In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—scratch the surface of an incredibly broad topic: writing interracial and intercultural relationships.

What we talked about

That writing relationships between characters of different races and cultures is really not that different from writing relationships between characters who are not exactly the same for other reasons
Questions to ask yourself and things to keep in mind when crafting interracial and intercultural relationships in your writing
A ton of examples in which interracial and intercultural relationships are depicted well and convincingly

(Re)sources mentioned on the show

Payne Erskin’s The Mountain Girl: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11084308-the-mountain-girl
Disney’s Pocahontas: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114148
Stargate SG-1: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118480
The Karate Kid (1984): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087538
The Karate Kid (2010): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1155076
Kim’s Convenience: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5912064
Bend It Like Beckham: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286499
Blinded by the Light: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8266310
Sarfraz Mansoor’s Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion, and Rock N Roll: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001V7U6LE
The Grand Budapest Hotel: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2278388
Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give: https://angiethomas.com/the-hate-u-give
Benjamin Alire Saenz’s The Inexplicable Logic of My Life: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23447923-the-inexplicable-logic-of-my-life
Kim Dare’s Axel’s Pup: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21522467-axel-s-pup
The Marvel Cinematic Universe: https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Timeline
Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter series: https://shadowhunters.com
Never Have I Ever: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10062292
Bright: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5519340
Bridgerton: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8740790
Young Royals: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14664414
Bethany’s Editing Your Novel's Structure: Tips, Tricks, and Checklists to Get You From Start to Finish: https://theartandscienceofwords.com/new-book-for-authors

This week’s episode page can be found here: https://representationmatters.art/2022/03/29/s2e11

Subscribe to our newsletter here and get out Doing Diversity in Writing Toolkit, including our Calm the F*ck Down Checklist and Cultural Appropriation Checklist: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/r3p6g8

As always, we’d love for you to join the conversation by filling out our questionnaires.

Our Doing Diversity in Writing – Writer Questionnaire can be filled in at https://forms.gle/UUEbeEvxsdwk1kuy5

Our Doing Diversity in Writing – Reader Questionnaire can be filled in at https://forms.gle/gTAg4qrvaCPtqVJ36

Don’t forget, you can find us at https://representationmatters.art, on https://www.facebook.com/doingdiversityinwriting, and on https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtHfIaeylIgbAWVy3E66lmw