Phoebe Robinson’s Tiny Reparations Books Champions Diverse Voices, Publishes First Fiction
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Photo © Fran Dwight
Phoebe Robinson, actress, producer, comedian, New York Times bestselling author, and founder of Tiny Reparations Books, is celebrating the success of Kai Harris’s WHAT THE FIREFLIES KNEW, the first novel published by the imprint and a Marie Claire #ReadwithMC book club pick. Publisher Christine Ball said, “Phoebe and I read this in August 2020, not long after formally announcing our partnership and founding of Tiny Reparations Books, and we both immediately fell in love with Kai Harris’ voice through the eyes of her 10-year-old character, KB. We immediately knew we had to publish it.” The book has received rave reviews from The New York Times Book Review, Washington Post, Associated Press, and more.
Kai Harris says, “My novel ties in, I think, really well with the mission and the vision of the imprint by their first fiction title being a book that really prioritizes this unfiltered Black girlhood experience through my voice. Me, as a Black woman who was a Black girl who is telling this story as authentically as I can.”
When Tiny Rep was launched by Plume in July 2020, Robinson said, “We all know there is a lack of diversity in publishing. Tiny Reparations Books recognizes that the publishing landscape isn’t going to change until the actual work starts behind the scenes.”
More recently, Robinson added, “We are looking for queer, Black, Indigenous, people of color and neurodiverse writers, not only to publish them, but to launch their careers. We want them to have the experience of being appreciated and seen … Tiny Reparations Books is committed to being a home for as many diverse voices as we can.”
The next Tiny Rep fiction title, PORTRAIT OF A THIEF by Grace D. Li, is being released on April 5 and has already been optioned by Netflix. The book has been described as a lush, lyrical heist novel inspired by the true story of Chinese art vanishing from Western museums; about Diaspora, the colonization of art, and the complexity of the Chinese American identity.