A New Year means new beginnings, but in a post-COVID world what does this mean for our customary goals for self-improvement? The pandemic helped to amplify the health, economic, and social inequalities faced by many around the world, stirring countless philanthropic and community-based actions to support and care for those disadvantaged and vulnerable. And yet, in a time that saw activism not stop, but merely adapt to COVID restrictions, there is still a lack of knowledge and empathy towards the injustices and experiences of those around us.
As we progress into 2022 we should be increasingly more conscious of the voices and experiences of those around us, namely those still largely under-represented in mainstream media. But how can we implement this into the New Year? By making an active choice to incorporate the education and acknowledgement of social and political issues into self-improvement goals.
Perhaps one of the simplest ways to do this is to read a range of diverse books.
In 1990 Rudine Sims Bishop published her seminal essay Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Glass Doors where she highlighted the importance of providing children with diverse books that reflect the “multicultural nature of the world”. Bishop highlights that it is crucial for children from marginalised groups to see themselves reflected in literature to tackle the notion that they “are devalued in society”. For those from socially dominant groups, who never fail to find themselves in books, diverse literature can help them to form connections with others, helping to dissuade what Bishop calls “dangerous ethnocentrism” formed from an “exaggerated sense of their own importance and value”.
While Bishop’s essay is focused on children’s literature, the sentiments regarding diverse reading are still pertinent to the adult reader. Take Bishop’s titular analogy for example:
“Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created or recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of a larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books.”
In 2022 it is more important than ever, with the memories of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests still fresh in our minds, to consciously build empathy, understanding, and compassion for those in marginalised groups.
With the words of Bishop in mind, here is a compilation of books being released in 2022. These are books that are written by, or explore the lives and issues of various marginalised groups. This is, but not limited, to BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and disabled communities or individuals.
Fiction Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart (April 5)
Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow (April 5)
The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings (August 9)
Young Adult
Vinyl Moon by Mahogany L. Browne (January 11)
One for All by Lillie Lainoff (March 8)
All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir (March 1)
Non-Fiction
Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work (And Why It's Different Than You Think) by Reshma Saujani (March 15)
Finding Me by Viola Davis (April 5) Warrior Princesses Strike Back by Sarah Eagle Heart and Emma Eagle Heart-White (June 21)
Short Stories
The Last Suspicious Hold Out by Ladee Hubbard (March 8)
Manywhere: Stories by Morgan Thomas (January 25)
Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho (January 4)
Poetry
Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warson Shire (March 1)
Return Flight by Jennifer Huang (January 18)
Song of My Softening by Omotara James (April 12)
Other notable mentions:
My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson (August 23)
Siren Queen by Nghi Vo (May 10th)
Seeking Fortune Elsewhere by Sindya Bhanoo (February 15)
To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara (January 11)
The Trayvon Generation by Elizabeth Alexander (April 5)
Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake (February 22)
Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix by Anna-Marie McLemore (September 6th)
The One Who Loves You the Most by Medina (May 10th)
Edited by Charlotte Lewis (Editor-in-Chief)
For further ideas regarding diverse literature see the following websites and social media accounts for reading challenges, book recommendations, and more: