Every Story Matters

Every Story Matters – Making books more inclusive was a project that ran from 2019 to 2022 to encourage the creation of more inclusive books for children and young adults, and to equip book professionals – including publishers, librarians and editors – with the tools and strategies needed to achieve this. Our overarching goal was to contribute to a more inclusive European book sector, where the representation of diversity and inclusion would become mainstream and self-evident.

Every Story Matters was supported by Creative Europe and coordinated by Flanders Literature, in partnership with organisations from Croatia (Mediart International), Germany (Blue Dar), the Netherlands (Dutch Foundation for Literature and ROSE Stories), Portugal (Acesso Cultura) and Slovenia (Slovenian Book Agency).

What was the project? What did we do? What have we achieved? You find all the answers in our inspiration guide.

The guide also includes: 

• Information about the 6 books that were created through our talent development program, in which we coached 6 emerging authors and illustrators from 6 different countries to create their first inclusive children’s book. 

• More than 40 good practices to inspire book professionals regarding diversity and inclusion in the book industry, ranging from practical ‘how to’ articles over interviews with book professionals to good practices from other creative industries.