It’s been over two years since #WeNeedDiverseBooks happened, and a lot has changed since then. There’s greater awareness of the issue of diversity in fiction. Mentorship programs, fiction contests, publishing surveys, and thinkpieces have sprung up since then.
At the same time, the same old problems persist. Publishing still largely centers the privileged. Cultural appropriation and stereotyping abound in fiction. Book reviews are rife with biases. The list goes on. Fortunately, so does the conversation. Quite a few more hashtags have been kicked off on Twitter since #WeNeedDiverseBooks, all contributing to the larger questions of – What next? How can things change for the better? How do we support creators of color and creators from other marginalized groups so that they can better tell their stories?
Here are a few of the big ones:
#WeNeedDiverseBooks started in May 2014, check out the team behind the hashtag here: weneeddiversebooks.org/
And read Audrey’s reflections on it here: http://richincolor.com/2014/05/a-few-thoughts-on-weneeddiversebooks/
#OwnVoices started by Corinne Duyvis (@corinneduyvis), meant “to recommend kidlit about diverse characters written by authors from that same diverse group.” Read more about it here: http://www.yainterrobang.com/ownvoices/
#DiverseBookBloggers started by Nazahet Hernandez (@_diversebooks) to help foster the diverse book blogger community, read more about it here: http://readdiversebooks.com/a-call-to-all-diversebookbloggers/
#OwnYourOwn started by Kaye M. (@gildedspine) to encourage marginalized voices, read more about it here: http://www.yainterrobang.com/ownyourown/