Monday March 20, 2006 Three Wishes Press Conference—
Groundwood Books, PEN Canada, The Writers' Union of Canada, and The Association of Canadian Publishers are calling a press conference to address the Toronto District School Board's censorship of Deborah Ellis's book "Three Wishes".
Please join us:
Monday, March 20
3:30 p.m.
Lillian H. Smith Library
239 College St.
Toronto, Ontario
Please contact Laura Repas at 416-363-4343 x 25, lrepas@groundwoodbooks.com for more information.
Message from Patsy Aldana, Publisher, Groundwood Books
THE RIGHT TO READ
Tragically Three Wishes is the subject of an extraordinary campaign to limit children’s access to the important voices in this book. This is why we think the book should continue to be read by children, their parents, their teachers.
At the heart of our publishing philosophy lie some important convictions about children in our world today. The first is that children deserve the highest possible quality in the texts and art created for them. But a close second is that children want and need to know the truth about the world they live in. Furthermore we believe that children are perfectly capable of thinking intelligently about issues, developing informed opinions on questions and that they are passionate about tolerance, peace, fairness and justice.
It is also our view that while we all wish the world was not such a cruel and terrible place for children we cannot protect our own very privileged children from knowledge about what is happening. They are constantly exposed to the media, often highly irresponsible media. The war in Iraq, 9/11, the conflict in the Middle East, the shootings on Yonge Street in Toronto, the Holocaust -- these are a part of our children’s everyday lives. Children in the 9-12 age group read books, watch television and see newspapers about all these subjects on a daily basis. We see our role as publishers as dealing with these realities in a moral and ethical way. For us this means never sugar coating, sentimentalizing, or hiding hard truths that our authors may wish to describe in their books. We frequently do this through the fiction and picture books we select and publish, many of which have garnered awards around the world, and occasionally through non-fiction.
In the case of THREE WISHES, we felt that what was most important was for children on both sides of this terrible and intractable conflict to speak in their own voices about their experiences. They are the biggest victims of the situation. We kept the authorial intervention to a minimum because we did not want an adult’s point of view to mediate what the children had to say. It is very sad and hard to read these voices and to discover what happens to children living in such a situation.
Children on both sides are afraid, angry and even sometimes filled with hate. But then their situation is one that breeds these feelings on both sides. War is terrible for children. They suffer in their bodies, their minds and their souls because of it. Despite that they have wishes, dreams and hopes for a better life in which they will be safe. They are the innocent victims of this situation. And finally, every one of them, Israeli and Palestinian, is a human being who has an absolute right to a life in peace. We believe that this is the message that comes through to Canadian children and others around the world where the books have been published.
About THREE WISHES
Cooperative Children’s Book Centre Choice—Best of the List selection Pennsylvania School Librarians Association YA top Forty List Canadian Children’s Book Centre Our Choice starred selection Canadian Children’s Literature Roundtables of Canada Book Award short-list
November 24, 2005: ACP's 2005 Lobbying Day a Great Success—
ACP Council and staff were in Ottawa last week meeting with MP's to discuss our agenda for book policy and we were overwhelmed by the interest and enthusiasm that MP's showed in our books and our ideas.
Our goal for the day was to increase the profile and presence of the Canadian owned book industry on the hill and to convey four key messages with the hopes that these key points will appear on party platforms in the coming election. Our four key issues are:
Maintain BPIDP funding including the increase through Tomorrow Starts Today;
Double Canada Council funding;
Support the creation of a new $4.5 million fund for translation of Canadian-authored English, French and aboriginal books;
Support government initiatives to ease the transition of publishing houses to the next generation (ACP is developing strategies now which we will come back to government with in the next six months).
Almost the entire NDP caucus attended the NDP reception, including Jack Layton, Ed Broadbent, Alexa McDonagh and heritage critic Charlie Angus. Over thirty MP's attended the reception for the Conservatives including heritage critic Bev Oda who was very supportive of our agenda. The Liberal party reception similarly brought out over thirty Liberal MP's including Parliamentary Secretary for Heritage Sarmite Bulte and Minister of Heritage, Liza Frulla, who was anxious to tell us about her plans for increasing funding to the Canada Council.
I would like to thank all the members who sent in books-over 500 in total-to aid our campaign. A book was sent to each MP with an invitation to attend a reception. At the reception, MP's were invited to choose a book to take with them (as long as they gave us their business card and also took our policy paper). The books on display showed the full range of our impressive publishing programs--MP's commented on the diverse range and appeal of the books.
These receptions will become an annual event as part of our ongoing strategy to increase the visibility of Canadian book publishing and push our agenda forward. The further development of our policy agenda is the subject of the next six month's work as we develop strategies around succession, Canada Council funding and new plans for increasing the market share of Canadian books. If there is a change in government, our strategy too must change and respond to a new reality. The next two months will be very interesting.
The documents that the ACP presented on the Hill are available in pdf format. Click here to view the key points presented by the ACP, and click here to view the ACP's in-depth case for government support for the Canadian-owned book publishing industry.
JULY 6, 2005: ACP PUBLISHERS RETURN FROM TRADE MISSION TO CHINA—
From June 10 - 19, 2005, 15 ACP publishers and one publisher from ANEL participated in the ACP's Trade Mission to China in Beijing and Shanghai. (A list of participants follows.) The trade mission was designed to create an opportunity for relationship building and trade between the Canadian and Chinese publishing industries.
To bridge the distance between cultures, the ACP publishers offered four educational seminars (two in Beijing and two in Shanghai) on editorial and marketing in Trade and Academic/Reference/Educational book publishing and Children's and Young Adult book publishing. The seminars were well received by an audience of over 55 publishers in Beijing and a similar number in Shanghai. At the end of each seminar, Chinese publishers were invited to view publishers' titles on display and discuss opportunities for rights. Many ACP participants met with Chinese publishers to discuss specific titles and opportunities, which they will be following up on in the upcoming months.
In addition to the seminars, ACP publishers were invited to visit several bookstores in Beijing and Shanghai and were pleasantly shocked to learn that Beijing Book City receives on average 70,000 - 80,000 customers per day on the weekends! As well, small publisher groups had the opportunity to visit individual Chinese publishers at their firms, going to approximately four publishing houses per day, such as the People's Education Press, Jieli Publishing House, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, and Renmin University Press. Publishers were also given tours of the houses' personal libraries. The lucky participants in the Trade and Academic/Reference/Educational group were presented with a once in a lifetime chance to leaf through a 400-year-old manuscript as the first foreigners to see this treasure.
Formal dinners with Chinese publishers, rights agents, book reviewers and officials in the General Administration for Press and Publications were arranged for almost every evening of the trip, giving publishers the opportunity to learn more about the Chinese publishing industry, Chinese culture and companies of each guest.
As well as the official meetings and dinners, publishers experienced Chinese culture and history on their group tours to the Great Wall, Forbidden City and Shanghai Museum. To view photographs from the Mission, please click on the following link: www.thompsonbooks.com/temp/china.
Several of the ACP participants will be returning to China for the Beijing International Book Fair in September 2005 and a delegation of Chinese publishers is planning a trip to Canada that same month. We look forward to welcoming them to our country and continuing to build our relationships!
Last but not least, the ACP would like to thank the organizers of the Mission, in particular Sibyl Frei, Trade Mission Project Manager, Robert Baensch, Mission Consultant, and Xiaoyan Huang, cultural and language interpreter for their hard work and support. The ACP would like to give a special thanks to Canadian Heritage and the Ontario Media Development Corporation for their financial support. Because of this Mission, the door has been opened to Canadian publishers to build long standing relationships with Chinese publishers, bringing Canadian talent and culture to one of the fastest growing economies in the world.A
ACP TRADE MISSION PARTICIPANTS Susanne Alexander, Goose Lane Editions Marilyn Biderman, McClelland & Stewart Suzanne Bossé, Association for the Export of Canadian Books Linda Cameron, University of Alberta Press Philip Cercone, McGill-Queens University Press Nelson Doucet, Fitzhenry & Whiteside Michael Harrison, Broadview Press Kirk Howard, The Dundurn Group Valerie Hussey, Kids Can Press Marc Laberge, Presses internationales Polytechnique and l’Association Nationale des Éditeurs de Livres Allan MacDougall, Raincoast Books Distribution Sarah MacLachlan, House of Anansi Press Rob Sanders, Greystone Books/Douglas & McIntyre Keith Thompson, Thompson Educational Publishing Bob Tyrrell, Orca Book Publishers Rick Wilks, Annick Press Dick Yu, Canadian Scholars' Press/Women's Press
ACP MISSION TEAM Robert Baensch, Project Consultant, Baensch International Group Sibyl Frei, Project Manager, DeGros Marsh Consulting Xiaoyan Huang, Cultural Support, Association of Canadian Publishers Elsa Johnston, Mission Support, Association of Canadian Publishers
March 10, 2005: ACP ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING—
Plans are well underway for the 2005 ACP Annual General Meeting. This year the AGM will be conducted over two full days: Tuesday, June 28 and Wednesday, June 29 at The Grand Hotel (225 Jarvis St.) in Toronto. All committee meetings, PD seminars, plenary sessions, etc. will take place over both days.
Three PD seminars will be held at the ACP AGM on June 28th: Selling to the Big Box Stores; Two Per Cent of Sales and Counting: Maximizing Online Sales; and Creating a Business Plan: From A (Agony) to Z (Zowie!). The ACP is offering travel subsidies for those who register for and attend the PD seminars (50% economy flight or train fare and 50% of two night's accommodation - up to $160 per night including taxes.) The application form will be available online shortly. Only one member from each firm may apply.
For more information on the AGM (registration, agenda, report book, seminar description, etc.) please visit the ACP 2005 AGM web page under the Member's Only section of the website.
March 10, 2005: ACP PD SEMINAR FOLLOW UP - EXPORTING TO CHINA AND OVERSEAS COPYRIGHT
The ACP held its third professional development seminar of the year on Friday February 25th at the Colony Hotel in Toronto. The half-day session was attended by 30 ACP publishers, 1 ANEL member, 4 government officials and 3 ACP staff.
Lead speaker Dr. Daniel Gervais, Vice-Dean of Research and Professor of Intellectual Property and Technology Law in the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa, presented on China and the copyright treaties (China as a WTO member and TRIPS), Chinese copyright law, other applicable regulations, and practical tips on establishing a local presence, types of contracts, applicable law / jurisdiction and production standards. For a copy of all presenters' information handouts, please visit the ACP's ACP Update section of the ACP website for March 3, 2005.
ACP Mission Consultant Sibyl Frei presented on the logistics of the upcoming ACP Trade Mission to China, which will take place June 11 - 19th. 15 ACP publishers will be traveling to Beijing and Shanghai to establish contacts with Chinese publishers by visiting with individual publishers, government officials and bookstores, and presenting and participating in educational publishing seminars with Chinese publishers.
Dr. Robert Baensch, Director of the Centre for Publishing at New York University, rounded off the seminar with a presentation on the protection of intellectual property and related sales of reprint, translation and adaptation rights in China, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. He also provided some anecdotal information from his experiences in China.
Each speaker's presentation was followed by a Q&A session. The PD seminar has been videotaped for those publishers who could not attend. If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the seminar video, please contact Jack Illingworth at jack_illingworth@canbook.org. The video will be available for sale in the next couple weeks. The cost of the video is $20 plus $4 shipping and handling and GST.