by Kavita Bhanot Since the recent failure of World Book Night to include any writers of colour in its 2015 list, there has been a fresh bout of conversation about the need for more ‘diversity’ in the literature that is published and awarded in Britain, as well as amongst those working in publishing. Every single author is white. I'm appalled. @WritersofColour https://t.co/Uwed6MyPWJ — Jonathan Ruppin (@tintiddle) November 24, 2015 Alongside a series of Guardian articles, there has been a call for contributions to Nikesh Shukla’s crowd-funded anthology on race and immigration (in itself a great idea); writers of colour have been invited to come forward, to contact Shukla. #diversedecember, a twitter initiative set up by bloggers Naomi Frisby and Dan Lipscombe, has been encouraging people to ‘read with diversity’ and share the ‘diverse’ books that they are reading. Many organisations and individuals, readers and writers, are joining in to help bring more ‘diversity’ to publishing. To whom is all this directed? Who should read more ‘diverse’ literature? For whom is literature written by minority writers ‘diverse’? For whom are minority writers ‘diverse’? Can I describe myself as ‘diverse’ – do I exist in that space called ‘diversity’? The concept of diversity only exists if there is an assumed neutral point from which ‘others’ are ‘diverse.’ Putting aside for now the straight, male, middle-classness of that ‘neutral’ space, its dominant aspect is whiteness. Constructed by a white establishment, the idea of ‘diversity’ is neo-liberal speak. It is the new corporatized version of multiculturalism. It is about management, efficiency, box-ticking. As writers of colour, we parrot this idea back, reminding white institutions that they need to increase their diversity; appealing to them to let us in, to give some of us a seat at the table too. To help convince them, institutions are reminded that ‘diversity’ is actually good for them too, that it will help them to make more money. Danuta Keane writes, in the ‘ Writing the Future’ report on the need for improved cultural/ethnic diversity in literature: ‘this isn’t about making the industry feel good. Monocultures are bad for business….within 20 years the UK BAME population will be 25%. If books don’t reflect that, they will become increasingly irrelevant and unprofitable.’ Similarly, Shukla writes in a Guardian article: ‘I wouldn’t be wasting my time if I didn’t feel there was a potential financial reward for investing in BAME writers.’ Meanwhile, a tweet on Decolonise, not Diversify Decolonise, not Diversify Media Diversified December 30, 2015 Academic , From the Lines of Dissent , Kavita Bhanot , Language , Literature Nikesh Shukla , Publishing , World Book Day M E N