In December 2015, British publishing stood accused of woeful blindness to diversity, and not for the first time, after World Book Night (WBN) announced its titles, and none of the 15 books was by a writer of colour. An apology was issued by organisers but a wider malaise had already set in, and along with it, the troubling feeling that WBN’s oversight was less an isolated incident and more a recurring pattern of exclusion that stretched across the literary establishment.

? ? ? 2015年12月，英國出版界因嚴(yán)重缺乏多樣性遭到詬病，這已經(jīng)不是第一次了。之前，“世界圖書之夜”（WBN）公布的入圍名單中，15本書沒有一本的作者是有色人種。組織方發(fā)布了道歉聲明，但已經(jīng)引發(fā)了大范圍負(fù)面情緒，人們還擔(dān)心，“世界圖書之夜”對有色人種的忽視并非偶然，而是反映了遍及整個文學(xué)界不斷重現(xiàn)的排外現(xiàn)象。

A report on the state of the books industry had been published earlier that year by the development agency Spread the Word, which drew attention to how intransigently white, middle-class (and further up the ladder, male) it remained, from literary festivals and prizes to publications and personnel. The industry has been announcing strategies for change since 2015. Publishing houses have rolled out paid internships, mentoring schemes and traineeships to attract socially under-represented and BAME applicants on an unprecedented scale, as well as creating opportunities for women to move into boardrooms.

? ? ? ?同年早些時候，一家名為“文字傳播”（Spread the Word）的發(fā)展咨詢機(jī)構(gòu)公布了一份圖書行業(yè)情況報告，指出從出席文化節(jié)，到作品或個人獲獎，中產(chǎn)階級白人（男性，如果再往細(xì)分）都占據(jù)了統(tǒng)治地位。2015年起，業(yè)內(nèi)就開始出臺改革政策，各出版社開展了帶薪實(shí)習(xí)、輔導(dǎo)課程和學(xué)徒計劃，以前所未有的規(guī)模吸引了社會少數(shù)族群和非白人族裔的應(yīng)聘者，也為女性晉升管理層創(chuàng)造了機(jī)會。

To name a few recent initiatives: Penguin Random House is offering interest-free rent loans to draw more applicants from outside London, and has set a company goal “for all new hires and the books we acquire to reflect UK society by 2025 in terms of social mobility, ethnicity, gender, disability, and sexuality”. HarperCollins is launching programmes for BAME employees and those taking long-term parental leave, while Hachette is encouraging diversity at an executive level in a mentoring scheme with board members. Some schemes show promising signs. Penguin’s campaign, which connects aspiring writers from socially excluded communities to agents, editors and authors, is helping to deverstify these professions.

? ? ? ?舉幾個近期發(fā)生的例子：企鵝蘭登書屋提供免息租房貸款，旨在吸引更多倫敦市外的應(yīng)聘者，同時制定了公司目標(biāo)，要在“2025年以前，讓新入職員工和新出版圖書反應(yīng)英國社會的現(xiàn)狀，包括社會流動性、民族構(gòu)成、性別特征、殘疾人群體和性取向”。哈珀柯林斯出版社為非白人族裔和需要長期休育嬰假的人出臺了相關(guān)政策。而阿歇特出版社則為高層開設(shè)輔導(dǎo)課程，從而提高管理層成員的多樣性。其中一些活動呈現(xiàn)出了喜人態(tài)勢，比如企鵝出版社讓社會邊緣群體的優(yōu)秀作者躋身出版機(jī)構(gòu)、編輯行業(yè)和作家行列，豐富了這些領(lǐng)域的多樣性。

It appears to be a turning point for British publishing, and yet those who have been around for long enough feel a profound sense of disappointment, because there have been mentorship schemes and initiatives before, yet the industry has always failed to maintain the diversity it has achieved. And where some publishers continue to reach for “schemes” or blame blockages elsewhere in the pipeline, independent publishers have long been weaving inclusivity into their lists without the need for formal targets or traineeships.

? ? ? ?英國出版界似乎正在出現(xiàn)轉(zhuǎn)機(jī)，但資深業(yè)內(nèi)人士卻深感失望，因?yàn)榇饲耙渤霈F(xiàn)過類似的輔導(dǎo)課程和激勵措施，但出版界并沒有維持住由之而來的多樣性。某些出版商仍執(zhí)迷于這些所謂的“計劃”，或指責(zé)業(yè)內(nèi)其他環(huán)節(jié)造成了行業(yè)封閉。與此同時，有的獨(dú)立出版商早已將包容性融入了自己的出版書單，并不需要借助正式目標(biāo)和學(xué)徒計劃。

Margaret Busby, the writer and pioneering publisher, regards the endeavour for better representation in publishing as a struggle begun decades ago and still no closer to being won. Mainstream publishing, she says, is too institutionalised in its biases to be corrected by a few new authors or schemes.

? ? ? ?瑪格雷特·巴斯比（Margaret Busby）既是作家也是有影響力的出版商，她認(rèn)為提升出版界社會代表性的努力幾十年前就開始了，直到現(xiàn)在也遠(yuǎn)未成功。她指出，主流出版界的偏見根深蒂固，并不是幾個新作家或新計劃能改變得了的。

In the 1980s she helped to found a group that campaigned to diversify the industry. An article she wrote in 1988 posed questions that are still being asked today, such as: “What are publishers doing to make their companies a more accurate reflection of their lists, readers and society?”

? ? ? ?上世紀(jì)80年代，巴斯比協(xié)助建立了一個組織，力圖提升出版行業(yè)的多樣性。在1988年的一篇文章中，她提出過幾個今天仍值得思考的問題，比如“出版商該怎樣讓公司更準(zhǔn)確地反映其書單、讀者和社會的情況”。

A decade later, the Arts Council brought in publishing traineeships for black and Asian candidates, whom Busby mentored. Another Arts Council scheme followed 10 years later to address representation in the workforce. In 2005, the Diversity in Publishing Network (Dipnet) was started and after that, Equip, a Publishing Equalities Charter in 2012. “What’s happening now is more initiatives,” Busby says. “But the problem can’t be solved with initiatives.”

? ? ? ?十年之后，藝術(shù)理事會為黑人和亞裔推出了出版行業(yè)學(xué)徒計劃，由巴斯比負(fù)責(zé)指導(dǎo)。又過了十年，藝術(shù)理事會推出了另一個旨在提高從業(yè)人員社會代表性的項(xiàng)目。2005年，出版行業(yè)多樣性組織（Dipnet）成立，之后在2012年，出版行業(yè)平權(quán)憲章《Equip》出臺。“活動越來越有創(chuàng)意，”巴斯比指出，“但光有創(chuàng)意解決不了問題?！?/p>

There is overwhelming agreement among excluded communities that systemic change can only happen when inclusivity is filtered upwards. There is not yet gender parity on boards, even though women outnumber men in the industry; a lack of social diversity is one of its most stubborn problems.

? ? ? ?被出版界拋棄的群體中，絕大部分人認(rèn)為只有提升包容性，才能促成系統(tǒng)性變革。雖然行業(yè)內(nèi)的女性從業(yè)人數(shù)超過男性，但管理層還未實(shí)現(xiàn)性別平等，缺乏社會多樣性是出版業(yè)的痼疾。