She’s got an opinion and she’s not afraid to use it

Another day, another publishing row. The latest storm to hit the shelves is about diversity. To cut a short story shorter, Penguin Random House has committed itself to promoting more diversity in literature, because they say books “should reflect the diverse society in which we live”.

Although she claims her remarks were taken out of context, the UK-resident American writer Lionel Shriver said that positive discrimination will make literature a poorer sort of art. She said “we can safely infer … that if an agent submits a manuscript written by a gay transgender Caribbean who dropped out of school at seven and powers around town on a mobility scooter, it will be published, whether or not said manuscript is an incoherent, tedious, meandering and insensible pile of mixed-paper recycling.”

Much frowning and finger-wagging ensued. I always enjoy a…