Joy Francis has called on publishing industry leaders to “let us know who you are” and to ensure diversity and inclusion is not just a “transactional” process.
Francis, the founder and executive director of Words of Colour Productions, gave a blistering keynote address entitled “Recovery & Reimaging the Literature Sector” on 22nd June, urging the industry to show more direction and progress, instead of circling back to the same conversations. For the second half of the session Francis was in conversation with journalist and author Chitra Ramaswamy.
In an online session for the International Literature Showcase, organised by the National Centre for Writing and the British Council, Francis said: “If we choose to re-engage and reimagine the literature sector, we are still faced with a problematic and complex reality. Like Groundhog Day we are still having the same debates, we are still calling for the same changes to be made and we are still waiting for the penny to drop. I am of course talking about racism, oppression, inequality and inequity, opaqueness. That was the reality before Covid and before the murder of George Floyd and before the Black Lives Matter movement (BLM).”
She revealed frustration with how it took global events to encourage companies to look at diversity. “Many corporate institutions and industries who declared their commitment to BLM, would have said only two weeks previously they were already doing enough, that our stories were too niche, that quality Black writers were hard enough to find or that it takes time for change to happen. I would say that 400 years is long enough to understand how structural racism, white privilege and paternalism works. I am of course highlighting the difference between the performative and the authentic.”
Francis believes the question of race throws light on other elements of discrimination. “As I keep saying, where racism exists other ‘isms’ are keeping it company so racial justice and racial healing models are essential.”
She recapped some of the initiatives in this area including the Rethinking Diversity report, which The Bookseller collaborated on, explaining there is already a wealth of research for companies to draw on. “In relation to the three pieces of research done on the publishing sector, it isn’t a good look to offer publishers a roadmap for change funded by others with so little progress. A writer would have been dropped by now. There is a multitude of good practice that exists and many of it is inspired and generated and created outside of the literature arena.
“What I made public, when I was chairing Rethinking Diversity, I said this is the third report. I was involved in the Barbican In Full Colour report, Writing the Future and then Rethinking Diversity. I was clear that ‘there is nothing more I can say or do’. All the players and referees are in that court now. I haven’t got the time and it’s not my priority, my priority is to establish alternatives, help facilitate programmes and mentoring – to say that there is a home for you and we want your stories – so brokering and signposting.”
Francis is frustrated with the lack of change over the past 12 months. “It’s a year on from the Rethinking Diversity launch, so you’d think many of the publishers would say ‘a year on, this is what they are doing’. We need to hand over to them and there needs to be some sort of mapping process with key indicators of what has happened and what has improved.”
She called for the publishing industry to “be more consistent and less opaque” in how it works. “I cannot believe that organisations and commissioning editors were all contacting us but the way they were contacting us was so presumptive. Their job title is to find the talent and then they approach, with no budget, as though we will just hand out names. Alongside those there were people who were correct in their approach and said they wanted a conversation.”
There is a concern that some action is merely performative. “After Jacaranda Books published 20 Black British authors, now you’re starting to see more writers of colour be published by big publishers. But you need to see that anyway.
“What was said last year was that the white middle-class reader was being pursued…We’re seeing things but don’t know how much is real or authentic. As part of the recovery to enable us to reimagine a different literature sector we need them to come out and say ‘this is what we’re doing, this is what we need to do, this is how we collaborate’ because I don’t think that lends itself to the bigger players in the sector.”
She also called for greater clarity on who was leading in the sector.
“Whoever our literature sector leaders or innovative leaders are, please show yourselves. And don’t just come when you want something because it cheapens the whole process. That’s not to say this is all of them because there are writers having amazing experiences at Hachette and other places, I know writers who are having amazing experiences at imprints — Dialogue Books is doing brilliant stuff.”
Ultimately Francis wants people of colour to feel they have a long-term place in the industry and “not become a casualty”. She said: “From my point of view, the writers and stories will always be our priority… it’s a creative process rather than transactional or performative. People expect more”
The full discussion can be found here.
https://www.thebookseller.com/news/francis-calls-industry-leaders-let-us-know-who-you-are-1265824#
UK Black Writers Forum 