The most influential people in the Canadian book-biz are….?
Q&Q wants your input on a burning question we hope to answer in an upcoming feature. Who are the most influential people in CanLit?
“Influential,” we realize, could encompass everyone from the heads of the biggest firms to taste-making editors to important booksellers to people working deep behind the scenes. You can take “influence” any way you wish; just bear in mind that at bottom, we want to determine who has the biggest effect on reading, publishing, and literature in this country.
So let us know what you think. You can nominate as many people as you like, and while this isn’t a straight poll or anything, we’ll carefully consider all suggestions before settling on our final list. And don’t forget to back up your nominations with some words of explanation.
You can chip in your two cents in one of several ways: (1) comment on this post (anonymously, if you must); (2) e-mail Q&Q editor Derek Weiler here, secure in the knowledge that we won’t attribute any of your comments in print without securing your permission; or (3) if you really want to ensure anonymity, you can send in comments via our online tip line.
Let the suggestions fly.
Larua Repas of House of Anansi Press: best marketer and publicist in Canadian Publishing. Marc Cote of Cormorant Books with his penchant for spotting and nurturing talent. Jim Gifford, Senior Editor, Non-fiction at Harper Collins. A fine editor with a gift for publishing bestsellers. Bill Douglas at the Bang Design for his remarkable book covers for Lisa Moore, Michael Winter, Sheila Heti and the Massey Lectures to name a few. He put the cool back into Anansi. Maya Mavjee, Doubleday Canada. What was Doubleday before her? Iris Tupholme, publisher, Harper Collins. The reason Harper Collins had the most titles on the Giller longlist this year.
Marc Cote? Talent? You’ve got to be kidding.
Alas, modesty forbids my participation on this thread . . .
Poor Celia I’m sorry he turned down your bildungsroman set among the Hittite sheep herders of Alberta. You just have to accept it and move on. But I have to say thatt thing you do with mustard gas and sausages speaks to a scintillating career as a Russian submariner.
[…] … Atwood? Ondaatje? Doug Pepper? Ellen Seligman? Dare we suggest … Heather Reisman?It’s your decision.• In other publishing news, the Atlanta Journal Constitution held a contest to find the world’s […]
What about literary influence on the web? Bookninja, created by poet George Murray, influences thousands with his sassy views and reviews.
Alana Wilcox of Coach House. She works harder han anyone in the industry and it shows - the CH catalogues as of late have been more exciting and innovative than ever. That and the uTOpia series is the kind of publishing that involves readers and invites them in, invigorating the entire (often stagnating) scene.
If the definition of influence is simple, straight-forward, free-market clout, then we have to name Heather Reisman and the Indigo-Chapters buyers, as they shape public perception more than any one else. After that, it’s the accountants for Bertlesmann, Pearson PCL, and Newscorp, who set the budgets for McClelland & Stewart, Random House, Doubleday, Knopf, Penguin, and HarperCollins (append the word “Canada” to the preceding to indicate their Canadian status). Include Martin Levin, Jack Kirchhoff, Dan Smith, Philip Marchand, Rebecca Wigod, the staff of Quill, and the books editors across the country. The producers of Canada Reads and any book program at the CBC. Jack Rabinovitch, the producers at CTV who promote the Scotiabank Giller Prize on every available platform, and the jurors who select the long list, shortlist, and winner. Geoffrey Taylor, Hal Wake, and Anne Green from the really big author’s festivals. The buyers at the major library boards.
These are the obvious people who shape reading in Canada because they control pretty much what the reading public knows about Canadian writers and books.
If, however, the definition of influence is more nuanced and a tad subversive, the list is radically different. Example: if you asked this question in 1978, the answers then would not be the answers we would anachronistically give today for that period. In 1978, the answers would have been Jack Cole, Louis Melzack, Jack Stoddart (senior), Harold Bohne, Jack McClelland, Anna Porter, etc. Looking back, I think of Jim Polk, Dennis Lee, bpNichol, Victor Coleman, Stan Bevington, and the editorial genius at Oberon Press (reputed to be either John Metcalf or David Helwig), Judy Mappin at Montreal’s Double Hook, and Beth and Susan at Toronto’s Longhouse and, yes, Jack McClelland and Anna Porter.
So – in answer to that question for now and in no particular order I say: John Metcalf, Patrick Crean, Bev Daurio, Karl Siegler, Brian Lam, Patsy Aldana, Lynn Henry, Louise Dennys, Michael Holmes, Jennifer Lambert, Laura Repas, Charlie, Dan and company at This Ain’t the Rosedale Library, Marc Glassman and company at Pages on Queen, Sheila Kaufman, Bryan Prince, Richard Bachman, Frans Donker, and the booksellers across the country who hand-sell Canadian-authored (and published!) books. The staff at the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival. David Staines, Noreen Taylor, Judy Mappin and the directors of the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction should be acknowledged, too: the genre of creative non-fiction has become a lot more interesting and attractive.
Oops — George Murray and Book Ninja. Please add George Murray to my screed.
George Murray - Bookninja
Dan Wells et al - CNQ
Alex Good - GoodReports
Photographers responsible for eye catching, memorable author photos definitely deserve a big nod. These photos, appearing on book jackets, online, in magazines and newspapers, on posters in bookstores, are a kind of branding and draw us to the books. Hats off to John W. MacDonald, especially, for his extraordinary portraits of authors.
(Note: I don’t know John personally, but I have linked to his blog from mine to keep tabs on his work.)
Kevin Harper at North 49
George Murray at Bookninja
the Good People of Harbour Publishing, a small press with big reach
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