It’s time for our weekly roundup of tweets from or about BIPOC, LGBTQIAP+, and/or otherwise underrepresented writers, reviewers, and list curators. If you don’t already, please follow these accounts and be sure to always retweet the original post.
RWA is next week, and the board has published a preview of their potential changes to RITA nominations and judging with the goal of increasing representation of writers from marginalized communities in the finalists and addressing inherent bias in the judging process.
It will be some time before all the ramifications of the HQN reorganization are clear, but we already know one thing—HQN readers have lost a fierce advocate for diversity in romance in Carina Press’s Angela James.
However, progress is never only one person’s responsibility, and Adriana has advice for how we can all work to amplify underrepresented voices every day.
If Carina Press closes, the loss of this digital-first imprint could push more writers to self-publishing. Roan Parrish outlines the cumulative costs of self-publishing. This is something that will disproportionately affect underrepresented authors with the potential of silencing their voices when they need more than ever to be amplified.
While this piece is specifically about children’s literature, it translates to the romance genre and is worth a read.
Romance readers live and breathe for tropes, but many are gendered and problematic. Alys Murray says that writers need “to do the work of breaking free of the constraints that society has put around depictions of masculinity and femininity.”
As Alys says, “ When we discuss problematic elements of the romance genre, it’s because we love the genre, and want it to be better for all of its readers.” The people behind WOC in Romance and Girl, Have You Read are doing important work in promoting authors of color in romance. Go fill up your TBRs using their lists of new releases.
WOC in Romance has also announced their July book, ADAM AND EVA by Sandra Kitt, so head over to their Patreon to join the club!
We hope you have a week filled with books and joy and all the good things!