Who among us hasn't started a project and then realized that you've inadvertently wandered into a longstanding and contentious debate? I enlist the help of two experts to unravel why I started the Shelf Love Modern Romance Canon project. First, Katrina Jackson helps me unravel some of the ways my professional and educational background made me think this was a logical thing to do. Then, Eric Selinger gives some backstory into the academic and institutional reasons canons exist, and why those who study, read, and write the popular romance genre have been circling this question for decades and will continue into the future.It's a story of nostalgia, red tape, gatekeeping, search engine optimization, and my unquenchable thirst for knowledge.Show Notes:Shelf Love:Sign up for the email newsletter list | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Email: [email protected] Romance Novellas For A Quick Hit of HopeCheck out Shelf Love’s updated website including the transcript for this episodeLow-Cost Mental Health Resources & Alternatives recommended by Hannah Hearts Romance - link to blog postGuest: Katrina JacksonTwitter | Instagram | Kat’s Email newsletter | Beautiful & DirtyKat's other episodes: An Unconditional Freedom | Polyamory/Financial Conversations | Kink | Angst | Religion | History | Blind Date With A Book Boyfriend by Lucy EdenGuest: Eric SelingerTwitter | JPRStudies.org | The Routledge Research Companion to Popular Romance FictionThe Current (and growing) Shelf Love Modern Romance Canon Nomination List (Whoa, watch out controversy)Notes:Notes from Katrina's sectionBeverly Jenkins on The Turn On PodEH Carr's What is History - a commonly-used text to introduce students to historyAlisha Rai's Serving PleasureKit Rocha's Beyond SeriesChinua Achebe's Things Fall ApartDorothy Allison's Bastard Out of CarolinaNotes from Eric's Section:EM Hull's The SheikThe Rosary by Florence L. Barclayaffective reasoning - I looked it up"How can you talk about contemporary fantasy if you don't know The Silmarillion?Noah Berlatsky - There is no Romance Canon (Well that's just your opinion, man.)Jodi McAlister - down (under) in Australia (it's a tired joke, but sorry, I'm tired.)Len Barot, the publisher of Bold Strokes Books, who publishes lesbian romance as Radclyffe.