Vida count 2016: male writers comprise about two thirds of authors, reviewers

In the US, Vida, the organisation for Women in Literary Arts, found that about two thirds of the authors featured in literary journals and periodicals across US and international literary publications are men, reports the Guardian.

The London Review of Books has again been found to have the worst gender disparity, with women making up only 18% of reviewers and 26% of authors reviewed. The publication’s figures have been more or less consistent since 2010.

Other publications analysed in the Vida 2016 count include the Paris Review, Poetry, the New Republic, the Atlantic, the Threepenny Review, the New Yorker, Tin House, Harper’s, the Nation, the New York Times, Granta, the Boston Review and the Times Literary Supplement.

This was the first year the count attempted to track intersections of age and education, its first year with new expanded breakdowns analysing disability and impairment, Hispanic and Jewish ancestry, sexual identity, gender identity, and race. ‘The VIDA Count is a work-in-progress and is heavily reliant on self-identification,’ Vida said. ‘We are learning, and we are listening. But it is vital that we continue to expand our inquiries and document marginalized people who are left out of the broader literary discourse, who are routinely denied publication at exceedingly high rates compared to the favored demographic of straight white men’.

To see the count, click here.

Category: International news