Backstories
Hannah Sterke
The young adult reading community is known for both making and breaking authors with the power of Twitter. In 2019 Amèlie Wen Zhao wrote a fantasy story called Blood Heir which she ended up temporarily pulling from publication due to being seen as anti-black and insensitive. Zhao was canceled.
Because of the fear of cancel culture, authors have become afraid of writing stories that involve cultural references and diverse protagonists. It has become safer to write white characters because that poses fewer risks for the publishing industry. The community cancels those who are seen as offensive, with the intention of banning all harmful content from young adult books and promoting inclusivity. Unfortunately, it is achieving the exact opposite and diverse characters are purposely not written to avoid Twitter drama.
With my project, I aim to give back a voice to book characters affected by cancel culture and start a conversation on representation in the publishing industry.
Backstories
Hannah Sterke
The young adult reading community is known for both making and breaking authors with the power of Twitter. In 2019 Amèlie Wen Zhao wrote a fantasy story called Blood Heir which she ended up temporarily pulling from publication due to being seen as anti-black and insensitive. Zhao was canceled.
Because of the fear of cancel culture, authors have become afraid of writing stories that involve cultural references and diverse protagonists. It has become safer to write white characters because that poses fewer risks for the publishing industry. The community cancels those who are seen as offensive, with the intention of banning all harmful content from young adult books and promoting inclusivity. Unfortunately, it is achieving the exact opposite and diverse characters are purposely not written to avoid Twitter drama.
With my project, I aim to give back a voice to book characters affected by cancel culture and start a conversation on representation in the publishing industry.
