We love live literary events. Festivals, reading series, bookstore book launches: we are just about always game for a good ol’ bibliofest. We also know that many of these events operate by the mercy of grants, volunteers, and long, hard, and often thankless hours. No one who loves books and literature should take these vital initiatives for granted. Not only do authors often depend on them to create more awareness for their work, but our culture depends on them to keep the literary arts vibrant. That’s why we reached out to one of of favourite downtown Toronto reading series, Brockton Writers, and asked them to be a guest this month on our Power Q & A series.
We had one particular question in mind that we wanted to pose, and they were gracious enough to answer.
Welcome to River Street, Brockton Writers!
Donate to Brockton Wrtiers Series here.
What is one thing you think people don’t understand about running a reading series?
“After volunteering for BWS for the past two years, I've come to appreciate running a reading series as a continuous learning experience. There's always work that needs doing — promotions, social media, grant writing, etc. — so there are always opportunities to develop new skills. More than any particular set of skills or any previous experience in event planning, what it takes to run a reading series is a lot of initiative and a self-starting attitude. You've got to be willing to constantly evolve, to anticipate and put out fires, to keep up with the changing landscape of the publishing industry and the literary community. On one hand, that might sound a little daunting; on the other hand, I also think it's quite exciting, having the opportunity and the freedom to say "Hey, I want to try doing XYZ," and then ... just being able to do it.”
—Fei Dong (they/them) is a writer and editor based in Toronto, Canada. A graduate of University of Waterloo's Computer Science program and Centennial College's Publishing – Book, Magazine and Electronic program, they’re an editorial assistant at Cormorant Books and a board member at BIPOC of Publishing in Canada. Passionate about literary advocacy in Canadian publishing, they have volunteered their writing and editing services to a charity zine, a storytelling festival, and a flash fiction magazine.
Photo courtesy of Brockton Writers Series.
The best thing about working for BWS is the great diversity of writers and voices you're exposed to. The hardest thing is building and retaining an audience for the events. There's lots to do in Toronto on any given evening, and it's difficult to be seen among the crowd.
—Nancy Kay Clark (she/her) is the editor and publisher of CommuterLit.com and is a long-time magazine writer and editor. Her speculative short fiction has been featured in Neo-Opsis magazine, Polar Borealis, Utopia Science Fiction magazine and others. She was shortlisted for the Writers’ Union of Canada Postcard Story Contest and CANSCAIP's (Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers) annual Writing for Children competition. She self-published a middle-grade novel in 2018. Nancy is Brockton’s financial manager, and she curates the guest speakers and writes the newsletters for Brockton Writers Series.
I think what people don’t always understand about a literary series is actually the attending part, not the running of it! Everyone is welcome, it’s a very casual environment, you don’t have to know all the authors and their work to come. I think it might feel intimidating for people to come to these events, but it really shouldn’t be.
—Evgenia Shestunova (she/her) is an immigrant from Kyiv, Ukraine, who came to Toronto in 2015. She is a recent graduate of Centennial College’s Book and Magazine program and is currently working as a Publishing Operations Assistant at Penguin Random House. She is passionate about showcasing emerging writers and giving marginalized voices a platform.
Photo courtesy of Brockton Writers Series. Follow Brockton Writers Series on YouTube.
I think people may not understand how much work it is. I like to think we make it look easy, but it’s not, especially when you have the values we do: dedication to a physically accessible venue, commitment to paying our authors, etc. We have to be able to problem-solve on the fly, manage a wide variety of expectations from authors and publishers, and collaborate effectively as a team to do what we do with Brockton.
I also think people may not understand that reading series, locally at least, are fun, friendly events that are valuable for their entertainment and community-building, whether or not you’re actually a fan of the readers presenting that night. It’s a cheap night out – there’s never a cover charge – and you might find an author you’re interested in who you hadn’t known of before. But even if you don’t, you’re not committing to reading or buying a book just by showing up. I also think it’s an underutilized date night option. Assuming you want to date people who read, why not go to a reading series, which is shorter and cheaper than a movie, and afterward you can discuss the readings to find if your literary tastes align? It’s low-risk because aligned literary tastes are a nice to have, but not a dealbreaker. Hey, Tinder, hit us up for a corporate sponsorship! 😊
—Dorianne Emmerton (she/her) grew up in rural Northern Ontario and now lives in Toronto with chosen family, a kid, and an ill-tempered black cat. Her short stories have been published in Eavesdrop Magazine, Luna Station Quarterly, Room Magazine; The Fantasist; Daily Science Fiction; The Bronzeville Bee; The Audient Void; Nevertheless (Tesseracts Twenty-One); and more. She also has a personal essay in the anthology A Family By Any Other Name: Exploring Queer Relationships. Dorianne is currently querying one novel and writing another, while occasionally writing for the pop culture site Biff Bam Pop! For the past few years she has been the lead organizer of the Bi+ Arts Festival. Previous activities include hosting a radio show on CIUT, reviewing live performance events for Mooney On Theatre, and participating in the Diaspora Dialogues writing mentorship program, under the guidance of Martin Mordecai.
Other Volunteers:
Kiri Stockwood (she/her) is a writer and editor living in Toronto, Canada. She is a recent graduate of Centennial College’s Publishing program, which concluded with an internship at the indie publisher Renaissance Press. Kiri has contributed to a number of publications as an editor and has a short story published with Plenitude Magazine. With a passion for storytelling and helping others tell their own stories, she is looking forward to continuing her career in publishing. Kiri is currently volunteering as a grant writer for Brockton Writers Series.
Marcela Arevalo (she/her) is a graduate of Northern Private University’s Communication program and a current student in Centennial College’s Publishing program. With over seven years of experience in digital marketing, she is currently specializing in publishing and contributing to On The Danforth as a Marketing Manager and writer. Marcela is eager to start her career in the Canadian publishing industry and to become part of the book world as both a writer and publisher, something she is deeply passionate about.
Donate to Brockton Wrtiers Series here.