PEN America has announced the launch of the PEN Equity Project, an initiative dedicated to “addressing the lack of equity in publishing for writers and publishing professionals of color,” the organization said in a release. To start the initiative, PEN is has posted a roundtable discussion entitled “Little Black Sambo & The Gingerbread Man: Truth and Honesty in Literature,” that will focus on the effect of children’s and young adult books in identity formation, as well as suggesting tangible changes to increase diversity in publishing.
The participants include Fatima Shaik (author of What Went Missing and What Got Found, and co-chair of PEN’s CYAB committee), Cheryl Klein (executive editor of Scholastic’s Arthur A. Levine Books imprint), Wade Hudson (president and CEO of Just Us Books), Daniel José Older (author of Shadowshaper), Robie Harris (author of It’s Perfectly Normal!), and Alvina Ling (v-p andeditor-in-chief of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers). In the hopes of creating a discussion, the page is open to commenters.
