ABSTRACT
This book chapter brings together research on diversity and inclusion in creative writing with a self-study of our undergraduate publishing courses at Humboldt State University. Students who enrol in these courses learn key skills in publishing as they work together to produce the annual Toyon literary magazine. The chapter includes a discussion of equity-minded learning in these courses, which prepare students for careers in publishing. Editing courses exist in affiliation with some of the literary journals produced on university campuses across the globe. The editorial course is uniquely situated to engage industry-related topics from both sides of the acquisitions desk: from the perspective of the writer, and from the perspective of the editor. This chapter considers issues of diversity and equity in the publishing industry and how these concerns translate to the editorial course in a creative writing programme. This chapter provides an overview of the range of editorial educational opportunities available in higher education. It then discusses the authors’ experiences teaching two upper-division seminar courses in editing at Humboldt State University. Students in these courses study the disparities that characterise the publishing industry (disparities in who is hired to editorial teams, which authors are published, and what characters are represented in books that are published). Surveying a range of articles on these topics, and following Twitter hashtags that continue the conversation, the chapter argues that the editorial course is one site where we can empower creative writing students to transform the industry’s disparities.
