Diaspora
A Panel
Ngatu and Slide Art
by Ruha and Minaira Fifita
Sharon Orapeleng, Dimity Powell and June Perkins
With Sandra Makaresz
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the country on which this panel meets, the Turrbal, Yuggera people, and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture.
We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
�����1- Launching WQ 275 �� What this project means?� �2- Dialogue behind the Scenes�� What it revealed personal level – gifts/ challenges��3 – Writing Communities � � Why acknowledge diaspora/ CALD/ POC/ FN�� Present / Future� � ��
Art by Ruha and Minaira Fifita
Acknowledging contributors to WQ 275
Inda Ahmad Zahri , Samuel Wagan Watson, Rana Al-Mekarry
Minaira and Ruha Fifita, Fereshteh Hooshmand, Roselle Tenefrancia
Thank you to the QLD Writers Centre �
A fantastic example
And regular contributor
Lesley Synge (centre)
Sandra Makaresz, Editor and Mentor
A place at the table�
Photo by QWC
Diaspora� �The dispersion or spread of any people from their original homeland.� � Oxford Dictionary�
1.What are the gifts and challenges of the diaspora?�
Personal Stories
From Family Albums, Sharon, Dimity and June
Article 27
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
� �There is no human right, of course, for people to be reflected in the arts or in media. But we can all appreciate that someone’s dignity can be connected with how they or, to be more specific, the group they belong to — are depicted in the public sphere. ��Where a group in society is invisible or demeaned, the message is clear. Those in that group are outsiders, second-class members, or even an ‘other’ against whom society defines itself.�
Tim Soutphommasane, Commissioner, Quoted in Diversity Arts Australia, Shifting the Balance, 2018
2. What are the challenges of the diaspora for publishing?�
Diversity isn’t a trend, it’s a lived experience.
Camha Pham, Kill Your Darlings.
It’s no surprise that the publishing industry has a diversity problem. Most media industries do.
But, unlike the film and television industry, we have not seen any progress globally.
Whilst there is definitely more attention being placed on publishing Black authors, such as Penguin’s Black Britain: Writing Black series, the lack of work being done behind the scenes to diversify the industry is disappointing to say the least.
There’s so much more to be done in terms of diversity. But one thing is certain: representation is not a privilege, it’s a right. And we, as an industry, should strive to make that happen.
Jing Xuan Teo, in, Grattan St Press
US and UK The 2019 Diversity Baseline Survey (DBS 2.0),
76% of publishing staff, review journal staff and literary agents are white
‘Editorial is even more White than before’ with the number of white editorial staff increased from 82% in 2015 to 85% in 2019.
Publishing, particularly the field of editing, is incredibly homogeneous.
Cited in Camha Pham (2020) Kill Your Darlings
People employed in the Australian book industry
6% of respondents identified as a person of colour
and one person (out of 349 respondents) as a First Nations person.
2018 survey by Books+Publishing
Camha Pham (2020) Kill Your Darlings
There needs to be an effort to collect data, similar to the First Nations and POC Writers Count, which looks into the number of FNPOC in gatekeeper positions, including editors, publishers, agents and critics—everyone who has a role to play in the manuscript to market pipeline.
Lucas-Pennington says gathering such data will ‘create a facts-based solution to the problems of under-representation [which will] allow for clear goal-setting.’
Camha Pham (2020) Kill Your Darlings
Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Australians
under-represented across every leadership role in
every cultural sector, organisational type and jurisdiction.
Only 9% of the 1,980 leaders of our major cultural institutions are CALD Australians
Diversity Arts Australia, Shifting the Balance, 2018
AHRC - 39 % of Australians have a CALD background
Approximately half (51%) of the major cultural organisations
had no CALD representation at the leadership level.
Literature 14% highest representation CALD leadership
but still 25% under-represented
Performing Arts 5%
Diversity Arts Australia, Shifting the Balance, 2018
3.Why do we need stories of the diaspora?�
2021
Belonging
Connection
Inclusive
Dialogue
The top 10 countries providing the most permanent migrants to Australia in order of rank for 2019–20 are:
India
People’s Republic of China
United Kingdom
Philippines
Vietnam�
Nepal�
New Zealand�
Pakistan�
South Africa
United States of America
Source: https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-statistics/statistics/country-profiles/profiles
�
Some changes since 2014
The top three source countries of humanitarian entrants in 2019–20 to Australia are:
Iraq
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Syria
Source: https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-statistics/statistics/country-profiles/profiles
�
Mandarin and Cantonese are the top 2 languages, other than English spoken in Australia.
Filipino/Tagalog is the fastest growing of the top 10 language groups in Australia, growing by 97%.
Source: https://identitycomms.com.au/2017/04/top-10-languages-australia/
4.How can we support writers of the diaspora and CALD?�
Photo by QWC - Contributors to WQ 275 with QWC - Sandra Makaresz and Lori-Jay Ellis
Calls for publishers to diversify their lists are louder than ever, but to achieve true diversity we need to look at the industry’s gatekeepers. The glaring absence of First Nations editors and editors of colour exposes systemic issues . . .
Camha Pam (2020) Kill Your Darlings
Diverse writers in Australia are creating bestselling works that connect with a broader range of readers and have international appeal.
Many of these books are disproving previous perceptions that diversity is for a niche readership.
Andrea Hanke, Publishing Perspectives
2021
Opportunity
Respect
Acknowledgement
Choice
Part of this lack, I think, comes from constraints placed on writers who are “othered” by the industry.
For example, I think that it is probably easier for an indigenous author to be published if they write about epic struggles, rather than breezy romantic comedy.
Likewise, I think that migrant writers will have an easier time getting into print if they follow the well-established trope of the happy, grateful migrant.
Natalie Kon-Yu, On the Stella Count
Art by Ruha and Minaira Fifita
Diversity Arts Australia recommend
Can we do this?
Indigenous futurism is an artistic movement — that includes novels, video games, comic books and more — that explore questions like these to reimagine what Indigenous people lived like in the past and consider an unlimited future. The term was first used by Anishinabe professor Dr. Grace Dillon in the book Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction.
Monica Whitepigeon, Native News Online
What would this country be like if Native people were never colonized?
What if Native people weren’t always portrayed in the past or thought of as non-existent?
How would future generations uphold Indigenous teachings and culture?
These are only a few examples of themes that Native creatives and scholars explore through Indigenous Futurism.
Monica Whitepigeon, Native News Online
Literary awards prove that books by POC are really good, and yet, books by AOCs are often under-marketed and given less attention than their white counterparts.
Jing Xuan Teo, in, Grattan St Press
References
Beck, Abaki, (2020) ‘Indigenous Futurisms’ https://www.wernative.org/articles/indigenous-futurism
Chowdury, Radhiah ‘It’s hard to be what you can’t see: Diversity within Australian Publishing’ (2019-2020)
https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/measuring-diversity-in-australian-publishing
Diversity Arts Australia, (2019). Shifting the Balance: Cultural Diversity in Leadership Within the Australian Arts, Screen and Creative Sectors, Sydney
For tool kit of ideas: https://www.canva.com/design/DAED9zLLjiQ/view#3
Hanke, Andrea(2017) ‘In Australia, Publishers and Readers Embrace Diverse Books’ https://publishingperspectives.com/2019/10/in-australia-publishers-and-readers-embrace-diverse-books/
Konyu, Natalie(2016)
‘The Stella Count and the Whiteness of Australian Publishing’ https://theconversation.com/diversity-the-stella-count-and-the-whiteness-of-australian-publishing-69976
Nel, Phillip, (208) ‘Migration, Refugees, and Diaspora in Children’s Literature’ https://philnel.com/2018/12/11/chlaqmigrationrefugees/
Indigenous Futurisms
Pham, Camha (2020) ‘Where are all the editors of colour?’
https://www.killyourdarlings.com.au/article/where-are-all-the-editors-of-colour/
Whitepigeon, Monica, (2020), Indigenous Futurisms Ushers in New Perspectives, Past, Present and Future https://nativenewsonline.net/arts-entertainment/indigenous-futurism-ushers-in-new-perspectives-of-past-present-and-future
Xuan Teo, Jing(2021), We Need to talk about the publishing industry’s diversity problem,’ https://grattanstreetpress.com/2021/05/18/we-need-to-talk-about-the-publishing-industrys-diversity-problem/
Many thanks for listening from Sharon Orapeleng, Dimity Powell, June Perkins- WQ 275