Chowdhury releases Beatrice Davis Editorial Fellowship report

11 November 2020 Books+Publishing

Penguin Random House Australia senior audio producer and commissioning editor Radhiah Chowdhury has released her Beatrice Davis Editorial Fellowship report on the experiences and perspectives of BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) editors and authors working in the UK publishing industry. Chowdhury hopes her report, completed despite the Covid-19 pandemic, will be part of a ‘watershed moment’ in Australian publishing.

‘Although the travel portion of the Beatrice Davis Fellowship didn’t eventuate, the opportunity to connect with so many of my remarkable peers working in the inclusive publishing space has been life-changing, I could not have asked for a better experience of this important editorial fellowship,’ said Chowdhury.

Chowdhury said her report, ‘It’s hard to be what you can’t see: Diversity Within Australian Publishing’, is ‘difficult and challenging reading by design’.

‘I invite readers to work at decentring themselves and actively listen to the observations and experiences discussed within it. The information may contradict your own experiences, but they reflect a reality lived by people of colour, and I urge you to strive against any defensive instinct towards what-aboutism or dismissiveness while reading.

‘I hope that readers will find plenty to engage with in the findings, gain some understanding of the very difficult path walked by people of colour in the publishing industry and appreciate the generosity of those interviewed. Above all, I hope that this report is part of a watershed moment within the Australian publishing sector to sustainably, consultatively and meaningfully change our practices and culture to reflect the complex, colourful stories of our national community.’

The full report is available from the Australian Publishers Association website here.

Category: Local news