The Diversity Pledge: Crunching My Numbers for 2013
I think this is the first time I’ve seriously looked at my reading numbers. And now I’m going to share them with the world. The list only includes novels, collections, and narrative non-fiction. I have not factored in multiple books by the same author. Here’s the author list: Gareth L. Powell Myke Cole Christopher Barzak Nir Yaniv Brian McClellan Paul Cornell Michael R. Underwood Michael J. Martinez Nick Mamatas Wes Chu Doug Lain Richard Phillips Mike Resnick James Anthony Froude Stephen N. Cobham Michel Maxwell Philip C.L.R. James Edgar Mittelholzer Roger Mais George Lamming V.S. Naipaul Kim Stanley Robinson John Scalzi Saladin Ahmed Brandon Sanderson Jay Lake Max Gladstone Chuck Wendig Karen Lord Merle Hodge Caryl Phillips Dionne Brand Erna Brodber Mary Seacole Evie Manieri Linda Nagata Nalo Hopkinson Rhiannon Held Lauren Beukes Yoon Ha Lee Ruth Frances Long Emma Newman Cassandra Rose Clarke Ann Leckie Cherie Priest Jean Rhys Beryl Gilroy Suzanne Collins Mira Grant Lois McMaster Bujold Nancy Kress Aliette de Bodard Zen Cho Mur Lafferty Stina Leicht Here are the percentages w/ commentary: Gender Male (50.9%) Female (49.1%) I’m actually surprised with this. While I make an effort to maintain gender parity for The Skiffy and Fanty Show, that same effort does not apply to my academic work. There, I’m concerned with a tradition of literature, which is historically male-centric. But apparently even my PhD project is fairly equal in terms of gender. In any case, I’m happy. I wanted to get close to 50/50, and so I have. A+ Diversity White (61.82%) Non-White (38.18%) I’m uncomfortable with this category for two reasons: 1) I don’t like the idea that there are two groups (white and non-white); 2) I don’t know how to get around that without making completely idiotic assumptions about other people’s race. But this is the only way I have to measure racial diversity, and so I have to use it. If anyone has a better idea, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment. I also wanted to include a note about LGBT authors here, but I realized that I’d have to go digging around to figure who is who. And, well, it’s really none of my business. It wasn’t something I intentionally selected for this year, though I certainly would like to read more works by LGBT authors. In any case, I’m not dissatisfied with these numbers. They’re not as bad as they could be, and they could certainly be better, but considering that I didn’t actually try, I’m genuinely pleased that nearly 40% of my reading came from people of color. U.S./U.K. (65.46%) Elsewhere (34.54%)(includes expatriates) This doesn’t surprise me at all. Since my field of research is Caribbean literature, a good chunk of what I read this year would have to be from elsewhere on the planet. In 2014, that number is going to look very different indeed thanks to the World SF Tour. If I had more time, I’d break these numbers down by region (the Caribbean, continental Europe, etc.). For now, I’ll settle for the above. ———————————————- And that’s that. How about you? Leave your numbers below!