By Spurgeon Thomas, Contributing Writer
On April 5, 2025, writers and book enthusiasts from around the country shuffled through rooms on the campus of Coronado High School, attending the 6th annual San Diego Writers’ Festival. Its mission is to provide artists with the experience of expensive writing conferences at lower costs. The Only One in the Room podcaster, Laura Cathcart, hosted a panel of Black journalists and novelists about the challenges of succeeding as a Black minority in the book publishing industry dominated by white women.
Black writers were sprinkled throughout the conference, despite the book publishing industry’s historic lack of diversity. In 2023, according to Lee & Low Books’ Diversity Baseline Survey (DBS), Black people represented only 5.1% of industry professionals.
Panelist Lisa Deaderick, a columnist at The San Diego Union Tribune, shared experiences of underpaid and overworked colleagues in newsrooms, advising the audience on being qualified and knowing people in powerful positions, especially when negotiating higher salaries. Trisha R. Thomas expressed the pains of queries being rejected 80 times before her first book deal, expressing that age isn’t a barrier to entry. Tamela Gordon, acquisitions editor at Row House Publishing, noted that the best sources for Black literature are social media influencers and hashtags, such as #BlackBooks, #BlackAuthors, and #BlackBooksMatter.
When asked why the panel was necessary, Laura Cathcart said, “Being seen together like this is important because we exist despite our barriers.”
Some in attendance on Saturday spoke as Black ambassadors for their professions. Other attendees enthusiastically raised their hands to probe them. Poets performed their literary arts to passersby as authors peddled products under sun-protected tent tops. Dr. Catherine Grace Pope, Ms. Omaha of 1969, promoted her book “In Search of the Crown,” rewritten as a play about being a Black beauty queen during the civil rights movement. As a duo, she and her son co-wrote and submitted the play for production at The Old Globe, hoping for a future release date. Tembi Locke, author, co-creator, and executive producer of the Netflix film adaptation “From Scratch,” signed copies of her book after delivering the keynote address.
Beyond the festival gates, a Marilyn Harvey’s booth swung brown book bags around wine bottles. Smiling widely, she announced to passersby the grand opening of her wine and book bar, Mvinyo.
Her vision was a welcome contagion to many who stopped by her booth. “I want to create
a literary space for Black people in Southeast San Diego,” Harvey said.
Marcus McNeal, publisher of Odyssey Comics, presented graphic art books while children’s book creator, Maria Boyd, sold a story based on her daughter, inspired to write it when, after becoming a parent herself, she found that books by diverse authors were rare. Fatherhood epiphanies during a several-month deployment prompted poet Anthony Green Jr to pen his poetry.
Although Black creatives were in the minority, they were able to network, socialize, and exchange value with one another.
