THOUGHTS FROM A SUMMER EXHIBIT :: DE-CANON AT UNA / AUG 2017

August 2017 Closing Thoughts:

De-Canon: A Visibility Project launched in August 2017, with a month-long popup library exhibit at UNA Gallery in Portland, Oregon. We held events every week throughout the month and were joined by many other artists, writers, and artist groups in our community, all artists and writers of color. Our month of events and happenings showcased the multiplicity of voices, talents, views, and the sheer creativity and strength of the POC creative community in Portland. We are proud, grateful, humbled, delighted to have had the chance to create space for these interactions.

We owe thanks to many for contributions: Precipice Fund Grant/PICA; UNA Gallery (brilliantly run by Mercedes Orozco and Blair Crissman); book donations from Wave Books, Tin House, Octopus Books, Sundress Publications, YesYes Books; to Kevin Sampsell at Powell's for featuring a De-Canon display shelf in the bookstore; and to all the authors who donated their own books (Hoa Nguyen, Stephanie Adams-Santos, Cindy Williams Gutierrez, we will keep adding names here...); and to the contributors who helped us create our "de-canonizing" lists. We will be assembling those "de-canon" lists of contributors on the De-Canon website soon. We also appreciate the press and blog posts by the Mercury, Portland Monthly, Literary Arts, Oregon Arts Watch, and AWP Writer's Notebook.

Gratitude and recognition to all the presenters and participating artists and writers: Moved By Words; White Noise Project; Unlearning Podcast (Béalleka, Jeff Jaeckle); Physical Education (Taka Yamamoto, Lu Yim, Allie Hankins, keyon gaskin); and all the poets, asemic & visual artist-poets, and musicians: Samiya Bashir, Sam Roxas-Chua, Roland Dahwen Wu, Stacey Tran, Jonathan Raissi, Stephanie Adams-Santos, Christopher Rose, Jake Vermaas, Neil Aitken, Shayla Lawson, Trevino Brings Plenty, Anna Vo, Tron 444, Dao Strom, Amy Temple Harper, Claudia F. Savage, Skyler Reed, Consuelo Wise, Amy Lam, Alyssa Ogi, Rachel Springer.

We had such a powerhouse lineup of artists sharing their creative gifts in this space with us in August, and all of this is testament to the currents running through us all :: thank you thank you.

& a very special thanks to Kyle Macdonald, who designed and built all of our book boxes, all from recycled and reclaimed wood.

The poem "Thoughts On a Summer Exhibit" was made for De-Canon by Sam Roxas-Chua, inspired by our opening night event. He has kindly given us permission to re-print it here.

We will soon post a book index listing the books that were part of our August exhibit.

Sep 12, 2018

De-Canon: A Celebration of Our Summer Events & A Look Forward

Our stay at Mile Post 5 has been a phenomenal experience. We have enjoyed having a large space to ourselves in which we’ve been able to not only exhibit the entire (and continually expanding) collection of books, but create a space where we’ve hosted readings, offered writing workshops, provided room for meetings, and enabled writers and artists of color to interact with each other, as well as the local community. Here’s an overview of what' we’ve done this summer.

Mar 6, 2018

Some Notes for AWP 2018

Although De-Canon does not have a formal presence at AWP this year (that is, we didn't invest in a table), we will still have a presence of sorts. If you'd like to chat about the project, discuss past or future post topics for the blog, or want to learn more about how to have your own books included in the archive, stop by Table 1136 in the bookfair to find Neil who is representing Boxcar Poetry Review & Have Book Will Travel.

Mar 2, 2018

Owning the Means of Production, Part 2: POC-Edited Literary Journals

In this post, we survey the landscape of literary journals and provide a listing of currently operating journals which are helmed by POC editors. In total, we found __ literary journals whose mastheads list a writer of color as their editor-in-chief. Many also feature additional associate editors and staff members who are also POC. Some of these journals have been around since the 70s, but many are newer online journals, having come into existence in the last 5 years.

Feb 22, 2018

Owning the Means of Production, Part 1: POC-run Presses

If we hope to truly challenge or reimagine literary canon, it is not enough to consider the academic programs where young writers are taught and trained. We must look beyond the classroom and the professoriate, past endless reams of syllabi making and remaking what constitutes canon, and consider the practical matter of how these texts enter the field in the first place. In this post, we present a list of POC-helmed presses that are currently in operation.

Feb 7, 2018

Upcoming Poetry Book Prize Contests for POC Writers

Although the field of literary publishing is still primarily populated by white editors and publishers, there are some POC-owned and directed publishers and a number of new and well-established poetry book prizes that are judged by respected POC authors and which seek to champion work of writers from particular communities of color. If you're a POC poet with a book manuscript in need of a home, here's a list of upcoming contests you might want to try

Feb 2, 2018

POC Writers and Their Libraries

Over the past week and a half, we've been gathering images of POC writers and their libraries, as well as asking readers and writers of color to contribute their thoughts on the importance of building a personal library and how books by other POC writers have impacted their lives.

This post showcases responses from and glimpses into the libraries of Kazim Ali, Francisco Aragón, Jackson Bliss, Genève Chao, Shu-Ling Chua, Oliver de la Paz, M. Evelina Galang, Nathania Gilson, Jenna Le, Gemma Mahadeo, Meera (@ashmeera101), and Brian W. Parker.

Jan 26, 2018

A Library of One's Own

It's hard to explain exactly why having a personal library is so valuable -- and why it is particularly valuable to a person of color (writer or reader) to build a library for oneself. Here are a few ways of thinking about the value and purpose of a personal library -- and what it can enable in ourselves.

"The history of English is inextricably tied to the history of war, to the history of empire; they cannot be separated. And hence our literature cannot be separated from these histories. Language is one of the most powerful weapons of war. It is also one of the war's first victims."

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