BONUS: Class as a barrier in the publishing industry podcast

Class is still a barrier to entry and progression in many sectors, and the publishing industry is no stranger to issues of diversity & inclusion. We speak to Professor Katy Shaw, author of The Common People Report, to talk about the barriers that working-class writers experience and the changes needed in the publishing industry to survive and thrive.

We're joined by Professor Katy Shaw from the University of Northumbria. Katy's research focusses on 21st century writings exploring working class literature and cultural representations of post-industrial regeneration. Katy is the author of The Common People Report, which identifies pervasive barriers in the way of working-class writers and makes a rallying call for change in the publishing industry and strongly recommends more effective and better funding for collaborative working. This episode explores how the Common People Report identified the ways class plays out as a barrier within the publishing industry.

Speaker profile(s)

Professor Katy Shaw leads research into twenty-first century writings at Northumbria University. Her research interests include contemporary literature, especially working-class literature, cultural representations of post-industrial regeneration and the languages of comedy. Katy is an expert in twenty-first century literature. She has produced two books on crime author David Peace, a monograph on representations of the Credit Crunch in contemporary culture, and a collection on the teaching of twenty-first century genre fiction. She is a public intellectual, literary festival host, media presenter and Twitterer. @ProfKatyShaw