Author Kerry Hudson and ITN’s Priscilla Baffour to Deliver Keynote Speeches
27 November 2018 | Coin Street Conference Centre
The London Book Fair and the Publishers Association have announced the line-up of speakers who will take part in the Building Inclusivity in Publishing conference on 27 November 2018.
Kerry Hudson, author of LOWBORN, and Priscilla Baffour, Diversity & Inclusion Lead at ITN, are the keynote speakers.
Centred around Reflecting All: Effecting Change, this year’s conference will highlight the action currently being taken to improve diversity across the book world, while exploring what more needs to be done to ensure equal representation. Topics under discussion will be regional diversity, children’s entertainment, and the class ceiling, with case studies including Hachette UK and BAFTA.
Aberdeen-born novelist Kerry Hudson will publish her memoir LOWBORN in January 2019. Exploring what it means to be poor in post-Brexit Britain, the book brings Hudson’s own experiences to one of the most pressing issues of our times.
Hudson is the recipient of several international awards, including the Scottish First Book Award and the Prix Femina Etranger, France’s most prestigious award for foreign fiction. She is also founder of ‘The WoMentoring Project’, which offers free mentoring to talented up and coming female writers who would find it difficult to access similar opportunities.
Over the past 15 years Priscilla Baffour has project managed several Youth Media initiatives with the BBC, Sky, ITV, MTV, and News International. She won the Deputy Prime Minister’s Excellence Award for tackling social mobility at entry-level.
Prior to joining ITN, Baffour worked for Channel 4 as their Industry Talent & Diversity Specialist and managed 4Talent, supporting young people from all backgrounds navigate their way into the television industry. She is also the founder of ‘We Do Diversity’, an organisation offering consultancy on all diversity and inclusion matters.
Orna O’Brien, Conference Manager of The London Book Fair, said: “Within The London Book Fair calendar, the Building Inclusivity in Publishing conference is a very special event for us. It fosters debate on and seeks to find solutions to some of the most pressing issues around diversity, accessibility and equality that face the publishing and creative industries today. This year, we are thrilled to have such a fantastic line-up of speakers, who will each bring their expertise and experiences to the debate.”
Emma House, Deputy CEO of the Publishers Association, added: “The PA is proud to support this conference as part of our wider programme of activity to advocate for diversity and inclusion in the publishing industry. This year, we have worked closely with members to support them in implementing new initiatives and celebrating the work they are already doing. We look forward to hearing from many of them at this event, which has a fantastic line-up of speakers from both within and outside of the industry.”
The conference programme includes:
- A welcome note from Jacks Thomas, Director of the London Book Fair
- Award-winning author Kerry Hudson discussing The Class Ceiling
- A panel on The Power of Regional Diversity, chaired by Emma House (Publishers Association) and featuring Dr Alice Curry, Chris Gribble and Sarah Cleave
- Saskia Bewley, Diversity & Inclusion Manager at Hachette UK, presenting Hachette as a case study for diversity of thought
- The keynote talk by ITN’s Priscilla Baffour
- An exciting panel on children’s entertainment and education, Getting it Right from the Start, chaired by Hachette’s So Shaun-Au and including Louise Johns-Shepherd and Heather Lacey
- A case study about BAFTA’s Elevate Project, with Mariayah Kaderbhal and Kam Kandola Flynn
Building Inclusivity in Publishing is an annual conference open to all those working in the book industry and the wider creative industries. Attendees include booksellers, agents, authors, literary festival and event organisers, and publishers.
Tickets are now available at:
http://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/Whats-On/conferences/bipconference/