Standing With

If you read any kind of news or are on any kind of social media platform, it’s likely you are, like us, caught up in the emotional rollercoaster of disbelief, anger, and fear given the manifestation of hate, fascism, irrationality, and unpredictability that appears to be the new normal south of the border (and in many ways here in Canada, too).

We are witnessing the intentional and malevolent erasure of the inherent personhood of s LGBTQI2S+ folks, racialized folks, Indigenous people, people who are poor, people with disabilities, and women. It is with these people we must continue to stand. For us as an independent Canadian publisher, standing with means committing to the principle that poetry is for everyone. The diversity of a poetry list reflects the depth and breadth of that publisher’s understanding of what poetry has been, is, and can be. We won’t waver in this, and we don’t take for granted that the same conditions could not foment within Canada’s borders.
We acknowledge that unnuanced, nationalist rhetoric is problematic on many levels. We also know that arts are about as strong a way to express values and identity as there exists on this earth. Think of what you turn to in crisis; it’s beauty, it’s community, it’s poetry.

Canada’s sovereignty and the livelihoods of people within Canada are under threat. Brick Books is not immune to this. We’ve just begun to reimagine and rebuild after the pandemic, and a huge part of that rebuilding has been finding a dedicated and very much appreciated readership for our books in the US. Any trade war, even if books are excluded from tariffed items (no one knows yet if this is the case), will impact us negatively in a climate where our costs are, truly, unprecedented. That means not only will our staff’s livelihoods be affected, but so too will those of freelancers, like editors and book designers, and the businesses, like printers, distributors, and booksellers, that work with us in the ecosystem that is publishing. Ultimately, our ability to publish poetry from a multiplicity of experiences and perspectives will be diminished if not extinguished.

This when we already face an uncertain funding climate that exists pre-Canadian election and may worsen catastrophically post-Canadian election.
In light of all of this, our asks of you, our dear supporters, are simple:

• If you are in the position to buy books, buy books published by independent Canadian publishers like us at your local independent bookstore.
• Question your riding’s political candidates about their party’s policies on arts and culture, specifically how they plan on improving the support for the book publishing sector.
• Consider purchasing our Annual Subscription, which directly supports a diversity of voices, and helps sustain the press through predictable cash flow.