Do you want to feel represented when reading?

For me, reading is a form of escapism. Whether I'm reading a psychological thriller (The Wicked Sister by Karen Dionne is great) or a small town romance (Archer's voice by Mia Sheridan), the books I read don't tend to emulate my life.

Even when I was younger, the books I read were never a representation of me or the life I lived. The main characters weren't black girls - except Sephy and other Malorie Blackman characters - and I'm not sure if I found a problem in that.

I definitely didn't notice it to be something that tainted my reading experiences. Personally, reading books about people from completely different walks of life was quite refreshing because I guess it just deepened my creativity and developed my general knowledge.

That being said though, I held a lot of these opinions when race wasn't a huge factor of my life. I grew up around black people, so I didn't feel deprived when I was reading, in the same way that people who didn't grow up seeing themselves on TV and in real life would find comfort in reading about characters that looked like them. It's sad knowing that black authors in the US only make up 6% of the literary world, and I can imagine that to be even less in the UK.

Growing up in a world where whiteness is the standard and everything else is viewed as an act of rebellion, its exhausting just trying to exist as your authentic self without being judged. Sometimes you don't even realise what you've been missing until you're introduced to it, and this is something that I realised once I reintroduced myself to reading in my older years. There's an inexplicable comfort in knowing that the person you're reading about shares a similar experience to you. Reading books where you understand the context without it having to be overexplained simply because it is your lived experience is something a lot of POC don't get to experience, and I now I'm actively looking for books where black and brown women can just exist.

We don't need books surrounded by our identities, we too want small town romances, fantasies and thriller mysteries. Despite being a defining factor for our lives, race doesn't make up who we are, and honestly, I feel like I can speak for the majority when I say being reduced to our race and the discrimination we face is tiring and played out. The same way we way to see light hearted representation on our screens, is the same thing we want for our books.

I also strongly believe that a lot more young kids would be inclined to read if they knew they could relate in SOME aspect. Candice Brathwaite does this very well in 'Cuts both ways', in the scene where Cynthia travels home to get her hair done in the salon while her mum takes the opportunity to buy plantain and catch up with her loved ones. That scene does so much without even saying a lot, and we would benefit with a lot more of that.

On the topic of representation, I do feel a way about non POC authors writing in the first person as a POC person. It's one thing writing in the third person, because you're writing about someone else, but I don't think I'll ever feel comfortable knowing that a white author is writing about a Black or an Asian character as though they are them. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was such an amazing book, but it really threw me off when I realised one of the main characters was mixed-race; it just rubbed me the wrong way.

You can think what you want though.

Reading is such a beautiful pastime, and I would love for there to be more representation when it comes to authors and characters because we deserve to take up space.

Books I recommend by POC authors:

The girl with the louding voice - Abi Dare

Three days of Happiness - Sugaru Miaki

Seven Days in June - Tia Williams

Open Water - Caleb Azumah Nelsom

Reel - Kennedy Ryan

Cuts both ways - Candice Brathwaite (YA)

Excuse me while I ugly cry - Joyna Goffrey ( YA)