Community Engagement
Fernwood is always excited to partner with the communities our books are oriented towards. Since 1992, we’ve worked with a variety of organizations to put the books in conversation with the advocacy and activist work being done across disciplines and provinces in so-called Canada.
We are also always thrilled to be partnering with local libraries and independent bookstores, attempting sustainable practices wherever possible and emphasizing fair trade policy and product in our events and engagements.
- Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
- Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users
- Mainline Needle Exchange
- Ontario Native Women’s Association
- Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Nova Scotia Office
- Canada Centre for Policy Alternatives, Manitoba Office
- Halifax Workers’ Action Centre
- Glitter Bean Café
- Service Employees International Union
- Nova Scotia Public Interest Research Group
- Station 20 West Community Enterprise Centre
- Ontario Public Interest Research Group
- Native American and Indigenous Studies Association
- East Coast Prison Justice Society
- Mi’kmaw Friendship Centre
- Wellness Within
- Book Club for Inmates
- Criminalization and Punishment Education Project
- Coalition for Dental Care
- Centre for Social Justice, Concordia
- Simone de Beauvoir Institute, Concordia
- Toronto Palestinian Film Festival
- Harbinger Network
Equity and Diversity
Our commitment to equity and justice applies to all aspects of our publishing process: how we organize our workplace, the ideas we champion, the accessible writing we encourage our writers to develop, and our efforts to keep our books affordable and widely available.
We are committed to creating a workplace where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity, can contribute fully, and have equal opportunities. Specifically, we recognize the importance of Black and Indigenous representation within Fernwood and in leadership positions throughout the publishing industry.
Fernwood works on unceded Indigenous lands; specifically, we create from Kjipuktuk in Mi’kma’ki, colonially known as Halifax, Nova Scotia, the territory of the Mi'kmaq, as well as in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the original lands of Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene peoples, and the homeland of the Métis Nation, which in 1871 became Treaty 1 territory.
For those of us who are settlers working in publishing, we have a responsibility to understand and challenge the Canadian state’s history of racist and colonial writing and publishing practices, including the erasure of Indigenous knowledges, the ongoing systemic undermining of oral history and knowledge, and land theft. We dedicate ourselves to respectful collaboration with Indigenous communities in producing critical books.