Diversity Matters: Growing Markets in Children's Publishing

This conference was funded by Arts Council England and organised by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education. The event was held at the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre on the 24th and 25th June 2006.

PRESENTERS
There were a number of speakers including:
Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty - Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality - Catherine Johnson, author - Bali Rai, author - Malorie Blackman, author - Louise Kanolik, Loxford school librairan - Suresh Ariaratnam, Freelance journalist - Mary Hoffman, author - Ken Wilson-Max, illustrator - Janetta Otter-Barry, Editorial Director of Frances Lincoln - Francesca Dow, Editorial Director of Puffin Books - Alison Morrison, Diversity in Publishing Network - Beverley Naidoo, author - Rosemary Stones, Editor of Books for Keeps

EVENT SUMMARY
This was a lively and interesting conference. Malorie Blackman, a keynote speaker, gave a passionate presentation:

'Books are first and foremost a means of sharing ideas, characters, lives. Books are all about communication - that's what makes them so special. And as such they should be accessible to all readers - so that our children can understand our differences and appreciate our similiarities. Diverse characters with wide-ranging philosophies, varied world views and even different ways of expressing themselves, add texture and depth to British literature, they don't detract from it.........I was in my mid-twenties before I read my first book which featured black characters, The Color Purple by Alice Walker. That's one hell of an age to be before you see yourself even remotely reflected in a book. Thinking about it now, maybe that's why my dad thought fiction was a waste of time, because he knew I'd never see myself reflected anywhere in it. I'm determined that won't happen to my daughter.

So to conclude, the fact that we're having this Diversity conference is a positive step. The fact that now I can go into a book shop and find a few books written by Britih BME writers is another positive step. But is is only a few books. We have many, many more steps to take. We live in a society, in a world where we all need to be more culturally, religiously and racially aware. This is the beginning of the twenty-first century for heaven's sake! And what better place to start than with the books, a form of communication and sharing which works from babies to the very old and every stage in between.' Malorie Blackman