This World Book Day, let’s keep pushing for progress on diversity within the publishing industry

As a child the closest I came to seeing a character that looked like me was reading about Pocahontas. There’s been progress in recent years, but there’s still clearly a long way to go, writes Rabina Khan

Thursday 04 March 2021 11:10 GMT
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Bernardine Evaristo topped 2020’s fiction list at the British Book Awards (Rex)
Bernardine Evaristo topped 2020’s fiction list at the British Book Awards (Rex)

Today, as we celebrate World Book Day, it has made me reflect on the difference between children’s books when I was young and the books that are widely-available today.

In the late 1970s, books by Black and Asian authors were not provided to me at school, so I was unaware they existed. I never saw Black, Asian, or minority ethnic characters in books either.

The nearest I came to seeing a character with whom I could identify with was when our class read about Pocahontas. It had a profound effect on my life, not least because I was the only child of colour in our class at the time. 

As a child, every Saturday after lunch, my dad took my siblings and I down Rochester High Street to the library. I used to weave in and out of the shelves of books searching for something to fill a void that couldn’t be satisfied by Grimm’s fairy tales, or Enid Blyton and Nancy Drew books. I found many books by women writers, but none by Black or Asian writers.

I talk about these experiences in my forthcoming book My Hair is Pink Under This Veil, which I hope will inspire other young, aspiring Muslim women to succeed against setbacks and successfully challenge stereotypes.

Until recently, very few books featured BAME characters and even fewer had a main character from a BAME background. In fact, a study by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education revealed that of the 9,115 children’s books published in 2017 in the UK, only 391 featured Black, Asian and minority ethnic characters. Although the number of BAME protagonists in children’s books increased from 1 per cent in 2017 to 4 per cent in 2018, this does still not reflect the diverse UK population.

There are signs of progress though. In 2016, a group of British writers launched the Jhalak Prize for the best book by a writer of colour. Also since 2016, the International Booker Prize has been awarded to a single book translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland, with the winnings shared equally between the author and the translator. The success of award-winning authors such as Zadie Smith also provides hope for greater diversity in the UK literary scene.

In 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement and Covid-19 pandemic played a significant role in highlighting the importance of BAME writers and ensuring that children and young people had the opportunity to read these stories. Last year also saw an increase in the sales of books by Black British authors and several of these writers have won prestigious awards. Candice Carty-Williams, for example, became the first Black author to win book of the year at the British Book Awards last year. Nevertheless, BAME authors are still underrepresented in UK publishing.

Although clearly delighted to win, Carty-Williams said: “I’m also sad and confused that I’m the first black and female author to have won this award since it began. Overall, this win makes me hopeful that although I’m the first, the industry is waking up to the fact that I shouldn’t and won’t be the last.”

There is clearly still a long way to go, so this year’s World Book Day should celebrate the progress being made in striving for equality and providing opportunities for the multitude of talented authors from diverse backgrounds to share their work with the world.

Toni Morrison once said: “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”

So, I wrote a book, narrated a tale of trials and tribulations, love and tears, the times of darkness and light, of defeat and victory - and owned my story. You can do the same.

Rabina Khan is a Liberal Democrat councillor for Shadwell in east London

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