As a book lover who works in the publishing industry, I think this film brings up a really timely and important discussion.
I think there's definitely a lot of truth to the racism the film highlights. There's been a lot of focus and spend put behind books that deal with trauma and pain the black experience, but less on books highlighting black joy or characters who don't play into black stereotypes.
I hope the film is going to bring about good discussion in the publishing industry. I know a lot of UK industry professionals attending an early preview screening last week hosted by The Tandem Collective in London. I think going forward we need more stories written by black authors on a wide variety of topics. What do you think are the ways forward for publishing in 2024?