The Guardian Hosts Forum to Counter 'Posh and White' U.K. Publishing

Nikesh Shukla, writer
Latest work: Meatspace (Friday Project)

I’m writing this hoping it’ll be my last piece on diversity in publishing. I am tired. Tired of fighting for representation for writers of colour, pushing for more black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people to be in positions of management in the industry. I am tired of sitting on panels about diversity, writing pieces about diversity, and tweeting about prizes, review coverage and lists that ignore diversity. Which is why I lost my patience at the end of November when the titles announced for the 2016 World Book Night – when free books are distributed to encourage reading – failed to include a single BAME author. It might seem heartless to criticise a brilliant charity for wanting to put books in the hands of non-readers, and, in response, World Book Night expressed frustration that no publishers had put forward any BAME writers.

It is important that we all take collective responsibility for increasing inclusion across books. It’s hard speaking out about these things. Writers worry that it will make us look bitter or “difficult”, rendering us unpublishable. This year’s diverse Man Booker shortlist should show that BAME writers are world-beating, but according to the recent Spread the Word’s Writing the Future report BAME writers are worse-off now than they were 10 years ago. It also revealed that there were shockingly few BAME writers appearing at all the literary festivals in the country (and there’s one running pretty much every week).

Talking with my friend, the poet and broadcaster Musa Okwonga, I said I’d love to see a collection of essays by BAME writers. I joked that it would increase diversity in publishing by 20%. Musa reminded me of the Chinua Achebe quote: “If you don’t like the story, write your own.” So I did. I spoke to the crowdfunding publisher Unbound about putting together such a collection and they were excited. We gathered an initial list of names, purposefully opting for up-and-coming and emerging voices rather than established ones, and hit the go button. The response was astonishing. We were one-third funded by the end of the first day. And at the end of day two, when we were already quietly confident about being fully funded within the month, something amazing happened: JK Rowling pledged to be a patron, and bumped us up to two-thirds funded. We were fully funded by the middle of the following day. Even without Rowling’s kind patronage, the support showed us that there is a hunger for this book, for these voices.

Then there are the bloggers Naomi Frisby and Dan Lipscombe, who have launched #diversedecember, “a celebration of books by BAME writers”, doing what they do best, campaigning through word of mouth. Publishers such as Nosy Crow and Influx issued a call for BAME authors, and agents are asking me to send any I know of their way.

I’m glad that the noise online has contributed to the industry taking a long, hard look at itself. If we need to be back here again in five or 10 years’ time, hopefully many other BAME authors will feel empowered to speak up and keep pushing for change.

More highly constructive thinking at The Guardian.