Best practices for equity-driven acquisitions: Shifting from gatekeeping to spacemaking

In this dynamic, action-focused session, Léonicka Valcius, Founder of DiverseCanLit, Annie Gibson, Publisher at Playwrights Canada Press, Scaachi Koul, Senior Writer at Buzzfeed and Bhavna Chauhan, Senior Editor at Doubleday Canada and Appetite, lead attendees in a collaborative, generative process to develop "Best Practices" guidelines for industry adoption. The “gatekeeping” framework of our industry is a major structural hurdle to diversity and inclusion in publishing. It is not enough to recognize our biases and stop doing harm (though that's a key first step). We need to brainstorm ways to repair the historical damage done to our cultural institutions and artists. How do we shift from "gatekeeping" and towards what attendees of SFU's 2018 Publishing Unbound conference called "spacemaking": a process that solicits, supports, and develops the work of marginalized writers and professionals?