According to Shriver, the “taboo” around cultural appropriation has become a “far bigger issue in literature” than it was when she first took on the issue. “These days, straight, white fiction writers whose characters’ ethnicity, race, disability, sexual identity, religion or class differs from their own can expect their work to be subjected to forensic examination – and not only on social media,” she said. The story was declined by a magazine that Shriver said had published her in the past. Conversely, she said that it was “equally impossible to gauge … the extent of writers’ collective self-censorship”. “Let’s see a little more courage, people – in the work and in the world.”

Source: The Guardian February 22, 2018 16:28 UTC