The Diversity in Publishing Network held its launch on Tuesday, 8th of February 2005 at The Bridge, SE1, which is situated within the vaulted arches beneath London Bridge Station.

The evening started off with introductions from Alison Morrison and Elise Dillsworth about the organisation and its aims and objectives for promoting diversity in the publishing industry. The launch attracted a truly diverse crowd and led Alison to comment that `this is the first publishing event I have been to that has such a variety of people standing within it.' Elise added that `the ultimate aim of the network was to make the publishing industry truly reflective of the society that we live in.'

Guest speakers on the night were:

Christine Martin, Managing Director of The Bookseller, gave a few words of support and spoke about the magazine's involvement with the survey commissioned by decibel, which resulted in the publication of `In Full Colour'.

Samenua Sesher, decibel's Programme Manager at the Arts Council England, spoke about the potential for change and decibel's role with regard to advocating cultural diversity.

Diran Adebayo, author and journalist, expressed the view held by many that there are themes other than race that are of interest to black people, and that the publishing houses had to address this need. He said `we want to read about everyday life … we need to get more understanding of the nuances between black and white people. We only get to hear or read about the stories that white people are interested in about black people. You miss the true stories that are important to the black community.'

Margaret Busby, co-founder of Allison & Busby, talked about her experience of the industry and how little had really changed since her involvement with the initiative Greater Access to Publishing. She recalled her discussions with Toni Morrison about their mutual experiences as black editors: `It's not about patronage, not affirmative action we're talking about here, we're talking about the life of a country's literature.'

It was a wonderful evening and we have received a lot of positive feedback from those that attended and indeed from those who could not be there.

Andrea Levy sent the following message:

`I am sorry not to be able to attend the evening, but I just wanted you to know how wholeheartedly I support the aims of the network and how pleased I am that it now exists. I am sure it will prove an effective agent for change. Good luck with it all.'