ABOUT
De-Canon is a literary social practice art project that centers the works and voices of writers of color. Founded in 2017 as a “pop-up library” + social engagement project, with a mission to challenge and unsettle notions of the (western) literary canon while also questioning precepts of canonization itself, De-Canon encourages new paradigms of writing and reading.
Through our “de-canonizing”activities, we work toward not simply an alternative canon but multiple canons that may hold space for pluralities, hybridities, and elasticities of borders and identities.
Our latest project is A Mouth Holds Many Things, a collection of hybrid-literary works by 36 women + nonbinary BIPOC writers whose works navigate the restless intersections of poetry, prose, visual art, moving image, sound, and other media. This exploration of hybridity is also an exploration of the creative possibilities of language, extending De-Canon’s mission to encourage new modes of reading, writing, and perceiving.
A Mouth Holds Many Things is published in collaboration with Fonograf Editions, May 2024. Preorder here
A group art exhibition for A Mouth Holds Many Things will be hosted by Stelo Arts in Portland, Oregon, from June 6-July 28, 2024, showcasing works from 12 of the artists in the collection.
:: read more - Past Projects & History
WHO WE ARE
De-Canon is co-directed by interdisciplinary poet-musician-artist, Dao Strom, and writer/editor/cultural worker, Jyothi Natarajan, who are also the co-editors/curators of our latest project A Mouth Holds Many Things.
De-Canon exists in an ethos of community and collectivity. Future projects may have other and varying collaborators. If you are interested in collaborating with us, attend some events, come talk to us, or write to us at the address below.
De-Canon was founded by poets Dao Strom and Neil Aitken in 2017.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are grateful for generous support from the Oregon Community Foundation, RACC (Regional Arts & Culture Foundation), the IPRC (Independent Publishing Resource Center), APANO (Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon), PICA (Portland Institute of Contemporary Arts), the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts, and Calligram Foundation. We are grateful for donations of time, books, and other resources from friends of De-Canon. Fiscal sponsorship has been provided by Oregon Contemporary and Stelo Arts.
CONTACT
+ Contact: decanonproject@gmail.com
+ IG: @decanonproject
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