We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) will no longer use the term #OwnVoices to refer to children’s lit
We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) will no longer use the term #OwnVoices to refer to children’s literature or its authors and we have removed mentions of #OwnVoices from previously published blog posts. Moving forward, WNDB will use specific descriptions that authors use for themselves and their characters whenever possible (for example, “Korean American author,” or “autistic protagonist”). #OwnVoices was created as a hashtag by author Corinne Duyvis in September 2015. It was originally intended as a shorthand book recommendation tool in a Twitter thread, for readers to recommend books by authors who openly shared the diverse identity of their main characters. The hashtag was never intended to be used in a broader capacity, but it has since expanded in its use to become a “catch all” marketing term by the publishing industry. Using #OwnVoices in this capacity raises issues due to the vagueness of the term, which has then been used to place diverse creators in uncomfortable and potentially unsafe situations. It is important to use the language that authors want to celebrate about themselves and their characters.We Need Diverse Books believes in supporting diverse authors and their books, and we will continue to uplift their voices through our programming.[Image description: Graphic featuring a tiled background of diverse book covers, the WNDB logo, and text that reads, “Why We Need Diverse Books Is No Longer Using the Term #OwnVoices.”] -- source link
#ownvoices#own voices#announcement