Marlon James calls for action on diversity instead of just talk

‘It’s not for the black person to be more open-minded. It’s for the white person to be less racist,’ says Booker winner in essay arguing it’s ‘time to stop talking’ about diversity in publishing

Marlon James, the author of the Booker-winning A Brief History of Seven Killings, has said that it’s “time to stop talking” about diversity, arguing that “it’s not for the black person to be more open-minded. It’s for the white person to be less racist.”

In an essay posted on the Literary Hub on Thursday, the Jamaican novelist suggests that “we too often mistake discussing diversity for doing anything constructive about it”, with the same points raised on panels about diversity year after year.

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