VIDA 2015 count released; expands to include intersectional data

In the US, VIDA has released the results of its 2015 count tallying how many women and men were reviewed in, reviewed for or wrote for ‘top tier’ literary publications. The 2015 count found that while many publications improved towards gender parity across authors and reviewers, men continue to be favoured in all publications with the exception of Tin House, where women accounted for just over half its overall number of contributors (50.3%). Publications with the lowest percentage of female contributors included the New York Review of Books (20.8%), the London Review of Books (22.6%), the Times Literary Supplement (29.2%), the Atlantic (30.0%), the Nation (30.9%), the Threepenny Review (34.0%) and the Paris Review (34.4%). The Atlantic had the greatest drop in the percentage of female contributors, falling to 30% from 39.7% in 2014. The New Republic had the greatest rise, up 18 percentage points to 45.3% in 2015. In 2015 the count also expanded to include figures on race and ethnicity, gender, sexual identity and ability. Nearly 50% of the approximately 1400 writers surveyed responded. The survey found that New Republic carried the greatest percentage of bylines by women of colour (WOC); the New Yorker and the Times Literary Supplement published women writers in all sexual identity categories; and the Times Literary Supplement, New York Times Book Review, and Tin House carried the most bylines by women writers who identify as disabled. Eight of the 15 publications published pieces by writers who identified as trans women, trans women-genderqueer/genderfluid, or trans women-transfeminine. VIDA chair Amy King said the 2015 count’s intersectional approach is a ‘natural development necessary to deepen the conversation’ around identifying ‘what factors affect all women’s representation’. For more information about the 2015 count and a more detailed breakdown of the different intersectional categories, click here.

Category: International news