Diversity and Inclusion

In 1999, UNESCO designated 21 February as International Mother Language Day. It’s an opportunity for all of us to acknowledge and celebrate language diversity and to resist the suppression of min...

Mental health is a popular theme in fiction but negative stereotypes abound. Charlotte Brontë has a lot to answer for with her madwoman in the attic in the classic novel Jane Eyre. As a former cli...

In a 2013 Guardian article the novelist Penelope Lively, then aged 80, bemoaned the depiction of older characters in fiction: The stereotypes of old age run from the smiling old dear to the grumbli...

Minority rights aren’t only deeply important for minorities. Like the canary in the coal mine, they can also indicate a society’s flexibility, respect and overall health. Equality benefits ever...

I often get to the end of a novel and think Now I know where it’s going, I’d love to read it again. But, as a book blogger reading around 150 contemporary novels a year, I rarely do. But short ...

Reading As A Form Of Self Care? You’re probably familiar with the ethical arguments favouring diverse reading. Celebrating marginalised stories is part of what Inspired Quill is about. You might ...

One of my favourite animated series was, and still is, The Mysterious Cities of Gold. It aired on the BBC in the very late eighties and it has always been a huge comfort and inspiration to me. Ther...

Here’s a story about D&D, listening and trying to be a good ally. Why am I, a man, writing about heroines? Let me tell you a story. A friend told me about a game of Dungeons & Dragons...

“The importance of diversity in books”, “diverse characters – tokenism or important?” and my personal favourite, “is diversity really that important?” Every time I see a convention pa...