Finding your VOICE
An interview with NB author Xiran Jay Zhao JONATHON McCLELLAN | Contributing Writerjonathonmmcclellan@gmail.com Have you ever gone into a bookstore and asked yourself, “What’s missing?” Maybe that’s because most of the books that are published were created by heterosexual, white authors.
It’s as if the publishing industry never got the memo that there are many voices unaccounted for and that diversity is desperately needed.
But there has been progress, signs maybe that the industry is changing. It could be that what’s happening behind the scenes, in the decision rooms, are a microcosm of what’s happening around the world, too.
To better understand why it is so difficult to find queer or colored writers’ voices and why, often, there is an author default, I sat down with Xiran Jay Zhao, the No.
