Member-only story
Cultural Diversity & Representation in Fiction
If you don’t already know, I’m a British-Bangladeshi Muslim author living in the UK. I grew up in East London and now live just a few minutes away from my childhood home. I write and self-publish fantasy and contemporary romance novels. Half of my protagonists are people of colour (POC) and half are “white”. I will explain why that is — I only figured this out fairly recently! — before discussing the issues that arise when writing characters from an ethnic minority group, even if you’re a part of that community.
The ‘why’
My contemporary fiction novels are all multicultural romances. I currently have two series in this genre: the Soulmates Saga and the Love & Alternatives Duology. I’d like to say this is because I want to be a part of the movement that’s calling for more representation in literature, more diverse characters in fiction, and trying to change the face of publishing to look like what the world actually looks like today. The truth, however, is a bit anticlimactic:
That’s just how the main characters manifested in my head. I stay true to those characters and to the heart and soul of the story they put in front of me.
Same goes for the characters in my fantasy novels — I stay true to the form they have when they come to me. And my fantasy characters always come to me as…
