Why a Quebec author’s use of a ‘sensitivity reader’ is making international waves

Some argue that sensitivity readers undermine a writer's creativity, while others maintain it is part of the editing process and shows due diligence has been done.

Quebec author Kevin Lambert wanted to avoid stereotypes and not write anything “stupid” when he enlisted what is known as a sensitivity reader to review the manuscript of his latest novel.

But since his Que notre joie demeure was nominated this month for a prestigious French literary prize, Lambert has found himself at the centre of a debate in France, where the practice of hiring someone to screen for offensive content is unfamiliar.

Toronto-based editor Ronan Sadler said sensitivity reading is a process in which a consultant examines a book’s representations of characters with marginalized identities, such as visible minorities, before publication.

Sensitivity readers, Sadler explained in an interview, try to identify shortfalls of characterization that may not have been apparent to an author who does not share those identities.

Lambert, who consulted a sensitivity reader to scrutinize his depiction of a character of Haitian descent, was open about the practice in a statement this month on social media.

“Even though I also do research on stereotypes linked to minority characters in fiction, I don’t have a compass in my eye, and I can always be wrong,” Lambert said in a Sept. 4 statement posted to the Instagram page of his French publisher, Le Nouvel Attila. The reader, Lambert said, “made sure that I didn’t say too many stupid things, that I didn’t fall into certain traps in the representation of Black people by white authors.”

He added: “Sensitive reading, contrary to what reactionaries say, is not censorship.”

The avowal led to controversy in France after Que notre joie demeure was named to the long list of nominees for the Prix Goncourt on Sept. 5. (This week it also made the long list for another French literary award, the Prix Médicis.)