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Melanie Ramdarshan Bold

Associate Professor of Publishing and Book Cultures, UCL

Melanie Ramdarshan Bold is an Associate Professor in the Department of Information Studies at University College London, where she teaches and researches topics related to Publishing and Book Cultures. Her main research interest centres around the cultures of reading, writing, and publishing (21st Century), with a focus on children's and YA books.

I am a Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in the Department of Information Studies at University College London, where I teach and research topics related to Publishing and Book Cultures. I joined UCL's DIS and the Centre for Publishing in September 2014.

My main research interest centres on contemporary authorship, publishing, and reading, with a focus on children’s and YA books. I am currently working on several projects that explore issues of ‘diversity’ and inclusivity in children’s and YA publishing. My book Inclusive Young Adult Fiction: Authors of Colour in the United Kingdom, was published with Palgrave (2019). Some of the results of this research project have appeared in the Guardian. Cambridge University Press will publish my book, Book Trade Activism and Anthologies: Advocating for Change in the UKYA Market, in 2019. I am working on a collaborative, interdisciplinary research project, Adolescent Identities with my research partner Dr Leah Phillips. This project investigates how YA reflects the realities of minoritised readers. We have been working closely with schools, libraries, and bookshops; hosting reading groups and focus groups with teenagers across the country; and engaging with the wider YA and bookish community online. Additionally, I am working in collaboration with the BookTrust, to examine the representation of children’s authors and illustrators of colour, published in the UK (2007–2017), and exploring ways of better supporting them.

Experience

  • 2014–present
    Senior lecturer in in the Department of Information Studies, UCL