Dr Alice Curry. Alice is the founder and CEO of Lantana Publishing, a diverse and inclusive children’s publishing house in the UK. In the UK, a third of school children identify as Black, Asian or minority ethnic, but fewer than 5% of children’s books feature characters of colour and fewer than 2% of children’s book creators are British People of Colour. Lantana Publishing is dedicated to changing that.
Alice founded Lantana Publishing as a social enterprise after her PhD in Children’s Literature and her own family circumstances led her to discover the need for a much more global understanding of childhood in the publishing industry.
In this episode, we discuss the power of children’s literature, how important it is for children to see themselves in the books they read, and what stands in the way of a more inclusive publishing industry. We also touch on the daily struggles and pleasures of being an entrepreneur, building and leading a diverse team, and how Lantana Publishing is responding to the Covid-19 crisis (spoiler: by making children’s literature more accessible).
If you were a child once, I think you will enjoy this episode.
Resources and links mentioned in this episode
- 2020-2021 Catalogue of Lantana Publishing
- Lantana Publishing Book Club
- Lantana Publishing on Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | website | blog
- Tàta Story Time, authors reading beautiful picture books
- A Story About Afiya
- Nnedi Okorafor, the author who gave Lantana Publishing its first book
- Digital education platform World Reader
- Illustrator Poonam Mistry
Angelika Love 