5 Questions with Dr Natalie Kon-yu

 

Natalie Kon-yu is a writer, academic and a commissioning editor of three anthologies focussing on untold women’s narratives. She lectures at Victoria University where she is currently researching gender bias and diversity in Australian literary culture.

Natalie has been widely published and is currently writing her first non-fiction book which will be available in 2021.

 

No.1

What is the First Nations and People of Colour (FNPOC) Writers Count exactly?

The First Nations and People of Colour Writers Count will provide much needed demographic data on the publishing industry in Australia. It will be a resource for future researchers, and for industry-wide organisations to get a better sense of the current landscape. It will also function as a jumping off point for more qualitative analysis on cultural diversity within the industry. The results of this study will inform publishing practices to provide greater opportunities for publication of First Nations and POC writers to develop their practice.

Stories by First Nations and POC writers matter. Increasingly, we are living in a time where we see narratives about minorities rather than narratives by minorities. In contemporary Australian culture we are seeing a rise in the rhetoric of ‘otherness’ attached to ideologies of culture and race. Writing back to the centre matters, and it matters now. This is the radical potential of words.

No.2

What initially sparked the conception of the FNPOC Writers Count? Tell us a bit more about the people behind the project.

I am a member of several private groups on social media, and I kept seeing people ask for statistics on the publication rates for First Nations and Writers of Colour in Australia. As a result, I decided to ask and see if there was a group of people willing to work on the project and there was.

We’re a pretty diversely talented bunch of people and all of us write. We’ve got cultural producers, academic researchers, editors and lawyers involved in the project, and we are from all over the country. But at our core we are a group of people who are motivated to make a change in the industry. We want to create and read better stories than the ones we have been given.

No.3 

In recent times, there has been more dialogue addressing diversity in the arts, publishing and media. How do we as a community make sure it’s not just lip service, or a capitulation to the (surface level) optics of representation?

That’s a tricky question as in many ways these are situations beyond our control. But I think it’s important to make the changes we can.

For example, as an academic it’s incumbent on me to create what might be called a culturally-diverse or inclusive (and what I would call a fairly accurate) curriculum in my teaching. As a researcher, I would want to have First Nations and POC experts’ input in my research. As an editor, I would seek to commission work from POC and First Nations writers.

I think there’s a lot we can do at an individual level, but obviously a whole heap needs to change at a macro level. And hopefully, these results will help those within the industry see the depth of the problem in the same way we do.

No.4

How will you go about conducting this research? And what do you hope to uncover in the process?

We’ve engaged a RA who has developed her own distinct methodology around the Count—she’ll be able to speak about that at a later date. What I’d hope to uncover is that there are tons of book being written by First Nations and POC authors, but I don’t think that will be the case.

No.5 

What else do you think needs to be done to uplift and amplify the voices of First Nations and POC writers and artists in order to create lasting structural change?

I think a whole heap needs to be done on this. Firstly, there needs to be a better understanding of how we as a culture have defined ‘great’ writing, and there needs to be a thorough look into institutions who hold and perpetuate this narrow view. I’d like to see this done in the book industry and at all levels of the Australian education system.

At the moment, I am conducting research with First Nations and POC writers to hear about their experiences of the industry, and I think that’s an important step to understanding the constraints and expectations placed on marginalised writers.

There also needs to be mentoring for editors and publishers from First Nations and POC backgrounds. I’d also like to examine what kinds of texts are asked from First Nations and POC writers—at the moment, I think that the industry expects them to continue to perform their marginalisation, and this needs to change.

Finally, I’d like to see White writers being asked about their ethnic/cultural backgrounds and their characters, and First Nations and POC writers asked more about their techniques and writing practices. I’m sure there’s lots more to be done, but these are some good places to start.

 
NatalieKon-yu

The FNPOC Writers Count’s executive team comprises Natalie Kon-yu, Tony Birch, Ambelin Kwaymullina, Tresa LeClerc, Rebecca Lim and Alison Whittaker, with Djed Press editorial director Hella Ibrahim, creative producer Jasmeet Sahi and MEAA board member and writer Marisa Wikramanayake serving as administrators. Researcher and UTS doctoral candidate Emily Booth, whose project on the 2018 publication data of own voices picture books by First Nations and POC authors was awarded the UTS Social Impact Grant, has also joined the team.

The research is expected to take several months.


Cher Tan