Lily Scott and Amalie Keefe
A reading event took place at our own school! The event, called Lit in Colour, was focused on books written by diverse authors, or about diverse characters. The library was full of books written by authors including Gary Younge, Malorie Blackman and Nicola Yoon. In the large selection of books, there were also biographies written by figures like Mohammed Ali, Michelle and Barack Obama and Serena Williams.
The event was created by Penguin and the Runnymede Trust in 2020. It has been shown that there is an under-representation of Black, Asian and ethnic minority writers in the school curriculum. Studies conducted on students in 2019 have shown that 7% of students in England study a book written by a woman at GCSE. To add to this, only 0.1% of students study a book written by a woman of colour during GCSE. The aim of Lit in Colour is to make the teaching and learning of English Literature more inclusive and increase these percentages.
Different genres of books written by different authors can show a great variety in writing styles and techniques. Reading more diverse books can help develop your own writing skills, helping you to see from different viewpoints and see different opinions. Plus you may find something that you really enjoy too. If you want a career in writing, you would have to look at books that cover a large variety and range of topics, which are written by a range of different authors.
You can join the Lit in Colour Google Classroom too and get updates on new books and chat about things that you have read. Currently, there are 25 members and we are still looking for people who are interested in joining. To join you can email or talk to Mrs MacKellar, Miss Armstrong or Miss Couch.
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