I blog and tweet about diversity fairly often but I’ve found it difficult to build momentum. This is probably because my tweets and posts are reactionary: something at work or in my own reading triggers a thought and I give a “stream of consciousness” response. But DiverseCanLit needs and deserve a more consistent and organized discussion.
My first instinct was to host a conference! That’s what publishing does when we wanna talk about something, right? I had the thought last summer but my plans fizzled out because I was overwhelmed by the work it would take to pull something like that off. So a full blown DiverseCanLit conference is now on the back burner. In the interim, I’ve hosted panels about the topic twice (both at CanBPA’s BookCampTO). The conversations were great but we only had time to skim the surface. I, for one, left feeling that the discussion was incomplete.
A New Format
Starting January 8, 2014, I will host weekly Twitter chats. Twitter chats allow many people to participate, and having them weekly allows the conversation to build and progress. The goal is to forge strong networks across the country and work towards solutions.
I’ll maintain a list of regular participants so y’all can follow and connect with each other between chats. I’ll do my best to Storify the highlights of the conversation, so those who miss a chat can catch up and contribute next time. I’ll also post the topic ahead of time and come up with a few questions/discussion points to guide the conversation.
You will bring your insight, your experience, your ideas, and your support. By the end of the year, we’ll have a strong DiverseCanLit community that has made changes to the landscape of Canadian publishing!
#DiverseCanLit chat: Discussions of topics related to Canadian literature that centres marginalized groups and the people and infrastructure that supports it. Join us every Wednesday at 8pm Eastern time (time in Toronto/Montreal) using the hashtag #DiverseCanLit.
Do you have suggestions or questions? Leave them in the comments!
I am going to post about this along with the reading challenge I am hosting Diversity on the Shelf 2014. This is a great idea and conference is a BIG under taking for one person. Let me know if you need any help from California.