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De-Canon

A Visibility Project
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"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."  

---Robin Coste Lewis @ Portland Arts & Lectures, on 4.20.16

Featured
Apr 14, 2018
De-Canon Summer Residency Begins in May
Apr 14, 2018

Thanks to the generosity of Artists Milepost, we'll be in residency there from mid May to late July. Our opening event will be on May 12 at 6pm. Through these three months, the exhibit space will be open as a reading library, workspace, and venue for 4 days a week, with the occasional weekend events.  We are expanding our archive and hope to have over 500 books available for visitors to read.

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Apr 14, 2018
Mar 29, 2018
Inventory Updates: Recent Acquisitions
Mar 29, 2018

It's been a busy few weeks since AWP, but we wanted to share some of the books we brought back to add to De-Canon's growing archive, as well as books we recently received as donations.

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Mar 29, 2018
Mar 21, 2018
On Diaspora & Culture As Plurality: A Conversation With Viet Thanh Nguyen
Mar 21, 2018

This is a conversation interview conducted by Dao Strom, new editor of diaCRITICS, with Viet Thanh Nguyen, author, founder and publisher of diaCRITICS. Read more about what Nguyen has to say about diaspora, identity, and the unique "double burden" of making art as a "minority" person amid or between "majority" cultures.

...I’m of the belief that anything a Vietnamese artist does is inherently Vietnamese, but is also something else–that it can be and should be universal too. The challenge for us is that, as minorities, we always labor under the double burden of our specificity while attempting to prove our universality.

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Mar 21, 2018
Mar 6, 2018
Some Notes for AWP 2018
Mar 6, 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.

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Mar 6, 2018
Mar 2, 2018
Owning the Means of Production, Part 2: POC-Edited Literary Journals
Mar 2, 2018

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. 

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Mar 2, 2018
Feb 22, 2018
Owning the Means of Production, Part 1: POC-run Presses
Feb 22, 2018

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.

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Feb 22, 2018
Feb 7, 2018
Upcoming Poetry Book Prize Contests for POC Writers
Feb 7, 2018

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

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Feb 7, 2018
Feb 2, 2018
POC Writers and Their Libraries
Feb 2, 2018

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. 

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Feb 2, 2018
Jan 31, 2018
Mimi Mondal's "A Brief History of South Asian Speculative Fiction, Part I"
Jan 31, 2018

On the radar -- Mimi Mondal explores the history of South Asian speculative fiction for science fiction and fantasy publishing blog, Tor.

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Jan 31, 2018
Jan 26, 2018
A Library of One's Own
Jan 26, 2018

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.

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Jan 26, 2018

UPCOMING DE-CANON EVENTS
May 12, 2018
Artists' Milepost (cafeteria)
De-Canon // Exhibit Opening at Artists' Milepost
May 12, 2018
Artists' Milepost (cafeteria)
May 12, 2018
Artists' Milepost (cafeteria)
May 18, 2018
Portland Art Museum
De-Canon // Displacement Poetry at PAM
May 18, 2018
Portland Art Museum
May 18, 2018
Portland Art Museum
May 25, 2018
Artists Milepost (cafeteria)
Whitenoise Project // Reading
May 25, 2018
Artists Milepost (cafeteria)
May 25, 2018
Artists Milepost (cafeteria)
May 26, 2018
Artists Milepost (Cafeteria)
Neil Aitken // Spatial Poetics: Writing Place & Displacement
May 26, 2018
Artists Milepost (Cafeteria)
May 26, 2018
Artists Milepost (Cafeteria)
Jun 8, 2018
Jessica Mehta // From Myth to Modern: Re-imagining Indigenous Mythologies Today (Workshop)
Jun 8, 2018
Jun 8, 2018


 

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