An estimated 2 – 5% of the population are either transgender or have experienced gender dysphoria. Despite this, historically transgender characters have not made up 2 – 5% of characters in fiction, or indeed, have not occupied 2 – 5% of roles in any media. At the less extreme end of the spectrum of impacts this can have, those who would and could be great and supportive friends, parents or colleagues to transgender people in their lives find that they aren’t able to be, purely through a lack of knowledge or understanding of what it is to be transgender. On … Continue reading Why we need diverse books: Turnaround’s top titles with transgender characters

All across the English-language publishing diaspora, now seems to be an exciting moment for diverse books. The Society of Young Publishers just themed their AGM on diversity in the industry; Seven Stories, the UK’s National Centre for Children’s Books, just published a list of the 50 best diverse children’s books in The Guardian; the hashtag #weneeddiversebooks regularly trends on Twitter whenever there is a fitting new release, or indeed, whenever there appears to have been a lack of fitting releases; the children’s laureate Malorie Blackman has made it the explicit goal of her time in the role to champion diverse … Continue reading Why We Need Diverse Books