(June 2020) Black Writers’ Guild Calls For Sweeping Change In UK Publishing
As black authors top the bestseller charts in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests spurred by the killing of George Floyd, the newly formed Black Writers’ Guild (BWG), which counts among its members some of Britain’s best known authors and poets, has written an open letter airing concerns that “British publishers are raising awareness of racial inequality without significantly addressing their own”. Several of the signatories have recently shared their experiences of racism, including editors’ requests to add white or racist characters to their books, and being offered lower advances than their white contemporaries. The letter was sent to the “big five” publishers – Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, HarperCollins and Macmillan.
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