Today, I want to talk about publishing and the fact that it’s hard. As in, there’s a whole school devoted to it in Denver alone, and that’s just to teach people how to be in the industry, not for authors to try and “get in.” It can take writers years, sometimes over a decade (?!), to get published, even if they’ve garnered a modest following on any social media platform. But as hard as publishing is, it’s harder for marginalized folks, and that’s where The Word comes in.
The Word is a Denver-based non-profit whose goal is to help uplift and enrich BIPOC and marginalized authors, assist them through the hellmouth that is publishing, and support the growth and accessibility of diverse literature for everyone.
Among their many magical powers, The Word hosts mentorship programs, conferences and workshops, spotlights diverse authors, and offers reading lists for ANY genre with BIPOC or under-represented authors/characters.
Wait, so what’s The Word and where did it come from, again?
The Word was originally founded in 2016 by Viniyanka Prasad, a criminal defense attorney who’s also an active member of Denver’s cultural community. Besides her role as the Executive Director of The Word, she’s also on the Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs and has served on the committee for Children’s Book Week and the Colorado Teen Lit Conference (so, you know, she’s clearly a slacker).
Prasad founded The Word to provide marginalized writers materials and support they might not otherwise receive. To do so, they work with the book-publishing industry in Denver to help diversify the environment and assist underrepresented authors as they navigate the publishing process. Additionally, they further aim to uplift diverse authors both in bookstores and online, further connecting the literary diaspora in Denver and increasing literary equity. To put it more simply, Prasad stated in an interview with Nelson Literary Agency on May 15, 2020 that “We fight for equity and celebrate storytelling from marginalized communities… writing from the margins often means explaining the need for your story to be told, the need for greater representation. It is an exhausting way to exist in literary spaces.” It is exactly this fatigue that The Word aims to combat through the many programs they offer.
What The Word Offers
[margins] – margins is an annual Denver-based literary conference scheduled for (and to be livestreamed in) August of 2022. It is a literary extravaganza offering panels, workshops and readings from a variety of literary organizations that will uplift “underrepresented communities and diverse backgrounds,” according to the conference’s website. The event includes writing labs, meet-and-greets, talks and panels both on writing and publishing as a business. The event also includes a book fair and awards, all of which highlight BIPOC and LGBTQA writers and their stories across multiple genres (which is great for diversifying your reading list).
The Word also hosts an Editor-Writer Mentorship, which pairs new writers from underrepresented populations with book publishing editors. These editors assist their authors in editing and improving their manuscripts before they begin the submission process for both agents and editors and is entirely free.
The BIPOC Bookseller Awards is the result of a partnership between Duende District (a pop-up bookseller by and for BIPOC, owned by Angela María Spring) and The Word. The awards shine a spotlight on black and brown booksellers who champion small, independent bookstores and the marginalized communities who use and support them. The awards have three categories; Activism, Innovation and Leadership, and are awarded to booksellers across the nation.
The Word’s Reading List and Bookshop – Each month, The Word offers a new list of books by marginalized authors across a variety of genres, including links to purchase each book through The Word’s bookstore, which further supports their other programs. They also include a Healing Reads list curated by Liza Michelle Bevams. This showcases works that aren’t just about anti-racism, but about joy and release in purposefully perceiving the world through eyes that are often excluded from the mainstream viewpoint.
Margins Bookstores – Starting in 2021, The Word has used October to celebrate “BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, & neurodiverse owned/managed bookstores.” They provide a map with which you can find bookstores meeting particular criteria, produce a literary journal through these shops that helps support them, and host events.
Poetic Ales– Poetic Ales is a collaboration between The Word and Fiction Beer Company that produces a gift box set promoting three new poets and three great beers. Each poet responds to the same prompt, and each of their poems are paired with brews and published on custom beer labels. When you buy a gift box set, you receive one of these beers and a Rastal Lawrence tumbler with the program’s emblem.
Finally, The Word also offers multiple submission and workshop opportunities for under-represented authors with both literary agents and publishers, all who have committed to helping raise marginalized voices to the surface. They’ve even recorded some of these workshops, so you can watch them at your leisure.
Great, The Word clearly knows what it’s about. Can I get involved?
Absolutely! Beyond attending any of The Word’s amazing events, you can also donate or volunteer at the program’s website – Just look down at the bottom right corner, you’ll see a small heart icon for donations and a dumbbell for volunteering.
