At Audible, we take seriously our responsibility to amplify the stories and lived experiences of marginalized and underrepresented voices.
From incarcerated individuals rebuilding their lives to women activists fighting for justice, to immigrants and refugees rewriting history, and Indigenous, Black, Latinx and LGBTQIA+ creators speaking their truth, we curate editorial experiences that raise awareness of these important stories, and we support and promote new and emerging artists worldwide.
There’s nothing I love more than amplifying new and exciting voices. I’m so grateful to Audible for giving us the space to do that.
”Lena WaitheEmmy Award-winning writer, creator, and actor and member of Audible’s Emerging Voices Advisory Board
Stories transform people’s hearts and minds. Audible is dedicated to ensuring diverse voices are heard and experienced around the globe. This commitment is reflected in our People Principles: “We respect and celebrate the glories of the human spectrum. We embrace and work to protect inherent civil rights based on people’s gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, ethnicity, religious beliefs, birthplace, socioeconomic station, disabilities, and age.”
Hear My Story, one of our international initiatives, grew out of these ideals. It embraces inclusivity and elevates titles from a wide range of creators who explore what it means to belong. Our editorial collections cover topics from Latinx and transgender experiences to neurodiversity, mental health and body positivity.
This includes our Australian storefront, which features a collection of its top audiobooks by First Nations authors and has added a permanent Acknowledgment of Country to emphasize our commitment to reconciliation. Also Audible UK’s TwentyIn2020 series, which includes twenty standalone works by Black British writers during the year 2020, is part of its ongoing Black History Month collection, and Audible UK has raised up anti-racism titles and LGBTQIA+ stories as well.
Explore our inclusive Hear My Story collections.
See moreThe Indigenous Writers’ Circle amplifies the voices of Indigenous peoples in Canada.
Read moreJessie Conrad and Shelley Willier are two talented female authors who were selected for the second cohort of Audible’s Indigenous Writers’ Circle.
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We spotlight stories from, for and focused on underrepresented voices and celebrate the breadth of lived experiences from emerging stars and top talent. Our original content also shines a light on societal and racial issues around the world, including racism in Italy and the struggles women face in the workplace in Japan.
We’re also focused on diversifying our audio narration and production talent pipeline. In the UK, we run workshops and training programs to find and teach new audiobook and drama directors, editors and sound designers, and we are the founding sponsor of the Content is Queen Podcast Studios, an organization that is making podcasting, audio storytelling and editing software more accessible for women, people of color and the LGBTQIA+ community.
Audible also works with schools, community programs and acting studios around the world to provide workshops and training programs for underrepresented youth in writing, narration, audio production and more.
A new slate of titles includes works from entertainment icons, cultural change agents, and dynamic new voices including Queen Latifah, Tessa Thompson, Brit Bennett, and the culinary collective Ghetto Gastro.
We’ve created a variety of methods to find, cultivate, produce and promote new, emerging and underrepresented voices, from our Podcast Development Program and Emerging Playwrights Fund to our Audible Accelerator Singapore and Indigenous Writers’ Circle.
To help us elevate underrepresented voices across the globe, we put together Audible’s Emerging Voices Advisory Board. The board consists of a cross-generational array of esteemed artists, podcasters, producers and writers, including Grammy-Award winning record producer, musician, and songwriter T Bone Burnett and best-selling author, “Revisionist History” host, and Pushkin Industries co-founder Malcolm Gladwell. The board helps attract, seed, develop, and advise on projects and talent, and works with Audible experts to define and further the creative vision of Audible storytellers.
Meet Jaymie Campbell, an Anishinaabe from Curve Lake First Nation in Ontario and an alumnus of the Audible Indigenous Writers' Circle, who says her program mentor, author Tanya Talaga, encouraged her “to write as an Indigenous writer and not try to change it.”
Read moreRead about Justin Buffalo, an author in the Indigenous Writers’ Circle. His personal experiences working at a casino, in oil field camps, and as an addictions counselor provide a unique perspective to his stories.
Read moreThe Vancouver Sun profiles Odette Auger, a Canadian writer and journalist who is writing her first novel with the mentorship of the Indigenous Writer’s Circle.
Read moreJanuary Rogers, a mentor with the Indigenous Writer’s Circle, describes what inspires her about mentoring emerging indigenous writers.
Read moreAudible leverages our expertise, technology, and deep roots in our communities to elevate underrepresented voices and powerful storytelling.
In March 2023, the City of Newark and Audible unveiled Newark’s new monument honoring Harriet Tubman and celebrating the city’s role in the Black liberation movement. Titled Shadow of a Face and designed by artist and architect Nina Cooke John, the monument forms the focal point of Harriet Tubman Square, directly outside Audible’s headquarters.
Audible curated and produced an interactive audio experience at the monument, featuring seminal stories of Harriet Tubman’s life intertwined with narratives about the Underground Railroad and the history of free Black communities in New Jersey. Audible’s first-ever permanent, site-based installation, the audio experience gives voice to the monument, amplifying Tubman’s story of liberation and celebrating an inclusive historical narrative. Monumental: Harriet Tubman and Newark’s Liberation Movement is also available for free to listeners around the world.
The project reflects our passion for excellent, immersive audio, our drive to amplify historically marginalized stories, and our commitment to the communities and cities we call home.
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