Why do we need #NationalNorthernAuthorsDay?
1. Because where the literary world is concerned, a disproportionate amount of attention goes to authors living in (and writing about) London.

2. Because throughout my career, people who ought to know better have been surprised that I was from (and still live in) the North. #NationalNorthernAuthorsDay

3. Because even now, people in the media often still assume that as soon as I became successful as an author, I must have moved to London -or France, or LA, or basically, anywhere but the North.

4. Because when CHOCOLAT came out, a well-known TV presenter actually said of me on a live show: "A Yorkshire writer. You don't see many of those in the book world, do you?"

5. Because when media people talk to me about Yorkshire writers, it's never about the HUNDREDS of authors working and living here - it's always about the Brontes. #NationalNorthernAuthorsDay

6. Because there's a real resistance in publishing to Northern authors who choose NOT to write about the North: although there's never any surprise or disapproval when a London author sets their book somewhere other than London.

7. Because publishing remains tremendously Londoncentric, which means that London-based authors are more likely to do media events, attend industry parties or benefit from useful networking opportunities - with all the professional advantages that implies.

8. Because the North is fucking ENORMOUS, and filled with creative people, who really, *really* don't like being reduced to an accent, a token celeb or a media stereotype. #NationalNorthernAuthorsDay

9. Because creators are all, to some extent, shaped by the traditions and folklore and geography of the places to which they belong, which makes Northern authors major contributors to the cultural diversity of our literature. #NationalNorthernAuthorsDay

10. Because a middle-class, moneyed, white, London-based man is still what pops into most peoples' minds when they're asked to imagine an author. And that, children, needs to change. #NationalNorthernAuthorsDay

If you're still not convinced of the depth of cognitive dissonance in London's view of the Northern arts' scene, here's an article by Germaine Greer, complaining that the Yorkshire Sculpture Park is too far from London to be accessible to normal people... https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/artblog/2007/dec/17/hiddenheritage