When I started Magnify, my goal was to bring attention to the literary fiction and creative non-fiction coming out from small presses. I saw the newsletter as a small way that I could give back to a community that does so much to enrich the literary landscape by publishing new writers.
But when I think about my literary community, I think about all the other people—beyond just my publisher—who put their time and effort into creating literary community by connecting readers and writers: the owners of indie bookstores, the organizers of conferences and reading series, the non-profits that bring free or low-cost writing workshops to people who otherwise wouldn’t have access. In the May issue of Magnify, I highlighted a handful of the community builders who have made a difference in my writing life and in the lives of many other writers and readers. To learn more about Forest Avenue Press, Write Around Portland, Why There Are Words, the Compose Writing Conference, and Another Read Through bookstore, check out the issue!
I’d like to continue to celebrate literary community builders by inviting my readers to nominate people or organizations for inclusion in future issues of the newsletter. Magnify needs to highlight literary citizenship outside of my own community, largely centered in Portland, Oregon. I need your help to do that!
If you know of a literary community builder you’d like to see highlighted in Magnify, please use this Google form to send me their information. You can submit as many nominations as you’d like (one per form). You’ll be asked to write a brief description of roughly 100 words describing the work your nomination does to build literary community. Please write this as you would like it to appear in the newsletter. I may lightly edit material, but generally would like to include descriptions from people who have direct experience with the person or organization being highlighted. You can nominate yourself or your own organization, or submit an entry on someone else’s behalf.
Examples of literary community builders include reading series, writing groups, independent bookstores, reading groups, non-profit organizations, and literary events. I am particularly interested in highlighting people or groups who champion marginalized voices and small press authors. I’d also like to focus on community builders who are interested in growing their communities and would appreciate some attention on their work. If you’re in a closed writing group that supports you but isn’t interested in growing right now, it might not be a good fit for the newsletter. Independent presses are certainly literary community builders; however, if you are nominating a press, please be sure to include information in your description that explains what the press does to build community beyond publishing books. (Publishing books is enough, but since the newsletter already champions presses for the books they publish, this project aims to focus on people or groups that go beyond publishing to build community.)