Diversity and publishing

Through the submissions we receive as a publisher, I have a bit of an overview of what is out there - in our case novels, poetry and philosophy. And when making a decision on what to publish, there are a number of considerations I draw from. 

Most would assume that we choose what we consider the best writing. But that’s only one aspect. Especially since the best writing isn’t necessarily the most important or engaging. Besides, in terms of literature specifically, I don’t agree with what the contemporary CanLit cultural elite seems to think is great writing anyway. I feel like much of the Canadian literary scene and its output has become too professional, as though great literature always comes from the university and rarely from the heart. To my mind it’s the other way around, as well as from a unique perspective, or from the simple desire to tell a good story or share ideas and the gift to do it effortlessly. I think many potentially great and/or important writers are paralyzed by comparing themselves to ‘professional’ authors, always feeling they are missing the mark. But perhaps it’s this professionalism and the doors it closes and the oftentimes uniform style it leads to, that needs some critique. 

The global civilization that we currently exist in, capitalist and authoritarian, is largely a monoculture, that’s its internal logic and its end goal. So supporting and amplifying diversity is an inherent act of revolt. The techno-industrial work machine excels in, and therefore pushes for, a world of uniformity, a planetary culture that suppresses and devalues diversity. We are, after all, easiest to manage if our imaginations are clipped and the voices of the rebellious, excluded, marginalized and unusual are devalued, treated as suspect, or given a place at the table only as a token or as long as they agree to echo palatable opinions and critiques.

So over time, it should behoove publishers to continually scan our catalogues and take note of what voices aren’t there so that we can correct some of the imbalances. Of course this should occur within the mandates and interests we have set for our projects. And identity alone shouldn’t generally be enough to get one published, although there are instances when that would be the distinguishing reason, but neither should complete agreement with our, or the dominant, philosophical and artistic beliefs, or even what we consider the best writing. As we often casually ask each other “What’s new and exciting?”, the answer to that question from within the list of a publisher’s submissions should sometimes be enough too. 

Choosing what we publish isn’t a decision based around a set list of criteria or a template of boxes to be checked. It’s both a conscious and unconscious process, a balancing act reliant on both intuition and experience, on personal outlook and a desire to be fair and open while looking for quality writing. In our case we are also a small independent outfit, so there are natural flows into our orbit, friends and comrades whose ideas and art we want to share. But if we don’t ever consider diversity then we have succumbed to the monocultural impulses and logic of the dominant reality.

And just because radical publishers have a desire to implement diversity as a practice, doesn’t mean that we have ready access to writing by every demographic, artistic strain or literary and philosophical outsider. The effort to be inclusive isn’t always rewarded with submissions. For our poetry anthology, Flower Bombs - poems of love and rage in the Anthropocene, for instance, we reached out to many authors who weren’t interested, didn’t have anything to submit or simply never responded. We are proud of how diverse that anthology is, but it took a little extra time to get there. It takes a while to get familiarity with the incredible variety and heterogeneity that exists in writing circles and to build connections within it.

Nor should we deny that every human is unique, because we each have a unique genetic inheritance and individual experiences that combine to shape our understanding of the world.

For publishers willing to take risks, and committed to diversity, our catalogues themselves are always an artistic and political work in progress.

Shaun Day Woods