Led by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (APAC) in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Poetry Foundation, Maps to the Next World is a new digital publishing initiative that seeks to chart new paths forward for the literary arts field. Through a series of commissioned essays published online in a range of journals and linked to APAC’s website, Maps to the Next World seeks to inspire wide-ranging reflections on challenges facing the many sectors of the literary arts and the role the field plays in public life. The initiative will provide a forum for bold ideas and actionable steps towards a more just, accessible, and financially viable literary arts ecosystem.

“In the era of COVID-19, publishing houses, bookstores, creative writing education, literary presenters, and festivals—all have been forced to undergo tremendous changes,” said Lawrence-Minh Bùi Davis, project lead and APAC curator. “Our question is: how do we want the literary arts to change going forward?” Added Amy Stolls, director of Literary Arts for the NEA: “There is much we can learn from each other within the literary arts field, but also from those outside of it. By lifting up a variety of voices, we hope this initiative will encourage new connections and conversations, as well as ideas worth acting upon.”

Maps to the Next World draws its title from the poem “A Map to the Next World” by former US Poet Laureate and NEA Creative Writing Fellow Joy Harjo. The commissioned pieces by both established and emerging writers will range in length, style, form, and perspective. They will engage with topics relevant to a wide range of individuals, organizations, coalitions, and communities within the literary arts, including stakeholders such as writers and translators, teaching artists and book reviewers, literary journals and small presses, reading series and writing workshops. For more information and to keep abreast of published pieces, please visit the website.