Special Guest Northern Highlight - Heather Lacey, Inclusive Minds

 SPECIAL GUEST NORTHERN HIGHLIGHT

Heather Lacey, Inclusive Minds Co-director

1. Tell us a bit about your role as a Director of Inclusive Minds 

I have been working with Inclusive Minds (IM) for a while now: initially as an Inclusion Ambassador, but more recently - when establishing ourselves as a community interest company - I took up a role as co-director. I feel so honoured to be in this position and I must admit, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind since we set up in February, but I feel truly privileged that I have the opportunity to shape IM, and further develop our work within the industry. IM exists to ensure that every child and young person can see themselves authentically represented in their books. As a young, disabled, Northern girl, I never found characters like myself within the pages of my books. My world didn’t seem ‘important’ enough to reflect, and it was only when I attended university to read English that I really recognised this as an issue across the industry as a whole. Inclusive books weren’t easy to come by: and when I found books with disabled characters in them, I was - more often than not - offended by their portrayal. Disabled characters only served as ‘tragedy’ narratives, or figures to pity. These didn’t reflect my experiences as a disabled woman who lived her life - and loved her life - disability and all. 

I must admit in recent years we’ve seen a lot of progress in the area of authentic and incidental inclusion, but we do have a long way to go. That’s where IM comes in: we have access to a plethora of individuals - our wonderful Inclusion Ambassadors - who have a wealth of knowledge in various areas, including lived experience of BAME, LGBT+, disability, neurodiversity, mental illness and more. Our goal is to connect authors, publishers, illustrators and agents with these individuals at the conception stage, so that their work is informed by their life experiences from the start. There are so many nuances and subtleties to people’s everyday experiences, and these need to be included in character portrayals to be authentic. Our fantastic Inclusion Ambassadors are committed to ensuring we achieve authentic inclusion and are always keen to share their valuable and important experiences. 

Inclusive Minds

2. How does being in the North help to inform your role? 

It’s no secret that - like many industries - the publishing industry is very London-centric. Funnily enough, my parents are both Londoners, having moved from London up to Oldham in the eighties. My dad, a newly graduated mechanical engineer, took up a job in the now-defunct Osram factory in Shaw, a sleepy town still peppered with red brick mills, and set beneath rolling green countryside. It must have been quite the shock: Dad recalls being slightly confused (yet thankful) when hearing the now-familiar Gawbie accent greet him with a bright ‘good morning!’ on the bus. 

London still seems to be the place Northerners flock to, but we’re seeing the North truly flourish at the moment. Businesses, both big and small, are setting up shop here: we’re seeing a wealth of development in places like Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool. People are finally beginning to recognise the North for what it is - gloriously diverse, endlessly creative and beautifully bold. I want to make sure we bring regional diversity to the table. As you know at CBN, there’s a huge wealth of Northern talent. We have so many wonderful writers, authors, librarians and booksellers up here, but many may find that the industry’s London-centricity makes a career in this field inaccessible. We know that obtaining experience within publishing is hard enough, but to then add on potential costs for renting rooms, travelling down to London, and the generally inflated living expenses makes publishing seem like a pipe dream for many up here. Northern portrayals have also been historically difficult to find, but it is incredibly important that we authentically render them, and celebrate them, and show Northern children that their hometowns are valid, beautiful and valuable. Northern culture is endlessly rich and fascinating: when I think of the North, I think of a very particular aspect of it, but there are so many more. My North is a skyline illuminated by the ruins and outlines of mills and factories that so underpinned life here. I am proud of our history, and see great potential in our future. 

3. What would you like to see from the children’s book industry in the North of England and Scotland? 

Collaboration. I am so thrilled that CBN exists because there is such power in collaboration. There’s so much we can achieve if we all come together for a common cause and acknowledge that it’s time we were written into the literary landscape authentically, and continually. It’s so very heartening to see others so passionate about this, and I have no doubt that some of our Inclusion Ambassadors would jump at the chance to share their stories, their family histories, their wonderfully-unique dialects and accents. There’s a huge pool of creative talent, including authors and illustrators, and we must advocate for them and give them the chance to showcase their work, and be fully embraced by the publishing industry regardless of geographical location. 

4. If you could be transported to anywhere in the North right now, where would it be? 

Hull: I spent my university years there and have so much to thank the place for. I am so fortunate to have made some lifelong friends that live over that way (well, across the bridge) and with current circumstances, it looks like it might be a while until we’re reunited. Hull is such an underrated place: it’s unlike anywhere I’ve been before. There’s something so special about it and I owe Hull a lot. What it gave me - perhaps the chance to experience ‘unfenced existence’* and to really embrace my true self - is invaluable. It has a very special place in my heart. 

*’Here’, Phillip Larkin, (1961).

You can follow Heather on Instagram and Twitter and her blog https://nosuperhero.co.uk/

Find out more about Inclusive Minds at www.inclusiveminds.com