The Crooked Canon is a product of equal parts love and frustration.

 

I have always loved reading, but during the last few years I have grown increasingly aware of the racism, sexism, and anti-queer sentiment that infects parts of literary academia. Specifically: the literary canon. The canon is used to refer to a generally agreed upon collection of literature's most influential novels. The problem is that the current literary canon is far too focused on the works of white, cisgender, heterosexual men. It doesn't reflect the diverse writers and readers that populate the literary world. 

 

The Crooked Canon attempts to highlight the books and authors that deserve, but often do not receive, attention from literary academia. It is also a space to discuss the role of literature in our society and offer reading recommendations. 

 

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