Seeking to continue interrogating academic institutions, in step with the Palestinian liberation movement, we have chosen a reading that criticizes power structures within and surrounding universities. The essay, entitled ‘People’s Poetry’, comes from andrea bennett’s collection Like a Boy but Not a Boy, and places scrutiny on the response to UBC’s investigation of Steven Galloway back in 2016. bennet examines the event in parallel with another from Canadian literature’s history, illustrating a pattern of how certain voices are devalued by established authors and academics in favour of their own. The reader is called to consider how the impulse to protect some people can further disempower others, and how the burden of proof is handled surrounding accusations of sexual assault.
A PDF of the reading can be acquired here:
As always, we meet at Camas Books and Infoshop, 2620 Quadra Street, on unceded Lekwungen Territory at 6:30pm on Sunday July 21st