mixed-race authors “receive dispropor- tionately less income than white authors”. Culturally, this can be atributed to a number of factors: Edwards explains the pressure that first-generation children oſten face to enter “stable” industries—which are not considered to include the arts—in order to support them- selves and their families. Having space as well as support to write is crucial for all authors and Edwards believes that retreats offer crea- tive breathing room.


Black Pens Author Onyi Nwabineli’s journey into hosting retreats came around differently. Her own retreat, Black Pens, was the first she had atended when she launched it in 2022. It has been fortunate enough to host a scholarship place on every retreat. Nwabineli felt that there were retreats in the US that catered to Black women and femmes exclusively, but nothing similar in the UK. So, she posted a tweet that gained traction and later decided to push ahead.


While Edwards hosts solo writers, Nwabineli hosts an “all inclusive” service. Hosting both writers who wish to be alone along with the option for shared rooms has meant that operationally Black Pens needs some finessing. Sharing some logistical experiences, Nwabineli says: “I had to find a venue big enough to allow for solo and shared rooms that also had communal space, which could also hold space for speakers. I had to think about a range of dietary requirements for the catering and for those with sensory or other considerations. The inaugural retreat also ended up being on the two hotest days of 2022 with temperatures topping 40 degrees, so I hired a private lake to keep atendees cool.”


The successes that both authors’ retreats offer are numerous. Edwards has hosted several already published authors, one of whom used the space to complete their 10th novel, and Nwabineli has heard back from atendees whose work—completed on the retreat—has gone on to be shortlisted for grants and awards. Her own work from a previous retreat gained her a further two-book deal with her publisher.


Both authors stress their desire to upliſt those who wish to write in an economy where the arts are the first thing to be scrapped in many instances. Giving Black women the space to pursue their passions in a communit is something worthwhile investing in no mater what age they start at. Supporting those coming up aſter you will never be in vain, and Edwards and Nwabineli are proof of that.


TheBookseller.com


Opinion


Academic publishers must get creative to make the sector more representative of the population


Delayna Spencer I


thought publishing would welcome me with open arms, but I was wrong. I applied for every entry-level job I saw, only to hear


nothing, or see my cover letters forwarded by hiring managers to colleagues to laugh at, without realising I was copied in. One organisation offered me an interview for a £15,000-a-year job in London. One interview with a white male literary agent in an empty office at lunchtime left me in tears after I was told: “I just wanted to see what you looked like.” The door was not wide open for me, just as it isn’t for many Black people. I persevered and ended up getting into academic publishing, an area I hadn’t previously considered and didn’t know much about. Yet what I thought would be a short stint ended up being an almost 10-year career, with me now presiding over my own textbook lists. While I enjoy my role, it has been difficult


to ignore the stark issues within the academic publishing space as a whole. Across the sector there is a severe lack of diversity in the workforce. Organisations haven’t done enough to support people from marginalised backgrounds, and while we are seeing internships and (underpaid) entry-level roles being filled by people from marginalised backgrounds, we aren’t seeing that same appetite when it comes to progression or hiring them into higher-quartile roles. In academic publishing, where we are


working with research that informs policy and books that fill university libraries, this lack of diversity can result in biased publications that perpetuate hegemonic framing and discriminatory thinking. Students from marginalised backgrounds have found themselves erased in textbooks or made hyper- visible through negative stereotypes. They


haven’t been reflected in authorship and have experienced violence from authors who express their biases as academic certainties. As editors our roles have changed vastly, and


I would argue we have a social responsibility to be accountable and minimise the harm that academic publishers have historically played a role in perpetuating. I want to highlight here that there has been a lot of positive change within academic publishing—I wouldn’t still be here if I hadn’t seen a commitment to doing better. But there is more work to be done. I’m looking at academic publishers to get creative and put the effort in, and here are some suggestions of where you can start:


• Progression: increase representation at all levels. If you can’t get a diverse slate for


higher quartiles, don’t just give up, create fast-tracking programmes to uplift people, accompanied by training and mentorship support.


• Culture: improve the culture of your organisation to retain people. One of the


ways I did this at SAGE was to start a BAME (now global majority) group and LGBTQIA+ group with colleagues to create supportive communities and a way to offer feedback upwards.


• Training: better training for all staff on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). This


training needs to begin with managers, especially when the age-old adage of “it depends on your editor” has created so much inequity.


• Educate: learn about the work being done in your disciplines by marginalised communities


and make sure that this work is platformed and properly credited.


• Editorial: employing a DEI lens when it comes to editorial work. If you don’t have the


expertise, find sensitivity readers and subject matter experts who can support you.


• Representation: work to increase the diversity of editors and authors. One of the


ACADEMIC PUBLISHING HAS MADE PROGRESS ON DIVERSITY BUT THERE REMAINS WORK TO DO


ways I have worked to do this is through the newly commissioned Social Science for Social Justice series. The series has two core goals: the first is to champion and provide a platform for voices of the global majority; the second is to offer a new vision of what academic publishing can be, which is accessible, inclusive and working towards a shared social justice which benefits all.


Delayna Spencer is a senior commissioning editor at SAGE Publishing.


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