The Arsenika submissions portal includes an optional demographics form for people to fill out. The following data was collected between July 2019 and April 2020. Over that time, I received 1,650 submissions of prose & poetry and 111 responses to the demographic survey. As writers can submit multiple pieces for consideration, it’s unclear exactly how many individuals submitted during that time. (If anyone knows how to count this easily on Moksha, please let me know.)
Some of the questions had freeform text fields rather than multiple choice options for the reply. For ease of analysis, I’ve grouped together some of the responses under umbrella terms. Unfortunately, Excel’s pivot table function didn’t allow me to count a single response as belonging to multiple categories (unless I’ve missed a feature, which is very likely). As I’d prefer to keep data confidential—some respondents were very specific with their answers—I will not be including the detailed response breakdown. I apologize if there’s any misrepresentation in my methodology.
In the following tables, the top response (or top two responses, if there are more than four options) is bolded and italicized.
Age
The average age of respondents was 40 years old (median 39, mode 38). The youngest respondent was 11 years old, and the oldest was 79 years old.
Gender
Gender
Number of Respondents
Percentage
Nonbinary
11
9.9%
Women (cis & trans)
61
55.0%
Men (cis & trans)
36
32.4%
Questioning
3
2.7%
Personal Pronouns
Pronouns
Number of Respondents
Percentage
he/him/his
24
21.6%
she/her/hers
56
50.5%
they/them/theirs
5
4.5%
Neopronouns
2
1.8%
Multiple
11
9.9%
Undecided
1
0.9%
(blank)
5
4.5%
Country of Residence
Country
Number of Respondents
Percentage
Algeria
1
0.9%
Australia
2
1.8%
Botswana
1
0.9%
Brazil
2
1.8%
Bulgaria
1
0.9%
Canada
10
9.0%
China
1
0.9%
Denmark
1
0.9%
Germany
2
1.8%
Greece
1
0.9%
India
1
0.9%
Japan
1
0.9%
Kenya
1
0.9%
Mexico
1
0.9%
New Zealand
1
0.9%
Northern Ireland
1
0.9%
Portugal
1
0.9%
South Korea
1
0.9%
Spain
1
0.9%
Sweden
1
0.9%
UK
11
9.9%
USA
68
61.3%
Nationality
Nationality
Number of Respondents
Percentage
Algerian
1
0.9%
Armenian
1
0.9%
Australian
2
1.8%
Brazilian
1
0.9%
Bulgarian
1
0.9%
Canadian
10
9.0%
Danish
1
0.9%
Ghanaian
1
0.9%
Greek
1
0.9%
Indian
3
2.7%
Kenyan
1
0.9%
Mexican
1
0.9%
New Zealander
1
0.9%
Portuguese
1
0.9%
South Korean
1
0.9%
Spanish
1
0.9%
Swedish
1
0.9%
UK
12
10.8%
US
64
57.7%
Other
1
0.9%
(blank)
5
4.5%
Racial/Ethnic Background
I’ve simplified the results by assigning ethnicities to races based on how the United States categorizes them, as the bulk of publishing data on representation originates from the US (where I’m also based). The category “Caucasus/Northern Africa/Levant” groups together some ethnicities that are ambiguously considered White.
Race
Number of Respondents
Percentage
Black
8
7.2%
Caucasus/Northern Africa/Levant
7
6.3%
White
67
60.4%
Latinx
5
4.5%
Asian
6
5.4%
Multiracial
8
7.2%
Indigenous
4
3.6%
(blank)
6
5.4%
Do you identify as LGBTQIA+?
Response
Number of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
56
50.5%
No
45
40.5%
Questioning
9
8.1%
(blank)
1
0.9%
Are you disabled?
Response
Number of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
27
24.3%
No
72
64.9%
Intermittently
12
10.8%
Formerly
0
0.0%
Is English your primary language?
Response
Number of Respondents
Percentage
Yes, at work/school and at home
97
87.4%
Yes, but only at work/school
4
3.6%
Yes, but only at home
3
2.7%
No
7
6.3%
If English isn’t your primary language, what language(s) do you typically use?
Language
Number of Respondents
Percentage
Arabic
1
6.7%
Danish
1
6.7%
French
1
6.7%
German
2
13.3%
Greek
1
6.7%
Hindi
1
6.7%
Japanese
1
6.7%
Korean
1
6.7%
Marathi
1
6.7%
Portuguese
2
13.3%
Spanish
4
26.7%
Swedish
1
6.7%
Urdu
1
6.7%
Total
15 (some respondents counted twice)
100.0% of 15
Are you in poverty and/or working poor?
Response
Number of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
18
16.2%
No
77
69.4%
Unsure
15
13.5%
(blank)
1
0.9%
Do you practice any religion(s) and/or folk traditions?
Religion
Number of Respondents
Percentage
Buddhism
3
2.7%
Candomblé
1
0.9%
Christianity & Catholicism
13
11.7%
Islam
2
1.8%
Judaism
4
3.6%
Paganism
8
7.2%
Quakerism
1
0.9%
Satanism
1
0.9%
Secular/Nonreligious
46
41.4%
Unitarian Universalist
3
2.7%
Unspecified
5
4.5%
(blank)
24
21.6%
What is your highest level of education?
Response
Number of Respondents
Percentage
Elementary school
0
0.0%
Middle school
2
1.8%
High school
9
8.1%
College/University
60
54.1%
Graduate school
40
36.0%
Are you currently in the military or a veteran?
Response
Number of Respondents
Percentage
Yes
6
5.4%
No
104
93.7%
(blank)
1
0.9%
Is writing your main occupation? If not, what is?
Occupation
Number of Respondents
Percentage
Administration
9
8.1%
Education
14
12.6%
Homemaker
2
1.8%
IT
8
7.2%
Medical
5
4.5%
Sales
2
1.8%
Sciences
3
2.7%
Student
12
10.8%
Translation
3
2.7%
Writing/Editing
32
28.8%
Other
5
4.5%
Retired
6
5.4%
Unemployed
1
0.9%
(blank)
9
8.1%
All data from the survey has now been deleted from Airtable, my hard drive, and the cloud. Please feel free to leave comments and suggestions below. Comments are moderated.
S. Qiouyi Lu writes, translates, and edits between two coasts of the Pacific. Aer work has appeared in several award-winning venues. Ae edits the magazine Arsenika and runs microverses, a hub for tiny narratives. You can find out more about S. at aer website s.qiouyi.lu or on Twitter @sqiouyilu.
