Authors and free speech campaigners have claimed that writers are not being commissioned by some literary agents due to their perceived “privilege”.
An investigation by the Telegraph has found examples of literary agencies making clear their preference for authors deemed under-represented or marginalised – normally meaning people of colour, disabled writers and those from the LGBTQ+ community – prompting concern that authors who do not meet the criteria are becoming “ostracised”.
Ash Literary, an agency looking “for extraordinary stories for children that reflect and celebrate the diversity of our world”, states on its submissions page: “We are not interested in stories about white able-bodied WW2 evacuees but would welcome that story from a disabled, LGBTQ+ or BIPOC [black, indigenous, and other people of colour] perspective.”
It adds: “If your book is about an identity that is not yours, we will not be a good fit. This includes books based [sic] the experiences of family members and friends.”
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Julie Gourinchas from Bell Lomax Moreton, which represents authors and illustrators, says she is “interested in hearing from authors traditionally under-represented in the industry, including but not restricted to writers of colour; queer, trans, and nonbinary writers; working class writers; disabled writers; etc.”
On Ms Wishlist, a website in which literary agents state the types of literature they’re after, one writes that “BIPOC, queer and minority groups are always the most welcome”, and another said that he is “specifically looking for [works] written by #LGBTQIA + and/or #BIPOC authors”. Both were contacted for comment, the latter declining.
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“I’m lucky that I found a brave agent and editor to take me on in this otherwise suffocating climate, where people who think genuinely differently from the herd are often ostracised, and conformist authors doing the same thing as everybody else are lauded as iconoclasts.”
Toby Young, general secretary of the Free Speech Union, said: “It seems the ideal client from the point of view of these literary agencies is a non-binary person of colour with a disability and a trust fund. Whether or not they can write seems largely immaterial.
“The problem is, the book-buying public knows when they pick up a book by an unknown author from an ‘under-represented group’ that, nine times out 10, it’s been published because of the identity boxes the author ticks and not because it’s any good. Consequently, they’re unlikely to buy it. I worry that if the woke capture of the UK publishing industry continues unabated, the UK won’t have a publishing industry left in about 10 years.”
Alex Byrne, a philosophy professor who recently had his book on sex and gender dropped by Oxford University Press, said it was notable that gender-critical writers like Kathleen Stock, Helen Joyce and US author Abigail Shrier could only find one publisher willing to publish their work. “You’d have thought if you just had a bit of common sense and were able to take the temperature of the room, and you were concerned for your bottom line, then you would have realised that these books are likely to sell very well,” he said.
Bell Lomax was approached for comment. Ash Literary the Good Literary Agency declined to comment.
* Original Article:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/09/literary-agents-authors-lgbtq-disabled-people-colour/