HarperCollins Canada has long been home to a multiplicity of voices. Writers such as Lawrence Hill, Thomas King, Afua Cooper, Esi Edugyan, Emma Donoghue, and Kamal Al-Solaylee have published with us for many years, with more books still to come. However, barriers to entry and underrepresentation of voices on publishing lists is real, and HCC can always do better, particularly with the books we publish for children.
In 2020, HCC launched an Open Inbox program to address the issue of barriers to entry specifically affecting BIPOC creators. Supported by the belief that all young people in Canada deserve to see themselves represented in the books they read, and to be represented by authors from their own communities, HCC focused the one-month-long open submission call on unagented, unpublished middle grade manuscripts from BIPOC creators residing in Canada. The intent was to review and respond to every submission with editorial feedback and to find new authors for the program.
A committee of volunteers from across the company—from sales, publicity, and marketing as well as editorial, all enthusiastic readers of kidlit—read and discussed every submission. Recommendations were made, second and third reads took place, and editorial responses were written by then-children’s editor Suzanne Sutherland to each submitting writer. While a number of writers went on to attain literary representation, two outstanding authors revised their manuscripts, signed with agents, and were acquired by HCC.
The first Open Inbox author to publish in March 2023 will be Linh Nguyê˜n, with her magical debut novel, No Place Like Home, a sweeping tale about Lan, a Vietnamese immigrant, who wishes her way out of Toronto and into the pages of her latest fantasy read, where she tackles the difficult question of how one redefines a lost home.
The second Open Inbox acquisition was two middle grade novels by educator and journalist Wanda Taylor. The first to be published, in August 2023, is The Grover School Pledge, a sweetly funny story about a young girl named Arlaina and her friends challenging systemic wrongs in their school—all the while tending to their studies, their shifting friendships, and a mischievous rabbit.
It is a joy to welcome Nguyê˜n and Taylor to our long list of esteemed and award-winning authors. HarperCollins Canada will launch a second Open Inbox for BIPOC creators of middle grade manuscripts in January 2023.
Jennifer Lambert is editor-in-chief of HarperCollins Canada.
