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Second Lit in Colour Teacher Conference announced in British Library collaboration
Penguin Books have announced the second iteration of their Lit in Colour Teacher Conference, this year in collaboration with the British Library.
The conference aims to equip primary and secondary educators with practical strategies, rich subject knowledge and inspiration for embedding texts by authors of colour across key stages. The conference is held as part of Penguin’s ongoing commitment to creating a more diverse and inclusive English curriculum.
In 2021, a report published by Lit in Colour and principal programme partner the Runnymede Trust found that just 0.7% of GCSE students in England answered on a book by a writer of colour. This has since risen to 1.5%.
The report also found that primary and secondary school teachers have little to no training on how to talk about race in the classroom, with only 12% of secondary and 13% of primary survey respondents having received training.
The one-day event will include a variety of keynote talks, workshops and networking opportunities, including a speech from Sathnam Sanghera, the bestselling author of Empireland, Empireworld and Stolen History.
Teachers will also be given access to British Library archive materials that help contextualise the layered histories behind the texts they are teaching. There will also be a range of interactive workshops that explore how to handle sensitive language around race in the classroom.
The event will be held on Saturday 6th September 2025 at the British Library, London. Catering will be provided, and attendees will receive a free book bundle to support the inclusion of writers of colour in both curriculum and reading for pleasure initiatives. Places are free but limited, and can be booked here.
