Booksellers, buyers, agents, authors and publishers were out in full force at BookExpo Canada, held June 7—9 at the Toronto Convention Centre, and many attendees called the event the best in recent memory. Although attendance figures were unavailable at press time, Jennifer Sickinger, BEC show manager, said preregistration and on-site registration were strong. Kim McArthur, head of McArthur & Co., summed up the show for many Canadians: "It was fantastic, and although we were disappointed so many Americans canceled, I was thrilled that so many Brits, like Ian Rankin, came. Orders were good, plus all the festival people came for lists and to find out who's available to tour this fall."
Canadian writer Frances Itani's novel Deafening was the big book at BEC. The 60-year-old Itani has written short stories for 30 years, most in obscurity, but now Deafening is the hot title for fall from HarperCollins Canada (Grove Atlantic is the U.S. publisher), and rights have been sold to 20 countries. There was also Canadian industry insiders' anticipation for Roy MacSkimming's The Perilous Trade, due in the fall from McClelland & Stewart—it promises to be a comprehensive and colorful narrative of the history of the Canadian publishing scene.
There were long lines for many of the book signings. Wayne Johnston was autographing his The Navigator of New York, and Austin Clarke was signing his Giller Prize—winning The Polished Hoe. Anne-Marie MacDonald signed several hundred copies of Fall on Your Knees (her highly anticipated second novel, The Way the Crow Flies, comes out in the fall).
After the hot fiction titles, it was all about children's books and cookbooks. On Saturday morning, at a sold-out breakfast on "Multi-Culturalism in Children's Books," Deborah Ellis talked about her experiences with Afghan refugees in Pakistan while researching her upcoming book Parvana's Journey. Over the children's breakfasts and lunches, talk turned to the midnight parties being organized around the country for the upcoming Harry Potter release from Raincoast Books, which has printed more than 900,000 copies on politically correct recycled paper.
Throughout the weekend, at the back of the hall, chefs like Donna Dooher (Out to Brunch, Whitecap Books) and Kathleen Sloan and Ted McIntosh (The Celtic Cookbook, McArthur & Co.) signed and gave cooking demonstrations on the working kitchen stage in the Cookbook Nook. And for the past few years, BEC has also featured a live television stage, taping segments for Book Television, the world's only all-about-books station. Host Daniel Richler sat down to discuss topical subjects like the New Poetry, math tutoring, business books, political writing and Canadian crime. He discussed immigrant stories with authors M.G. Vassanji (The In-Between Life of Vikram Lall), Lewis DeSoto (Blade of Grass) and Rukhsana Khan (Muslim Child) and did one-on-one interviews with Robert Munsch (Lighthouse), cartoonist Lynn Johnston (Reality Check), Ian Rankin (A Question of Blood) and Sarah Dunant (The Birth of Venus).
Among the many parties held during the show, the Canadian Booksellers Association presented the CBA Libris Awards at a Sunday night bash. The fiction book of the year was Guy Vanderhaeghe's The Last Crossing (McClelland & Stewart), Nonfiction Book of the Year was Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World by Margaret MacMillan (Random House) and distributor of the year was North 49 Books. The House of Anansi Press walked away with the newly created Small Press Publisher of the Year award, while Douglas & McIntyre Group took top honors as Publisher of the Year. Also among the winners were Patrick Crean of Thomas Allen Publishers, as Editor of the Year, and Carol Shields (Unless), Author of the Year.
