May 11–13, 2026, The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Alberta (dates TBC)
— SUBMISSIONS CLOSED —
Deadline: Jan. 20, 2026 (Pacific Time)
Symposium organizer: Julie Rak (University of Alberta)
Keynote: TBA
The study of Canadian and Quebec publishing was well-served by Carole Gerson and Jacques Michon’s History of the Book in Canada, Volume 3: 1918–1980. But much has happened in publishing since that volume’s release almost two decades ago Mergers, the explosion of online and self-publishing platforms, shifts in popular taste toward genres like YA, BIPOC publishing, the rise of awards culture, government censorship, and changes to Canada’s international standing in the book trade have all contributed to a much-changed publishing landscape. Unlike in Australia, which has a robust critical discourse on contemporary publishing, with large scholarly projects like Genre Worlds: Australian Popular Fiction in the 21st Century, and in Scotland, where the University of Stirling offers a research PhD on the study of publishing, the scholarship of contemporary publishing in Canada has focused on publishing houses or on case studies by individual scholars. It is time to build on Canadian work in publishing, together. The field of Canadian and Quebec literatures and our classrooms need a scholarly intervention focused on the politics, history, economics, and culture of the current publishing landscape.
The Canadian Publishing symposium, to be held at the Banff Centre for the Arts, will have two parts:
- On Day One, attendees will present short papers to share findings and will hear a keynote by Dr. Claire Squires, author of Marketing Literature: The Making of Contemporary Writing in Britain (2007)and director of Scotland’s oldest publishing program for postgraduates.
- On Days Two and Three, attendees will participate in writing workshops to begin developing their short papers into authored or co-authored submissions for a Canadian Literature special issue on contemporary publishing. After the symposium, finalized workshop drafts will be submitted for the special issue and undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process. If there are more publishable submissions than Canadian Literature can accept, or if longer-term work is needed for any given submission, we’ll make a long-range publishing plan too.
Topics for the symposium include:
- Censorship and Canadian publishing
- Scandals
- Indigenous publishing
- Book fairs and awards
- Agents and editors
- Contemporary publishing and EDI
- Cultural policy and the state of publishing in Canada and Quebec
- Money, political economy, and publishing now
- Publishing and radical politics
- Online platforms and self-publishing
- Publishing and popular genres (e.g., romance, mystery, YA)
Submission Guidelines
Want to participate in the symposium? Submit a 200-word abstract and a 50-word bio to Julie Rak at jrak@ualberta.ca by January 20, 2026 (PT). You will hear back by February 20, 2026. Financial support for early career scholars will be available. Submissions may be in French or English.
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