Our Story

In 2019, five Atlantic Canadian publishers, Nimbus Publishing (Fiduciary Lead, NS), Bouton d’or Acadie (NB), Goose Lane Editions (NB), Breakwater Books (NL), and Acorn Press (PEI), partnered to seek funding for a digital innovation strategy that would engage local youth with local books.

Through the hard work of its founders and the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Digitally Lit: Atlantic Canadian Youth Read broke ground as the region’s first by-youth-for-youth digital literacy initiative—and it’s been empowering a dynamic group of youth to creatively engage their peers with local books ever since!

Drawing on the principles of Critical Pedagogy of Place, Digitally Lit has carved out safe spaces for young people to challenge the narratives being presented to them in books and classrooms. Over the years, focus groups, surveys and discussions with youth participants revealed that although the youth were enjoying the local books they were reading, they wished to see more diversity in the stories being told and who is telling them.

When asked for their visions for the future of local publishing, the youth called for more books representing the diversity of experiences, cultures, backgrounds and histories of Atlantic Canada, and in particular, more books centering and celebrating Indigenous voices, stories, and lived experiences.

Bridge to Publishing was conceived by Digitally Lit’s program directors in response to these calls to action. All five partnering publishers quickly pledged their support and in 2022, a partnership with the Ulnooweg Education Centre was formed with the goal of making the Bridge to Publishing vision a reality.

Bridge to Publishing has now evolved into a fully realized Indigenous-led storytelling program. Three additional book publishers have joined Digitally Lit’s original five partners (Formac Publishing, Breton Books and Fernwood Publishing). Federal funding was secured through the Canada Council of the Arts in spring of 2023 with additional funding provided by the Ulnooweg Indigenous Communities Foundation.

Bridge to Publishing’s pilot storytelling initiative, a free online professional development program for Indigenous youth, ran from January 2024 to June 2024. Guided by a steering committee of Elders, educators, artists, and multi-disciplinary storytellers, the program supported youth participants in developing their writing, editing, and digital storytelling skills while prioritizing community, culture, and storytelling traditions. With this pilot, our partnering publishers, team members and participants were united in the goals of increasing Indigenous representation in the publishing sector, publishing more Indigenous-authored and edited books per year, honouring storytelling traditions as well as intellectual and cultural property rights, and ensuring that books used in educational settings across the region are representative of Indigenous voices and perspectives.

In an effort to ensure Indigenous narrative sovereignty across all publishing and storytelling mediums we are working hard to secure funding to enhance the pilot and offer it to new youth cohorts as well as expand the Bridge to Publishing program to include additional storytelling initiatives, particularly those focused on knowledge transfer between Elders and youth, environmental stewardship/Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), and digital media.

To stay in the loop about the program and our current/future youth storytelling initiatives make sure to follow us on social media!