Introducing the Radical + Critical Reading Collective
A reading collective with a purpose for connection and learning
What is the RC2?
RC2, or the radical + critical reading collective is a loosely organized and experimental reading community that I’m starting here on Substack, with your input. Come read along with me~ if you’re a patron of mine, you can start new threads in the chat so we can discuss any of the books we’re reading, or just to communicate and talk about things! I’ll also be posting threads here to discuss certain books, and to do a slow, intentional discussion and thorough read of all the mentioned books in whatever order pleases us. You don’t have to read all the books; you don’t even have to finish all of them. But what I encourage with RC2 is talking about them. Why couldn’t you finish the book? What about this book struck you? What themes did you notice? Why did you devour this book? What did you love about it?
How has reading this changed you? Because most of the books I aim for are… more radical. Inspired by my abolitionist, anti-capitalist, radical, polyamorous and decolonial learnings/unlearnings, I’d love to read alongside you and talk about how these reads make us better humans.
How this Works (It’s an Experiment!)
To be honest with you, I have ADHD so much of the content will be split up into three sections, with most of us voting (in a private Discord server!) on which picks we’ll read for the quarter. This first quarter probably won’t start until Spring because we need to vote!
Nonfiction (Essays, Creative Nonfiction, Full Books, Memoirs, and more!)
Fiction
Poetry
Hybrid/Other
We will also pick a piece in each category that will be available to read, however, if you’re interested in joining us, if you’re interested, fill out the form here: CLICK HERE This isn’t limited to people in NYC, though I’m sure some members will try their best to do some IRL meets too, and it’s also free99 to join and participate. If you’re interested in donating to facilitation costs and set up, I appreciate it and you can contribute to business expenses for these community endeavors here!
We’re still figuring out the shape of this, but we’re trying to keep it accessible and as low-spoons and capacity as possible. We’ll be reading on a quarterly timeline, and have a Discord server, as well as Jitsi/video conferencing and a Signal group, to discuss and communicate with one another. I will feature some of my own thoughts on this section, and if you’d like to join, you can comment here too — but most it will be in another, private and secure community.
Welcome along for the ride, and if you’re interested, remember to subscribe to this section for updates, and fill out this form for more updates: