On Friday, 16 September 2016, the Small Axe community gathered at the Sulzberger Parlor at Barnard College to celebrate fifty issues of Small Axe by convening a series of panels interrogating the function and place of journal work among Caribbean academics and beyond. Vanessa Pérez-Rosario, managing editor of Small Axe, convened the occasion, and moderated the event throughout the day.

David Scott, director of Small Axe Project and editor of Small Axe gave opening remarks on the nature of intellectual giving and receiving within the critical framework of the journal community. Over the course of Small Axe's history, Scott has worked to reorient the community of journal work, into one where learning is accessed in the relationship of giving and receiving; creating an expansive and overlapping communal rethinking of the Caribbean. His opening remarks were echoed throughout the day, from a variety of panelists and speakers who have contributed to Small Axe over the last twenty years.

The first panel, entitled "What is Journal Work?" was moderated by Vanessa Agard-Jones, former Small Axe managing editor. Discussion ranged from the future of journal work, the means of journal production, to the role of scholars in digital work. Panel discussants included editors and founders of notable journals: Louis Chude-Sokei of The Black Scholar; Lowell Fiet of Sargasso; Kaiama L. Glover and Alex Gil of sx: archipelagos; Sean Jacobs of Africa is a Country; Kelly Baker Josephs of sx salon; Patricia Saunders of Anthurium; Ashwani Sharma of darkmatter; and Kuan-Hsing Chen of Inter-Asia Cultural Studies: Movements.

The second panel of the afternoon, entitled, "Small Axe Celebration" was moderated by Nijah Cunningham, current Coordinator of the Small Axe Project. Panelists spoke on the conditions of knowledge production within disciplines, their boundaries, and the imaginaries where journal work may intercede through Caribbean modernities past, present, and future. Likewise, panelists highlighted the important work of Small Axe over the past twenty years, like the comprehensive intellectual biographies and interviews conducted by Scott published in the journal, and it's consistent work in individual inquiry through collaborative and editorial practice. This work is anticipated to only push further through the shifting new territories of the Small Axe Project's expansion into multi-lingual publications, and interdisciplinary platforms like sx salon, sx archipelagos, and sx visualities. Discussants included: Hazel Carby of Yale University; Silvio Torres-Saillant of Syracuse University and Latino Studies Journal; and Brent Hayes Edwards of Columbia University.

The occasion concluded with a reception, and participants and contributors over the years continued the conversation about the future of journal work—with Small Axe placed importantly within the history of Caribbean journals. That evening there was a lovely dinner with participants at Solomon & Kuff, where the congenial ambience of scholarship and collegiality remained.

You can watch a full recording of the event here.

Please join us! Friday, 16 September 2016

This year, 2016, Small Axe turns twenty years old. And this year too, our fiftieth issue was published. We are not big on celebrations, it is true, but to mark the occasion we are organizing a roundtable conversation around the theme “What Is Journal Work?” We have invited editors (or founders) of notable journal platforms to help us think about the distinctive work (in all its dimensions) of journals in intellectual and artistic innovation and intervention.

The afternoon will unfold in two parts. In part one we will have a roundtable conversation. In part two we will have a number of people speak about the contribution of Small Axe over the twenty years of its existence. We hope that you will join us on Friday, 16 September 2016 from 1:00 to 6:30pm at Sulzberger Parlor, 3^rd floor, Barnard Hall, Barnard College. Barnard Hall is located immediately upon entering through the main gate of the Barnard College campus at Broadway and 117th Street. 

Part 1: Roundtable Program

What is Journal Work? A conversation
1:00-1:30pm:
Welcome: Vanessa Pérez-Rosario, managing editor, Small Axe
Opening Remarks: David Scott, Small Axe
1:30-3:30pm: Roundtable, What is Journal Work? 
Moderator: Vanessa Agard-Jones, Small Axe, Souls
Louis Chude-Sokei, The Black Scholar
Lowell Fiet, Sargasso
Kaiama L. Glover and Alex Gil, sx: archipelagos
Sean Jacobs, Africa is a Country
Kelly Baker Josephs, sx salon
Patricia Saunders, Anthurium
Ashwani Sharma, darkmatter
Kuan-Hsing Chen, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies: Movements 
 

Part 2: Small Axe Celebration
3:45-5:15pm
Moderator: Nijah Cunningham, coordinator, Small Axe Project
Hazel Carby, Yale University
Silvio Torres-Saillant, Syracuse University, Latino Studies Journal
Brent Hayes Edwards, Columbia University  

5:20pm Closing remarks: David Scott

5:30-6:30pm: Reception

Please join us! Friday, 16 September 2016

This year, 2016, Small Axe turns twenty years old. And this year too, our fiftieth issue was published. We are not big on celebrations, it is true, but to mark the occasion we are organizing a roundtable conversation around the theme “What Is Journal Work?” We have invited editors (or founders) of notable journal platforms to help us think about the distinctive work (in all its dimensions) of journals in intellectual and artistic innovation and intervention.

The afternoon will unfold in two parts. In part one we will have a roundtable conversation. In part two we will have a number of people speak about the contribution of Small Axe over the twenty years of its existence. We hope that you will join us on Friday, 16 September 2016 from 1:00 to 6:30pm at Sulzberger Parlor, 3^rd floor, Barnard Hall, Barnard College. Barnard Hall is located immediately upon entering through the main gate of the Barnard College campus at Broadway and 117th Street. 

Part 1: Roundtable Program

What is Journal Work? A conversation
1:00-1:30pm:
Welcome: Vanessa Pérez-Rosario, managing editor, Small Axe
Opening Remarks: David Scott, Small Axe
1:30-3:30pm: Roundtable, What is Journal Work? 
Moderator: Vanessa Agard-Jones, Small Axe, Souls
Louis Chude-Sokei, The Black Scholar
Lowell Fiet, Sargasso
Kaiama L. Glover and Alex Gil, sx: archipelagos
Sean Jacobs, Africa is a Country
Kelly Baker Josephs, sx salon
Patricia Saunders, Anthurium
Ashwani Sharma, darkmatter
Kuan-Hsing Chen, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies: Movements 
 

Part 2: Small Axe Celebration
3:45-5:15pm
Moderator: Nijah Cunningham, coordinator, Small Axe Project
Hazel Carby, Yale University
Silvio Torres-Saillant, Syracuse University, Latino Studies Journal
Brent Hayes Edwards, Columbia University  

5:20pm Closing remarks: David Scott

5:30-6:30pm: Reception

Kelly Baker Josephs, founder and editor of sx salon, has been invited to join the faculty at Williams College as Sterling Brown '22 Visiting Professor of Africana Studies.

Here is a description of this honor from the Williams College Africana Studies website:

"Established by gifts raised in a campaign led by members of the Williams Black Alumni Network, this professorship is named after one of America’s most influential poets and scholars, who was born in Washington, D.C. and attended Williams from 1918-1922. Each year, a distinguished visitor is invited to campus for one semester to teach an undergraduate course, to deliver a series of lectures open to the public, to work with students individually, and to contribute to the awareness and growth of the Williams community. The Sterling Brown visiting professors are encouraged to play an active part in campus life. Past recipients include Greg Tate, Kimberly Springer, Manning Marable, Carrie Mae Weems, Kathy A. Perkins, Cornel West, and many more prestigious scholars and artists." 

This latest honor comes as Josephs embarks on her current book project, "Caribbean Articulations: Storytelling in a Digital Age," which explores the intersections between new technologies and Caribbean cultural production. In addition to her long tenure as a member of the Small Axe Project (first as managing editor of Small Axe before founding the sx salon literary platform), Josephs also manages The Caribbean Commons.

Kelly Baker Josephs, founder and editor of sx salon, has been invited to join the faculty at Williams College as Sterling Brown '22 Visiting Professor of Africana Studies.

Here is a description of this honor from the Williams College Africana Studies website:

"Established by gifts raised in a campaign led by members of the Williams Black Alumni Network, this professorship is named after one of America’s most influential poets and scholars, who was born in Washington, D.C. and attended Williams from 1918-1922. Each year, a distinguished visitor is invited to campus for one semester to teach an undergraduate course, to deliver a series of lectures open to the public, to work with students individually, and to contribute to the awareness and growth of the Williams community. The Sterling Brown visiting professors are encouraged to play an active part in campus life. Past recipients include Greg Tate, Kimberly Springer, Manning Marable, Carrie Mae Weems, Kathy A. Perkins, Cornel West, and many more prestigious scholars and artists." 

This latest honor comes as Josephs embarks on her current book project, "Caribbean Articulations: Storytelling in a Digital Age," which explores the intersections between new technologies and Caribbean cultural production. In addition to her long tenure as a member of the Small Axe Project (first as managing editor of Small Axe before founding the sx salon literary platform), Josephs also manages The Caribbean Commons.