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\u201cWe are here for \u2018dignidad literaria,\u2019\u201d said panelist, author and SF State creative writing professor Carolina de Robertis. \u201cIt may seem that we are here because of controversy about a particular book. It is so much more than one book.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Panelist and feminist-fiction icon Aya de L\u00e9on also weighed in on the enormous publicity campaign that surrounded the book before its release. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s part of a strategy where [they] anoint a particular person as the chosen one to frame this story and is gonna tell a story that fits in line with the liberal version of whiteness\u2014a whitewashed, misguided savior-complex,\u201d de L\u00e9on said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Panelists also spoke about the recent agreement made between Dignidad Literaria and Macmillan Publishers, the global publishing giant that has distribution in more than 40 countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Early last month in New York City, Dignidad Literaria members met with the top executives of Macmillan at their company\u2019s headquarters to discuss the criticism raised by the publishing of \u201cAmerican Dirt.\u201d The two parties agreed to address the problems of misrepresentation, and to move forward with corrective action to build a bridge from the desks of Latinx writers to the audiences of the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe came to New York on a restorative, repairative mission. People of color know a thing or two about work,\u201d said Dignidad Literaria co-founder Myriam Gurba, during a New York press conference on Feb. 3, 2020. \u201cWe came not only to extend an olive branch, we came to offer our assistance in restoring the dignity of all parties harmed, to wipe away the dirt. Our goal was justice and I believe we are on the right path to achieving that.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Dignidad Literaria, Macmillan has committed to substantially increasing the amount of Latinx staff hired to editorial positions, and also to increasing representation of Latinx literature across the company by including features written by Latinx authors. The agreement also explained a 30-day and 90-day progress report to assess the implementation made by the company. That 30-day threshold is coming up this week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the historic victory at Macmillan in New York, Lovato returned to San Francisco detailing the experience during the public forum at Alley Cat Books. He opened the discussion by jokingly asking the audience, \u201cSo, brown people read?\u201d The audience, surrounded by shelves packed with volumes of literature, chuckled in response. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the joke pointed to a pressing reality, which came to the forefront of the conversation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat is what is believed in the industry. We\u2019ve been systematically erased from U.S. literature, because of the perception that [a] large working class population doesn\u2019t read,\u201d Lovato said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
De L\u00e9on elaborated further. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe whole \u2018Brown People Don\u2019t Read\u2019 [is a] racist myth. The other thing that goes with that is, \u2018And Whatever Brown People Are Reading Doesn\u2019t Count.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the panel was asked about what they believed the impact of the upcoming 2020 U.S. Census would be on Latinx literature, Lopera responded: \u201cI hope that we all realize we have a lot of power. There\u2019s 60 million of us. There are so many of us. I feel like there\u2019s going to be a lot of white anxiety around the census definitely and the shifting of demographics. In the end I hope we see the results that we have a lot of power to shift the cultural production of this country.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The group of Latinx authors had gathered at Alley Cat Books in San Francisco on Feb. 15 to participate in a public panel discussion about mismanagement of Latinx literature by the greater publishing industry, which has been ongoing for decades. Colombian-San Franciscan author Juliana Delgado Lopera presided over the panel, which was organized by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":43026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"coauthors":[18537],"class_list":["post-43025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n