Yes, we read: The intersectional relationships between women of colour and books in Britain

This interdisciplinary thesis employs storytelling embedded in cultural studies and material culture to explore the realities of how women of colour in the United Kingdom relate to books in their everyday lives. An intersectional feminist framework positions women of colour as the knowledge holders when it pertains to their personal relationships with books, with memory and experiences through intersectional identity theoretically framing these stories. British book publishers have not only neglected the voices of people of colour as a readership, they have also acted to speak for them, labelling them as either less interested in reading, or only having niche subject matters they might seek from books. This study recognises this label as being part of 'the other audience'. It is only recently that research is finally engaging with publishers and authors of colour to voice the realities of the industry but there has been a lack of voicing those who are being most actively spoken for. Following the framework of the intersectional feminist lens informed by Black, Asian and Indigenous storytelling, 39 women of colour between the ages of 20-55 with residential, professional, or social ties to East London interrogated and expressed how books exist in their everyday lives, and how this impacts their senses of self. Through the storytelling principles of valuing lived and emotional experiences of the everyday, exploration into how books are positioned in their lives was carried out through interviews and zine making. Interviews were positioned as conversational platforms for the women to share their stories, with them able to lead the conversation. Zine-making workshops were held with individuals as well as in community groups which enabled the women accessibility to express themselves through comfortable means of self-expression. By recentring women of colour, as both researchers and participants, the positioning of them as the other audience is not only challenged but resisted by the women involved. Insight into motivations to read, popular themes, and how the social symbolism of books feeds into the women's lives emerge as well as how their relationships with books exist fluidly, shifting throughout their lifetimes depending on their backgrounds and lived experiences.