Ditching the Horne prize's new guidelines was a mistake. Here's why | Jack Latimore

Like people of colour the world over, blackfellas are sick and tired of having our stories ripped off by historically privileged, white writers

Monday’s commotion over the submission criteria for this year’s edition of a lucrative essay award, the Horne prize, was an amusing spectacle to observe for many First Nations writers and very likely numerous other wordsmiths from marginalised communities.

For the first time since the writing competition’s inception in 2014, its guidelines sought to restrict potential entrants from submitting work that centred subject-matter outside their own lived experience. Despite the rules being publicly available online since the 2018 prize was opened months ago, it was only at the start of this week – after the entry window had closed – that most people, including the prize’s key judges, noticed these changes. The resulting flash of outrage superbly encapsulated the fragility of privileged authors everywhere whenever they’re faintly confronted with the prospect of actually experiencing the slightest approximation of exclusion.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2ORTcCG
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