Fewer than 2% of British children's authors are people of colour

Only 1.96% of authors and illustrators between 2007 and 2017 were British people of colour, compared to 13% of the population

For a decade in the UK, fewer than 2% of all children’s book creators – authors and illustrators – were British people of colour, according to the latest research into the publishing industry’s systemic lack of diversity.

Commissioned by BookTrust, the UK’s largest children’s reading charity, the report by UCL associate professor Melanie Ramdarshan Bold combines an analysis of all children’s books published in the UK between 2007 and 2017, as well as interviews with 15 writers of colour including Benjamin Zephaniah and Malorie Blackman. BookTrust director of children’s books Jill Coleman said it reveals a “desperate lack” of people of colour in the industry.

Related: Why are children’s books stuck in monochrome? | Sanchita Basu De Sarkar

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