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For a novelist, Dhonielle Clayton has a lot of unhappy memories of reading.
I was reading everything, looking for myself, she said.
I didnt get it.
Shes also working in the booming business of sensitivity reading.
Over the last few years, the number of books about nonwhite characters has spiked.
Theres a catch, though.
Most of the authors are white.
Most recently, aTimesheadlinepondered whether sensitivity readers result in better books, or censorship?
Most vexing to her, the article didnt address a crucial problem at the core of the publishing industry.
Although shes made a business of helping nonblack writers, shes ambivalent about the demand for her services.
Vulture caught up with Clayton to discuss her work as a sensitivity reader.
How did you get into the work of sensitivity reading?It started really casually.
They just wanted a second set of eyes.
And then my name started circling.
So thats how I got pulled in.
The fact is that sensitivity reading is a band-aid over a hemorrhaging problem in our industry.
Thats what we should really be talking about thats what real censorship looks like.
The systematic erasure and blockage of people of color from the publishing industry.
Its like, Im not racist, Im not ablest, Im not homophobic.
Like, Look at me, Im showing up for the social-justice movement.
But the problem is that theyre showing up and theyre taking a seat.
Has that happened to you?Two or three times.
Ill never have my agent send anything to those editors again.
Is there a way to do a story line like that well?Absolutely.
Any premise can be interesting, it just has to be written well.
Look at Kate Elliotts books.
Look at Tessa Grattons books.
Look at Marie RutkoskisThe Winners Curse.
Its because shes a good writer.
She literally dismantles privilege and power and slavery on the page, and you are there for it.
I think one of those writers could have taken the premise ofAmerican Heartand done what needed to be done.
Most people are shocked by the blind spots they discover.
Or you have to make her white.
Because otherwise its a paint by numbers diversity piece and it rings false.
I believe that author is still working on it and trying to figure that out.
Did you ask her why she wanted to write a black character in the first place?I did.
The same canned answer always comes back: This character just walked into my head fully formed.
If I hear that one more time.
Things that were wrong, and things that I was embarrassed by.
Books where I was like, Oh no,thisis the black character in this book?
The people who looked like me were always the villains.
I need to learn to write.
Thats where Cake Literary and my body of work came from.
What do you think about the media coverage of sensitivity readers?
Its a targeted beta read.
Im not the diversity police officer, policing non-marginalized people.
Really what were doing is helping the author write a better book.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
