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After meeting with a group of Latinx activists, Macmillan said it would take steps to substantially increase Latinx representation

After meeting with a group of Latinx activists, Macmillan said it would take steps to “substantially increas[e] Latinx representation across Macmillan, including authors, titles, staff and its overall literary ecosystem”, according to Dorany Pineda from the L.A. Times… Support our news coverage by subscribing to our Kindle Nation Daily Digest. Joining is free right now!

Less than a week after canceling Jeanine Cummins’ entire “American Dirt” book tour and acknowledging “deep inadequacies” in the rollout of its bestseller, the publishing company appears to be making changes, or at least promising them.

A group of Latinx activists met on Monday with officials at Macmillan, the international parent company of Flatiron Books, which published “American Dirt,” to deliberate over steps the publisher could take to increase Latino representation in the industry.

After the meeting, #DignidadLiteraria and Presente.org, an online Latinx organizing group, released a statement detailing the “unprecedented commitments” Macmillan made after the two-hour meeting.

According to the release, the publisher made commitments to “substantially increasing Latinx representation across Macmillan, including authors, titles, staff and its overall literary ecosystem” as well as “developing an action plan to address these objectives within 90 days.” Macmillan also said it would “regroup within 30 days with #DignidadLiteraria and other Latinx groups to assess progress.”

This week, #DignidadLiteraria and its allies will also be organizing action forums in several cities across the country, including a Thursday discussion at Antioch University in Culver City featuring Roxane Gay, Myriam Gurba, Wendy C. Ortiz and Romeo Guzman. The purpose of these panels is “to continue the conversation on Latinos and the publishing industry,” said Roberto Lovato, a writer and co-founder of the hashtag and group that arose in the wake of the outcry.

In a statement to The Times on Tuesday, Flatiron Books confirmed the wording of the agreement, adding that publishers “felt the meeting was quite productive.”

Cummins’ migrant tale “American Dirt” sparked a raging storm of controversy over the past few weeks. Published on Jan. 21, the book has been accused by critics of being a harmful act of cultural appropriation, riddled with cultural inaccuracies and stereotypes about Mexico and the struggles of migrants. It inspired snarky parodies on Twitter and sparked discussions about how far the publishing industry still had to go to represent the diversity of the Latino experience.

Read full post in the L.A. Times

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