Minoritised presence in fiction is down year on year - from 24% in 2022 to 11% in 2023. Fiction is the text type which has seen much slower growth than non-fiction and picturebooks and these figures represent a significant widening of the gap.
This is echoed in the presence reported in non-fiction - down from 30% in 2022 to 22% in 2023. This marks the second drop in a row after a sustained increase in the first five reports.
Picturebooks continue to have the highest proportion of presence across the three text types. This cycle has seen a slight increase with 55% of picturebook titles published in 2023 featuring characters from racially minoritised backgrounds within their casts (52% in 2022).
This year’s report calls for renewed commitment from the publishing industry in improving the volume and quality of inclusive output, alongside a review of practices and investment.
Thank you to ACE for their continued support in funding this research & to our wonderful steering group Darren Chetty, @drmrb.bsky.social, Karen Sands-O'Connor,Dr Zaahida Nabagereka, Prof.Vini Lander, Letterbox Library, Nicky Parker & Louise Johns Shepherd for their invaluable support of this work.
Comments