The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage’s Language Vitality Initiative, the Endangered Languages Project, and Rising Voices announce this year’s Language Lodge, a free annual online program for Indigenous and minoritized language content creators. It will run from Monday, June 16, through Sunday, July 13, and will focus on e-book publishing. Registration is open to all language speakers and activists.
Language activism demands a multifaceted skill set, encompassing expertise in linguistics, digital media production, and communication. The work is often time-intensive and iterative, requiring activists to independently navigate complex digital platforms and content creation processes. The Language Lodge is an ongoing program that addresses these challenges by encouraging language activists through community support and collective activities. The opportunity engages a language content creator to design and produce an experimental online project aimed at supporting relationship building across the broad expanse of online language users.
For its fourth year, the Lodge will be hosted by Emma Vadillo Quesada, the co-founder of Watuchi Siminchik Wasi, a community dedicated to book publishing and peer learning for the preservation of Indigenous languages. With a deep personal connection to Southern Quechua and an extensive background in language advocacy, publishing, and digital tools, Vadillo draws on a passionate advocacy for Indigenous languages and culture, particularly in the context of Peru and Latin America. Her 2025 program emphasizes ebook and physical book publishing.
“I want this Lodge to be a space for language activists to not only learn new skills in social media and (e)publishing, but also to collaborate across linguistic, cultural, and geographic divides and support each other in their endeavors,” Vadillo said.
She hopes the Lodge will empower language activists to create and share multimedia content of all types—entertaining, educational, inspirational, literary, and artistic—in their communities and across the globe.
Along with community conversations and social media challenges, the Lodge will offer two virtual workshops from 1 to 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 21, and Saturday, July 5. These opportunities will cover ebook and zine creation (design, layout, coding, publication, and more).
Participation in the social media campaign is highly encouraged but not required. Participation in the workshops is required. The Lodge will issue certificates of participation to those who attend both workshops and to those who participate in the social media challenges.
Registration is free. Follow along and support language communities engaged with the program with the hashtag #LanguageLodge.
