By Dorany Pineda
FROM: L.A. Times
Long before Jeanine Cummins’ highly contentious “American Dirt” was published by Flatiron Books, the novel was raising red flags internally, according to Myriam Gurba.
“I’ve spoken to people who work in Flatiron who have told me that the book was identified as problematic from the get-go,” Gurba alleged, speaking before a packed room on Thursday at a panel organized by her new group, #DignidadLiteraria. “And people’s critiques were either dismissed or they felt coerced into being silent. … They knew that this could happen and they went through with it anyway.”
Flatiron Books, which is a division of Macmillan Publishing, did not immediately respond to a Times request for comment.
Gurba, an author and high school teacher in Long Beach, wrote a negative review of the novel that was first published on the online site Tropics of Meta. Her critique became the catalyst for one of the biggest controversies in U.S. publishing in recent years. The panel, held at Antioch University in Culver City, hosted a crowd of around 100 people. In a nod to the #OwnVoices movement, dozens of books by people of color were on display near the back. A diverse audience of activists, book sellers, professors, writers and other community members filled seats or stood along the perimeter, occasionally nodding, clapping and murmuring in agreement over remarks made by the panelists on the dais.
They were there to hear Gurba, Roxane Gay, Romeo Guzman, Wendy C. Ortiz and Christopher Soto talk about the publishing industry.
The event was part of #DignidadLiteraria’s national week of action, a series of town halls to discuss Latinx visibility in the U.S. It was the first panel to be held since authors and #DignidadLiteraria founders Gurba, David Bowles and Roberto Lovato met with Macmillan publishers and others on Monday to discuss steps the imprint can take to amplify Latinx voices in the industry. Read Rest of Article Here
Los Angeles Literature 