of staff and books published across the industry, but “we have to accept that there is a huge amount more to do”. She added: “I think staffing is lagging behind output, but both are still falling woefully short.” She added that she was
“enormously proud” of what Canongate’s “authors have achieved and [the list is] excited about the talent we see emerging. Our plan and our hope is that this work inspires future generations of British BAME writers and that they can be confident in the knowledge that the opportunities are there to be seized.”
A FALLOW FIELD The Jhalak Prize for Fiction, launched this year and open to British writers of colour across all genres, has received 36 submissions to date, ahead of its 30th November closing date. Of these, 33 are from publishers and three are self-published. Earlier this year, World Book Day (WBD) was accused of failing to represent writers of colour in its annual promotion. Author Nikesh Shukla criticised the selection, saying he was “really sad” about the authors
Of the thousands of titles published in 2016 in the UK, only a small minority—fewer than 100—were by British authors of a non-white background
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chosen, adding that people of colour “need to see ourselves” in books. But WBD director Kirsten Grant said the books were chosen from a selection put forward by publishers. Sunny Singh, chair of judges
for the Jhalak Prize, said that while submission numbers for the prize were healthy, they pointed to a dearth of BAME writers that publishers could enter. “Given that the prize was to encourage all kinds of writing by writers of colour, it does feel quite small. After all, we included everything from children’s and YA to non-fiction and genre.” Singh said the number of submissions proved “the industry is in pretty grim state regarding diversity”, and that the “risk and challenge of finding new voices, and of nurturing and supporting them, is being done by the smaller outfits”. She added that submissions were mainly literary fiction, with some crime and YA, but “a big, missing point is romance, and the romance angle also appears to be missing from the literary fiction.”
Lisa Milton, executive publisher at Harlequin UK, part of HarperCollins, agreed that British BAME voices were mainly found in “very literary and academic” spaces. “We are in the process of a very dramatic transition in publishing and I hope we are making progress and acting, not just talking,” she said. “BAME voices have been present in publishing for a long time, but in a very literary and academic space. I think the transition, for me, is to move from literary to commercial, to have BAME authors across different genres.” Milton, who acquired Hussain’s début novel, and will publish it in January, added: “Most people don’t think they can write a book but I think we have got to keep communicating to people that publishing’s doors are open. At [Harelquin imprint] HQ we are essentially setting up a list from scratch. Our mindset is to be diverse and you have to search out different voices proactively.” David Shelley, c.e.o. of Little,
Brown and Orion and co-ordinator of Hachette’s company-wide diversity group, said there was a “real will to change in publishing” and become more diverse in both staffing and output. “One thing that concerns me is particular genres like popular history or crime, where BAME authors are underrepresented,” said Shelley. “I certainly think we should be looking very hard to encourage a conversation about that.” Penguin Random House UK recently launched its WriteNow initiative, which seeks to attract writers from communities underrepresented in the UK bestseller lists. Siena Parker, PRH UK’s corporate responsibility manager, said: “There is never going to be a single magic solution. To get long-lasting, meaningful change there are a number of things we need to do as an industry. The biggest area of opportunity is how we work with partners across publishing, like agents and retailers. We are not going to get meaningful change otherwise. The measure of success will be if we don’t have to have this discussion again. If we are still having this discussion in 10 years’ time, we will have failed.”
INITIATIVES FROM OTHER SECTORS
BBC
The BBC’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2016-20 includes a series of targets for the company. These include portrayal targets of having
50% of on-screen, on-air and lead roles filled by women across all genres of show; and having 15% representation of BAME people. It also seeks to ensure “employees and leadership teams reflect and represent the modern UK” when it comes to women, ethnic minorities, those with disabilities and the LGBT community.
Channel 4
Channel 4’s 360° Diversity Charter “puts diversity at the heart of all decision-making at Channel 4, across all activities on and off-screen, at every level and with all external partners and independent producers”. The charter’s objectives include using Diamond (Diversity Analysis Monitoring Data, also used by the BBC) to look at the diversity profile of people making and appearing on UK TV, and to provide “transparent targets about our aims for the diversity of our employees that are measureable and accountable”.
BFI
In October this year, the BFI revealed research that showed 59% of UK films in the past 10 years had no black actors in
any lead or named role. The research was presented at the Black Star Symposium at the BFI London Film Festival, in partnership with American Express. In 2015, the BFI introduced the BFI Diversity Standards across all its National Lottery funding schemes, which pledged that “the projects we fund should reflect the society we live in, both in terms of the people employed and the stories they tell”.
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