Latest news with #McClelland&Stewart
Winnipeg Free Press
28-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Carefully curated
A new series of books from publisher McClelland & Stewart that contemplates life in Canada coincides with the 10th anniversary of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Published on July 15, Kanata Classics' first six titles, which are all previously released works of fiction and non-fiction, feature writing by a range of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadian authors and feature new packaging and introductions. The initiative was spearheaded by publisher Stephanie Sinclair, who joined McClelland & Stewart (which is owned by Penguin Random House) in 2022. 'We started to talk about it within six months of my starting … the first conversations were enthusiastic,' she says. 'It felt really important to get it done in 2025 to honour the 10th anniversary of the TRC.' Nishga by Jordan Abel, Halfbreed by Maria Campbell, and Bear by Marian Engel are part of the Kanata Classics lineup. Sinclair worked with Robert Wheaton, Penguin Random House Canada's chief strategy and operations officer, to navigate the bureaucratic details and create an advisory board (which includes McNally Robinson Booksellers co-owner Chris Hall and Free Press columnist Niigaan Sinclair). 'I could ask them the big questions — not about title selections, but about the framing of the series,' she says. 'It felt really helpful to have this brain trust that I could go to for advice.' Publisher Stephanie Sinclair tapped an advisory panel including McNally Robinson Booksellers co-owner Chris Hall and Free Press columnist Niigaan Sinclair to curate the first six titles of the Kanata Classics series. One of her first choices was Nisga'a author Jordan Abel's Nishga. (Supplied photo) For Stephanie Sinclair, who identifies as Cree, Ojibwa, and German/Jewish, the first six books — three by Indigenous writers and the other three by non-Indigenous authors — speak to the experience of Canadian life. 'One of the things that was really important to me, as an urban Indigenous person who didn't grow up in ceremony or in community, was that the books speak to all of our relationship with land, and how differently that can be experienced,' she says. 'That's one of the threads through all the books. It's something that is so often overlooked, and that is really, deeply important to our survival on multiple levels.' With the titles selected, Sinclair then turned to finding writers to pen introductions to each of the books (save Maria Campbell's memoir Halfbreed — Campbell wrote her own introduction). 'I had a list of ideal people — I wrote to them, and everyone very enthusiastically and quickly said yes. It was beautiful … it just came together incredibly seamlessly,' she says. (Winnipeg's David A. Robertson wrote the introduction to Richard Wagamese's novel Medicine Walk.) Sinclair then enlisted book designer Kelly Hill to create the look and feel of the Kanata Classics series. 'Kelly really understood my vision for it, and has such an incredibly beautiful esthetic and brought such thoughtful care to all of the choices,' Sinclair says. Edmonton-based author Jordan Abel considers it an honour to have his book, Nishga, included in the Kanata Classics series. (Tenille Campbell photo) One of Sinclair's first choices for the Kanata Classics series was Nisga'a author Jordan Abel's Nishga. Originally published in 2021 by McClelland & Stewart, Nishga sees the Edmonton-based author grappling with the legacy of intergenerational trauma through fragments of memoir, transcriptions of talks as well as visual art and photography. 'I have a difficult relationship with this book — it's about intergenerational trauma and urban indigeneity and the afterlife of residential schools,' Abel says.' When I go to readings and perform parts of the book, there are only four or five pages that I can really even read from.' For Abel, the inclusion of Nishga in the Kanata Classics series was humbling. 'When I wrote Nishga, I had no real understanding of where it would go, or who would pick it up, or if anyone would pick it up, really,' he says. 'It's really an incredible honour for Nishga to be included alongside what I think are some of the best, most canonical texts in Canadian literature and also Indigenous literature,' he adds, calling Maria Campbell's Halfbreed 'maybe the most important book that I've ever read.' Island by Alistair MacLeod, Ru by Kim Thúy, and Medicine Walk, by Richard Wagamese were all previously released works of fiction and non-fiction. As part of Kanata Classics, the books will feature new packaging and introductions. Like Sinclair, Abel sees the books existing in conversation with each other as well as with Canadian readers about the experience of life in Canada. 'The books are all very different — they speak to really specific experiences within this nation … even the ones that resist that category of nation and Canadian nationalism,' he says. 'They attempt to shine a light on certain kinds of experiences that we don't always talk about, or that we don't talk about enough. I think these are underrepresented kinds of experiences of 'Canadian-ness.'' Sinclair hopes the Kanata Classics series is able to continue stimulating conversation and reflections by readers on life in Canada. 'I feel like the scope of how Canadians identify themselves has only gotten smaller over many years,' she says. 'Part of my aim with the series is, of course, to advocate for Indigenous storytelling, which has not been welcomed into the Canadian 'canon.' But I also want to make sure that books like (Vietnamese-Canadian author Kim Thúy's) Ru are there too, because they all speak to an equally important human experience.' Ben SigurdsonLiterary editor, drinks writer Ben Sigurdson is the Free Press's literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly Free Press drinks column. He joined the Free Press full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. Read more about Ben. In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the Free Press's editing team before being posted online or published in print. It's part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. 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Hamilton Spectator
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
‘Elbows Up' anthology to include prominent patriots Margaret Atwood, Jay Baruchel, Atom Egoyan
TORONTO - An upcoming anthology to meet the recent swell in national pride will include essays by prominent Canadians including writers Margaret Atwood and Omar El Akkad, as well as filmmakers Atom Egoyan and Jay Baruchel. Its publisher McClelland & Stewart says 'Elbows Up!: Canadian Voices of Resilience and Resistance' will examine our relationship with the United States and ourselves. McClelland & Stewart publisher Stephanie Sinclair says she felt 'an urgent need' to create a time capsule that captures a pivotal period of history. She says it was inspired by the 1968 collection 'The New Romans: Candid Canadian Opinions of the U.S.' It will feature excerpts from 'The New Romans,' including one by Atwood — who will also supply a new piece — and works by late writers Margaret Laurence, Farley Mowat and Mordecai Richler. The book will be edited by CBC broadcaster Elamin Abdelmahmoud, and is set for release Oct. 14. New works will also come from writers Jeanne Beker, Niigaan Sinclair, Catherine Hernandez, Canisia Lubrin and Ann-Marie MacDonald. Another comes from Ken Dryden that was previously published in the Atlantic. 'This is a book that will be talked about for decades to come,' Sinclair said Thursday in a release. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘Elbows Up' anthology to include prominent patriots Margaret Atwood, Jay Baruchel, Atom Egoyan
TORONTO – An upcoming anthology to meet the recent swell in national pride will include essays by prominent Canadians including writers Margaret Atwood and Omar El Akkad, as well as filmmakers Atom Egoyan and Jay Baruchel. Its publisher McClelland & Stewart says 'Elbows Up!: Canadian Voices of Resilience and Resistance' will examine our relationship with the United States and ourselves. McClelland & Stewart publisher Stephanie Sinclair says she felt 'an urgent need' to create a time capsule that captures a pivotal period of history. She says it was inspired by the 1968 collection 'The New Romans: Candid Canadian Opinions of the U.S.' It will feature excerpts from 'The New Romans,' including one by Atwood — who will also supply a new piece — and works by late writers Margaret Laurence, Farley Mowat and Mordecai Richler. The book will be edited by CBC broadcaster Elamin Abdelmahmoud, and is set for release Oct. 14. New works will also come from writers Jeanne Beker, Niigaan Sinclair, Catherine Hernandez, Canisia Lubrin and Ann-Marie MacDonald. Another comes from Ken Dryden that was previously published in the Atlantic. 'This is a book that will be talked about for decades to come,' Sinclair said Thursday in a release. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025.
Cision Canada
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Cision Canada
Ontario Creates Announces 16 Trillium Book Award / Prix Trillium Finalists Français
Finalist titles showcase Ontario's abundant literary talent TORONTO, May 6, 2025 /CNW/ - Ontario Creates, an agency of the government of Ontario, is proud to announce the 16 finalists for the 2025 Trillium Book Awards / Prix Trillium, the province's prestigious literary prize for English and French-language Ontario authors. Now in its 38 th year, the Trillium Book Award / Prix Trillium has a long tradition of recognizing literary excellence. The 2025 finalists make up a diverse and exciting library of Ontario books, highlighting this year's best homegrown literature and creating a top-notch "Read Ontario" booklist to discover – from novels to poetry to non-fiction and more. English-language Finalists for the Trillium Book Award: Wild Houses, Colin Barrett (McClelland & Stewart / Penguin Random House Canada) My Fighting Family: Borders and Bloodlines and the Battles That Made Us, Morgan Campbell (McClelland & Stewart / Penguin Random House Canada) Code Noir, Canisia Lubrin (Alfred A. Knopf Canada / Penguin Random House Canada) Who Will Bury You? And Other Stories, Chido Muchemwa (Astoria / House of Anansi Press) I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together, Maurice Vellekoop (Random House Canada / Penguin Random House Canada) English-language Finalists for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry: The Seventh Town of Ghosts, Faith Arkorful (McClelland & Stewart / Penguin Random House Canada) DADDY, Jake Byrne (Brick Books) Terrarium, Matthew Walsh (icehouse poetry / Goose Lane Editions) French-language Finalists for the Prix Trillium: Céline au Congo, Aristote Kavungu (Les Éditions du Boréal) Toronto jamais bleue, Marie-Hélène Larochelle (Leméac Éditeur) Le prince africain, le traducteur et le nazi, Didier Leclair (Éditions David) Un lourd prix à payer, Claire Ménard-Roussy (Éditions David) Nickel City Fifs : Une épopée queer sudburoise sur fond de trous, Alex Tétreault (Prise de parole) French-language Finalists for the Prix du livre jeunesse Trillium: Rose du désert, Michèle Laframboise (Éditions David) Le roi Poubelle, Eudes La Roche-Francoeur (Prise de parole) Le bonnet magique, Mireille Messier (Comme des géants) The Trillium Book Award/Prix Trillium winners will be announced during an award ceremony on June 18, 2025. We invite you to visit our website and join us on our social channels to celebrate these authors and their literary works. QUOTES "The Trillium Book Awards showcase Ontario's artistic and cultural vibrancy. Amplifying their creative contributions, Ontario authors and publishers drive local economic growth, generating $980M and supporting over 6,000 jobs. Discover and champion this year's finalists by visiting local bookstores and libraries, and 'Read Ontario' to make an investment in both our cultural sovereignty and economic vitality." ~ Aaron Campbell, Chair, Ontario Creates QUICK FACTS The Trillium Book Award / Prix Trillium encourages excellence in literature by investing in Ontario-based writers. Award recipients receive $20,000 and their respective publishers receive support to promote the winning titles. Three titles are short-listed for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry in the English language, which recognizes literary achievement for a first, second or third published work of poetry. Award recipients will receive $10,000 and their respective publishers receive support to promote the winning titles. Le Prix du livre jeunesse Trillium (en langue française) was introduced in the 20th Trillium year, and is awarded in alternating years with le Prix de poésie Trillium. Titles published over a two-year period are eligible, encouraging a greater number of submissions for these specific genre awards in the French language. Both awards provide a $10,000 prize. Previous winners include internationally acclaimed authors as Stuart Ross, Souvankham Thammavongsa, Dionne Brand, Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood, Thomas King, Gilles Lacombe, Marguerite Andersen, Andrée Lacelle, Diya Lim, Lisa L'Heureux and François Paré to name a few. Ontario is home to the country's largest book publishing industry, contributing $980M to our economy and supporting over 6,000 jobs each year. The publishing industry is both culturally significant and an economic driving force for the province. LEARN MORE Ontario Creates is proud to deliver the Trillium Book Awards each year. The Ontario government established the Trillium Book Award in 1987 to recognize excellence, support marketing and foster increased public awareness of the quality and diversity of Ontario writers and their works. Ontario Creates is an agency of the Government of Ontario that facilitates economic development, investment and collaboration in Ontario's creative industries including the music, book, magazine, film, television and interactive digital media sectors.
CBC
11-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Margaret Atwood's first memoir, Book of Lives, to be published in November 2025
Acclaimed Canadian author Margaret Atwood is finally sharing her life's story in the long-awaited Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts. Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts will be published by McClelland & Stewart on Nov. 4, 2025 in Canada. Doubleday and Chatto & Windus will publish the book in the U.S., and the U.K., respectively. Atwood, 85, the author of The Handmaid's Tale and two-time Booker Prize winner, described the challenges of writing her memoir in a press statement. "I sweated blood over this book — there was too much life to stuff in, and if I'd died at 25 like John Keats, it could have been shorter — but I also laughed a lot," she wrote. "A memoir is what you can remember, and you remember mostly stupid things, catastrophes, revenges, and times of political horror, so I put those in — but I also added moments of joy, and surprising events and, of course, the books. I hope you'll have as much fun reading Book of Lives as I did writing it." 85 surprising facts about Margaret Atwood Atwood is a celebrated writer who has published fiction, nonfiction, poetry and comics. She began her writing career with poetry, publishing The Circle Game and winning the Governor General's Literary Award for poetry in the late 1960s. She's since published more than a dozen poetry collections, including The Journals of Susanna Moodie in 1970, Power Politics in 1971 and, most recently, Paper Boat in 2024. She has won several awards for her work including the Governor General's Literary Award, the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Writer in the World Prize. In Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts, she recounts her early life with her entomologist father and dietician mother, who spent most of the year in the forest in Northern Quebec, her rise to literary stardom and the defining cultural and political moments that shape her writing. Through her stories, readers will notice the connections between art and real life and get insight into the mind of one of Canada's most celebrated writers.
