Emma heeft aangekondigd een andere richting op te gaan met haar boekclub ‘Our Shared Shelf’. On de onderstaande bericht laat Emma weten dat ze meer tijd gaan nemen op zich te richten of persoonlijke en professionele kansen. Dit houd in dat ze geen tijd meer heeft om ‘Our Shared Shelf’ forum bij te houden en vanaf nu nieuwe boeken zal aanbevelen via instagram met de hashtag #oursharedshelf. Ze zal niet meer elke twee maanden een boek aanbeveling via het forum zoals ze hiervoor deed. Het forum zal open blijven voor fans zodat iedereen elkaar boeken kan aanraden of dit ook met de hashtag #oursharedshelf op instagram doen.
Our Shared Shelf was a title dreamed up by YOU, all of the amazing individuals who support and contribute to creating conversations around intersectionality, feminism and equal rights. It was important to me that Our Shared Shelf was not owned by me, but indeed, SHARED! You offered me the perfect title, and I have been astonished, humbled and filled with gratitude by how shared it has felt, with over a million people all over the world now active in the club. To those who’ve written long thoughtful threads, to the incredible authors who’ve answered Our Shared Shelf questions, to the hundreds of people globally who’ve hidden feminist titles alongside me over these last three years, you’ve made my wishes come true; I am truly part of the greatest feminist ninja gang the world has ever seen! Most importantly a massive THANK YOU for being part of my little piece of mischief. To sum up all that I have learned from this community would be an impossible task.
Circling back to the title for a moment. It annoyed me that Our Shared Shelf was constantly abbreviated to “O.S.S.”. The same letters (different order) as the international symbol for distress! However, over the years the three letters have developed their own beautiful meaning for me. This book club initially was my own kind of distress signal! Life, it turns out, can be difficult to navigate. We are often caught in the storm and lost at sea. The journey to becoming an independent thinker, activist and mischief maker is treacherous! OSS was my distress signal and call for help – and it came! It has become a beacon and guiding light. If you know someone sending out a jumbled distress signal, please pass on or tell them about OSS. Activism and change making can feel lonely. This is your tribe, this is your collective consciousness and we are raising it together.
At the beginning of every new year, and particularly so now as it is the beginning of a new decade, I’ve been prompted to look at my next steps. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking! First of all Happy 2020, it’s going to be an amazing year for all of you. This year I want to focus my energy on some new personal and professional opportunities and while I want to say YES to everything – it’s IMPOSSIBLE.
What does this mean? Moving forward the OSS board will be unmoderated but remain open keeping intact all previous conversations. I will not be making the regular bi-monthly book announcement via the board, I will be making future book recommendations through Instagram using the hashtag #oursharedshelf instead. My wish is that this community continues to share and announce their own book recommendations with this hashtag keeping what we’ve built together alive and well for the future. I am excited to see it continue to grow and mature. I might just be reading along with you! Keep your eyes peeled as I announce other books later this year.
Love
Emma
