Romance Writers of America aims for happy end to racism row with new prize | Books | The Guardian

The RWA has been at the centre of an acrimonious debate about diversity, criticised for the paucity of writers of colour shortlisted for its major awards, the Ritas, as well as its treatment of Courtney Milan after she called a fellow author's book a "racist mess" because of its depictions of Chinese women. Milan has been a prominent advocate for diversity in romance publishing, and her suspension prompted a widespread backlash, with the bestselling novelist Nora Roberts slamming the RWA for "a long-standing and systemic marginalisation of authors of colour, [and] of LGBTQ authors, by the organisation".