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National forum on literary arts
Description of the policy/measure
In mid-2013, the canada council assembled a partners committee of provincial and territorial funding agencies and a steering committee of 20 peers from the literary milieu, and hired two consultants to help manage the project. the partners committee members were selected from the canadian public arts funders (cpaf) network. their role was to provide advice and guidance on the forum and to ensure that a broad range of delegates would participate. the steering committee was tasked with setting the forum’s objectives and devising the program, and worked diligently to develop the objectives and prepare the theme documents with the goal of sparking lively discussions at the forum.in february of 2014, some 250 people representing various sectors of the industry gathered in montreal to develop a roadmap to respond to changes in the sector, identify future paths for sustainability and provide tools to adapt to new emerging models. the forum was a valuable opportunity for participants to share their thoughts, ideas and questions about the future of the literary arts in canada in stimulating and interactive sessions. there were two speakers, as well as roundtables on the themes of creation, production/publication, dissemination and sustainability.after the forum, the canada council presented its report and developed a plan for continuity and follow-up, so that ideas related to the themes and results can be shared to maintain an ongoing dialogue.the summary report on the forum may be accessed here: http://canadacouncil.ca/~/media/files/writing%20and%20publishing/national%20forum%20on%20the%20literary%20arts%20-%20report.pdf
2005 Convention Monitoring Framework Goal(s)
Area(s) of Monitoring
Cultural Domain(s)
Results achieved
The expected result of the forum is that the literary community will unite around a shared vision and work on a blueprint for the future. the forum was seen as the first step in what is hoped to be an ongoing dialogue on the future.for information see: http://canadacouncil.ca/~/media/files/writing%20and%20publishing/national%20forum%20on%20the%20literary%20arts%20-%20report.pdfone of the main recommendations from the forum was that the community was to continue the dialogue. in addition to some informal regional discussions, a notable follow-up to the national forum was the canadian writers’ summit, held june 15-19, 2016 in toronto. this conference was jointly hosted by a cohort of canadian writer organizations, which are listed at the following address: http://www.canadianwriterssummit.com/english/#/partners/. to continue the discussions from the national forum, the summit programming included: professional development sessions, keynote talks, pedagogy and policy discussions, scholarly presentations, public lectures, and networking opportunities.for more information, please see: http://www.canadianwriterssummit.com/english#/about/
Financial resources allocated to the policy
The total cost of the national forum on literary arts, not including the expenses for the steering committee, was $270,488 cad.