Archive for June, 2008

It’s back to school for a number of us at Laurier Press this week as we head to Montreal to attend the annual conference of the Association of American University Presses (AAUP).  There are a number of reasons to attend a conference like this one, including keeping up to date on industry practices, getting a sneak peek on the latest technology, and networking with others who work in our profession. A chance to visit a wonderful city like Montreal and take in the jazz festival on our off hours is a lovely perk.

I hope to blog at least once while I’m away, but should events get too hectic I’ll be back next week with an update on the conference and information on our latest titles.
We wish you a very happy and relaxing Canada Day.

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Wilfrid Laurier University will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of artist Woldemar Neufeld in 2009, and a new book, titled Woldemar Neufeld’s Canada will be published by Laurier Press to commemorate the event. The university is searching across the country for Neufeld paintings to include in the book.

Born in Ukraine in 1909, Neufeld spent 11 formative years in Waterloo, and is well known for his paintings of local scenes. A prolific and popular artist, he also produced watercolours, oils and block prints of scenes of Canada and the United States.Neufeld died in 2002 at the age of 93. For the full story visit the WLU web site.

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We’re thrilled to announce that two of our titles have won awards in ForeWord Magazine‘s Book of the Year Awards. Watermelon Syrup, by Annie Jacobsen, Jane Finlay-Young, and Di Brandt, was awarded Gold in the General Fiction category, and Essential Song: Three Decades of Northern Cree Music by Lynn Whidden was awarded Bronze in the Music category.

Congratulations to all the authors!

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It was such a pleasure to connect with the editors of Minds of Our Own:Inventing Feminist Scholarship and Women’s Studies in Canada and Québec, 1966–76 and an extra special treat to meet Linda Wallace, the artist whose work is featured on the cover. The book has been in demand in the last few days and we’re left with one display copy and a promise to ship orders as soon as possible.

Pictured is Wendy Robbins with Linda Wallace, and below that is a snap of Wendy and Linda with Clare Hitchens, Lisa Quinn, and Leslie Macredie of WLU Press.

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So nice to meet you is the phrase of the day, as authors, many of whom we have only long-distance contact with, drop into the booth to say hello. It is wonderful to put the face to the voice and meet the people we spend so much time with during the development and marketing of their book.

Book sales have been brisk and compliments on our titles abound. As the weather becomes cooler and more cloudy here in Vancouver we expect even more people to warm up in the book fair and pay us a visit.

Popular titles so far: Minds of Our Own, edited by Wendy Robbins et al., Speaking in the Past Tense by Herb Wyile, Animal Subjects, edited by Jodey Castricano, and Trans.Can.Lit, edited by Smaro Kamboureli and Roy Miki

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