Celebrities

This author exposed whitewashing in publishing with one tweet

This author exposed whitewashing in publishing with one tweet

Fantasy/sci-fi writer Nnedi Okorafor has outed her former publisher in a series of tweets and hightailed the issue of whitewashing in the publishing industry.

Okorafor’s book’s main character is a black woman, but her publishers proposed this cover on the left:

It allegedly took a "sh*t fit" to get them to agree in the cover on the right:

Okorafor, who was the first black person to win the World Fantasy Award for best novel since its inception in 1975, said she described the main character very clearly:

And the designer's excuse? "There were too few stock images of black girls".

Since the book was published ten years ago, she says she has made sure it's never happened again:

More: Meet the author who inspired a nation to welcome refugees

The Conversation (0)
x