International publisher’s Lit In Colour boost for students and staff at Burnley College Sixth Form Centre
The books received include popular titles Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera, A Promised Land by Barack Obama, and We Are All The Birds of Uganda by Hafsa Zayyan, among many others.
All are penned by a diverse range of authors, including people of colour and LGBTQ+ writers and form part of the “Lit In Colour” campaign spearheaded by publisher Penguin.
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Hide AdRepresentatives from more than 1,600 schools and colleges across the UK wrote essays on how their students would benefit from the books.
Jennifer Brown, A-Level English lecturer and College Equality, Diversity and Inclusion board member, entered on behalf on of Burnley College and said: “We want to ensure we all speak about diversity, experience and under-represented voices as openly and honestly as possible, no matter how uncomfortable these issues may be to approach.
"Receiving these books means a lot for our students. It’s about making sure that Burnley College is at the forefront of conversations about inclusion and diversity.”
A-Level English language/literature, history and sociology student Amina Shan (18), from Burnley, a former pupil at Sir John Thursby Community College, is excited at the prospect of
reading the new books.
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Hide Ad“I read ‘1000 Splendid Suns’ and it really resonated with me as a Muslim woman but then I had to search pretty hard for another book from another author of colour. I feel there is not enough representation of people of colour when it comes to books so Lit In Colour is a great initiative.”
Publishers Penguin carried out an in-depth survey into young people’s reading habits. They found 82% of students didn’t recall ever reading a book by a Black, Asian or minority ethnic author and felt it was time to address the lack of diversity on bookshelves across the UK.
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