AJ Betts is an Australian YA author and for the #LoveOzLit question of diversity, took a different approach — here in Australia, Australian novels are very rarely labelled as such, and American books and authors are the ones displayed more prominently. The #LoveOzYA movement was borne out of this — out of authors recognising readers didn’t know they were Australian authors, and didn’t realise they were missing out on diverse books and authors.
Go into your nearest bookstore and see what’s featured there — see whether your Australian authors are prominently displayed or labelled or whether, your local authors, wherever you are are treated different or the same as the famous authors. Everyone knows the famous ones. It’s time they learned about everyone else.
What do you think of this quote? What is it like when you go into your bookstore?
I love this idea. I live in the U.S., but I think it would be great to have a table or area set up with books from other countries and have them labeled as such!
IKR? After reading this quote and thinking about it i’m always hyper-aware of where the Aussie authors’ books are. Some stores are really good and others aren’t really — but it’s interesting you experience the other way around — you’d like foreign authors highlighted, but i want the Australian homegrown ones highlighted!