Diversity in literature

Creating a vibrant ecosystem

Diversity. Representation. Fair representation of the demographic in publishing and bookselling and literature in general world over is a topic that is very current. It is current because there are many initiatives to bring a more diverse voice to the reading public at the moment.
We briefly mentioned the Seeing in Colour series that the Bookseller and Harper Collins launched last year in the December edition of Bookmark. This is an initiative to grow a more representative publishing community in the UK.
More recently, the Bookseller reported Stephen Lotinga, the chief executive of the Publishers Association (PA), as saying that diversity is a “big priority” for UK book publishing. Lotinga promised targets for houses to aspire to would be forthcoming within the next few months “so that we’re not having the same conversations in 10 years’ time”.
“We must do much, much more, to ensure that our workforce properly reflects society, to open ourselves up to writers of all backgrounds and to reach out to new audiences,” Lotinga said. “That comes from a growing acceptance that if the people who are making decisions aren’t diverse enough, then neither will the books they publish be.”
What we need perhaps are more publishing houses like Rosarium. An eclectic publishing house based in Maryland in the United Sates. They recently bought the North American rights for the South African-born writer Nikhil Singh’s Taty Went West. The acquisition of Singh’s book is the latest in Rosarium’s growing list of international authors ranging from Singapore to Malaysia, Isreal, Canada and Nigeria. They also represent South African Vincent Sammy.
Porter Anderson of Publishing Perspectives did a piece on Rosarium recently and said that Rosariums’ offerings are even more eclectic in nature than its authors’ geographical backgrounds. “The publishing house’s blurbs tout “afrofuturism” anthologies, Rastafarian sci-fi, Southeast Asian steampunk, hip-hop time-traveling fantasy, and tattoo artist vampires.”
Founded in 2013 by Bill Campbell, the company terms itself “a fledgling publisher specializing in speculative fiction, comics, and a touch of crime fiction—all with a multicultural flair.”
Campbell cultivates his audience at comic conventions and literary festivals in the US the UK and Europe. The advantage of attending festivals are great as it give his authors a platform to engage with readers, and through this engagement, he says he is able to circumvent what he sees as the inaccurate expectations of the trade.
In South Africa, we have a growing number of Literary Festivals where publishers and authors can engage with the reading public. However there has been much in the media about the fact that the bulk of the festivals cater to a white reading public, which has made many black authors uncomfortable. Hence the launch of the Abantu Book festival in Soweto late last year. The festival celebrated black writers, readers, pan-African book stores, and online platforms that celebrate African literature and narratives. It also gave them a safe space to speak freely about the issues they face in their struggle to liberate themselves.
Bookslive reported it to be a roaring success:
“The festival, which was themed “Imagining ourselves into existence”, came as a result of Thando Mgqolozana’s decision early last year to renounce white colonial literary festivals. In an interview with The Daily Vox in May last year, Mgqolozana told Theresa Mallinson that his decision to reject these festivals came from a discomfort with literary festivals where the audience was 80 percent white. “It’s in a white suburb in a white city. I feel that I’m there to perform for an audience that does not treat me as a literary talent, but as an anthropological subject,” he said.
“The three-day festival took place at two venues: the Eyethu Lifestyle Centre which hosted free events during the day, and the Soweto Theatre, which hosted events in the evening for R20 per person. Over 50 poets, novelists, essayists, playwrights, literary scholars, screenwriters, performing artists and children’s writers from across Africa and the diaspora partook in the event. Some of the writers and artists who were present at the festival included Niq Mhlongo, Unathi Magubeni, Lidudumalingani Mqombothi, Thandiswa Mazwai, Pumla Dineo Gqola, Lebogang Mashile and Chika Unigwe, among many others.
“Dr Gcina Mhlophe gave the keynote address at the festival’s opening night, which was preceded by the singing of the decolonised national anthem and a rendition of the poem “Water” by poet Koleka Putuma. Mhlophe reminded the audience that, while it is important for us to celebrate young and upcoming artists, it is also important to remember and celebrate those that came before them. She sang and told stories about people like Mariam Tladi and Nokutela Dube and spoke about their role in the development of the arts. Dube was the first wife of Reverend John Langalibalele Dube who was the first President General of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC) which was later renamed the African National Congress (ANC).”
The UK has another diversity issue with regards to the retail of e-books and the lack of representation in the market by anyone else other than Amazon. Lotinga, speaking at the Westminster Media Forum on ‘Book Publishing and the Wider Creative Market’ in London on the 24th January this year said it was “one of the fundamental responsibilities” of a government and regulator in a capitalist system to ensure that market dominant positons are not abused.
“In the case of e-books we now have a situation in the UK where one company reportedly has up to 90% of market share. I refer of course to Amazon,” said Lotinga. “When a business reaches such scale, if left unchecked, it is almost inevitable that they will use their dominance in such a way to ensure the status quo does not change and thereby prevent real competition in the market place.
He added: “In the world of books there remain some fundamental questions about how we ensure a healthy market, with bookstores on our high streets, and choice for the consumer. The UK authorities cannot continue to shy away from tackling the issues at hand.”
A Diverse population must be served by diverse authors who must be recognised and rewarded for their work. Publishers who invest and support them also need to be incentivised and given the means to find new talent. Booksellers must have space to operate and serve a reading public. Diversity in life is vital for a vibrant and productive ecosystem.
http://bookslive.co.za/blog/2016/12/20/imagining-ourselves-into-existence-first-ever-abantu-book-festival-in-soweto-a-roaring-success/
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/pa-invites-stronger-uk-stance-against-amazon-post-brexit-473941

Jessica Faircliff