Gender Gap is Slowly Closing in the Australian Literary Industry
2016 was the first year in which female contribution to the literary pages, as both authors and reviewers, reached near parity.
This was revealed in the 2016 Stella Count, a program that aims to ‘assess the extent of gender bias in the field of Australian book reviewing’ by collating data from ‘twelve publications – including national, metropolitan and regional newspapers, journals and magazines – in print and online’ (The Stella Prize website).
The program was first conducted in 2012 by the major literary award, The Stella Prize.
The $50 000 prize is awarded annually to the best fiction or non-fiction submission by an Australian, female author. Through the award and other programs like the Stella Count, the organisation aims to raise awareness of gender bias and champion the voices of female writers.
Veronica Sullivan, writer, former editor of the online magazine ‘Kill Your Darlings’ and prize manager of the Stella Prize said that:
‘there is a growing recognition that the stories and lives of women and children matter; that people who are not white, straight, successful men have important stories to tell’.
However, despite improvements, gender disparities in the literary industry remain.
The Count found that the gender gap is most evident in publications with the largest reach, circulation and readership.
Displayed on the right are the results from ‘The Weekend Australian’, a publication that represents 35% of the total reviewing field.
The disparities also exist as ‘deeply ingrained and subtle bias’ said writer and academic at the University of Technology Sydney, Debra Adelaide.
‘You’ll see in book catalogues all around the place, women’s fiction…you never ever see ‘men’s’ fiction’.
Louise Swinn, writer, editor of Sleepers Publishing and judge of the 2018 Stella Prize said that the ‘Stella Count is proof in numbers’ that the gender bias still exists and that the ‘cultural shift is harder to prove, but apparent for anyone working at the coal face’.
‘It’s hard to lay individual blame’, said Sullivan, ‘everyone has a responsibility’.
SOURCE NOTE: figure 1 & figure 2 - original infographic using statistics from http://thestellaprize.com.au/the-count/2016-stella-count/
AUDIO PIECES & INTERVIEWEES: Veronica Sullivan(*see above), Debra Adelaide (*see above), Heather Rose (author and winner of 2017 Stella Prize), Aviva Tuffield (executive director of the Stella Prize) and Dr. Susan Carland(academic and media spokeswoman).
