It is paramount to understand the hurdles young Black people face, and ensure they are not further pushed to the fringes of society
June 2020, in which writers were transparent about the advances they received, showed that even when Black authors’ books were being acquired, their writers were oſten paid far less than their white counterparts. “Editors need to really keep their ears to the ground for powerful and engaging men, who have powerful stories to tell. It starts there. Nurture these men, and the stories will come. Create books that speak to them, and then more boys will read and more will be inspired to write. It’s all there,” says Alex Holmes, author of Time to Talk: How Men Think About Love, Belonging and Connection (Welbeck), a manifesto for recovery, rebuilding and reconnecting masculinit. Publishers have routinely seen litle value in Black voices, treating them as unsellable and unmarket- able. The 2020 study Rethinking ‘Diversit’ in Publishing, which looks at how cultural production might disadvan- tage racial and ethnic minorities, found that when it comes to the acquisition of works by people of colour, “publishers expressed concerns about their lack of ‘qual- it’”, but that “‘qualit’ speaks more to a publisher’s lack of confidence in how to reach non-white, non- middle-class audiences”. But there is qualit to be found in the works of Black male authors. The problem isn’t that there is no legacy from which to build on: writers such as Courtia Newland, Alex Wheatle and Caryl Phillips, to name a few, have spent years carv-
ing out a space for themselves and creating a blueprint for Black male authors to follow. Since the woeful publication dearth of 2016, a new vanguard of young Black British writers has formed. Among them, in fiction: Derek Owusu (That Reminds Me, #MerkyBooks), Ashley Hickson- Lovence (The 392, OWNIT!), Paul Mendez (Rainbow Milk, Dialogue Books), Okechukwu Nzelu (The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney, Dialogue Books), Caleb Azumah Nelson. In non-fiction: Jeffrey Boakye (Black, Listed, Dialogue Books), Kehinde Andrews (The New Age of Empire, Allen Lane), Musa Okwonga (One of Them, Unbound) and Alex Holmes. In poetry: Kayo Chingonyi (Kumukanda, Chato & Windus), Caleb Femi (Poor, Penguin) and J J Bola. “There are many Black British male authors, some of whom have been around for decades, and many more to come,” says Bola, whose novel The Selfless Act of Breathing (Dialogue Books) about (Black) Millennial existential angst, hope, connection and longing, comes out in September. “I think the question, then, is how do we support these writers to keep writing and keep creating and keep being published? How can we ensure that these writers thrive, and their legacies grow, as well as provide a way for other writers who are up and coming?”
A broken record It’s a broken ecosystem. The fewer books are published by Black male authors, the less new writers will seek to partake in the book publishing world. The link between reading and identities is well documented: children need
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to see themselves in their formative years, otherwise they might disengage. In adulthood, studies over the years have shown that most male readers primarily read books by men, and lean towards non-fiction. (Non-fiction is by and large is writen by academics, but issues of representation of Black people in academia are beyond the scope of this piece.) “I had always wanted to be a writer and wanted to have books with my name on them,” says Holmes. “As I grew older and started to assess the industry, though, I began to see books that weren’t really catered to me. I always loved writing fantasy, and I think that children and YA novels have a huge place in my heart. Yet these were areas that were so undiverse it was saddening.” Black boys have long been discriminated against in the school system too, with exclusion rates five times higher for Black Caribbean pupils in parts of England. These early experiences have a drastic effect on grades and future career prospects, showing the problems with racial bias starts within the education system. It is therefore paramount to understand the hurdles young Black people face, and ensure they are not further pushed to the fringes of societ, and that their voices and perspectives are seen as worthy of atention. “I want to be able to read and select books for children, young people and adults, and help them understand themselves in ways that I could not when I was growing up,” says Holmes, who wants to see more stories “with more Black leads. Stories that inspire and truly represent our experiences, that explore the breadth of masculinit, Blackness, queerness, class and abilit.” The need for more Black male authors isn’t just a numbers game, it’s a way of ensuring their stories and experience become a part of the historical narrative. They need to tell their own stories, and enrich the literary canon with new perspectives, giving them space to experiment with uncharted themes and topics. “I want to see more hopeful stories,” says Bola. “I think that sometimes we are too drawn to traumatic stories, as they can grab our atention or evoke particular feelings. But for me, I think offering hope is so crucial, and we should see more of it in literature particularly.”
Writing is a responsibilit for authors such as Bola, a
privilege to speak up on behalf of those who came before you and whose stories remain unknown. “I think about the life of my illiterate grandmother living in a small, remote village in northern Congo, about how my parents were made refugees and forced to flee the only place they knew as home, and what kind of stories that they would have told had they had the opportunit. And here I am, with the opportunit to write, and bring some light, to what may have been kept in the dark for so long.” Azumah Nelson offers a final piece of advice: “Believe in the story you need to tell. Take risks and be bold in your storytelling. Most importantly, support each other. There’s so much power in the communit.” Black people are worthy of publication. Black men are worthy of publica- tion. Their experiences, their creativit, their innovative- ness has profoundly shaped and impacted the cultural landscape of this country, and it’s time to pay them back for their contribution.
Kadish Morris is an editor, art critic, writer and poet 27
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