The Latest on Writing and Publishing in Canada
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | CENSORSHIP | LIBRARIES | PRIZES | FESTIVALS
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
HarperCollins/Harlequin France Criticized for AI Decision
The French Literary Translators Association and the collective En Chair et en Os have released an open letter to Harlequin France concerning that company’s move from human translators to an artificial intelligence service. According to industry reports, dozens of translators have had contracts terminated. Initial translation work for Harlequin France will now be done by Fluent Planet, a “communications agency.” Freelance proofreaders will then be hired to give the work a final polish.
“Stealing Isn’t Innovation” Campaign Launched
In late January, the Human Artistry Campaign, a U.S.-based advocacy coalition, launched a media and social media blitz with a simple message to lawmakers and regulators focussed on the development of artificial intelligence: Stealing Isn’t Innovation.
Recent media reports indicate U.S. tech firms are lobbying the U.S. government to pressure Canada for a text and data mining copyright exception as part of the next round of Canada U.S. Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) trade talks.
The Union has been delivering a similar message to our government for years now, and will watch CUSMA developments carefully. Importantly, Canada maintains a cultural exception in these trade talks.
CENSORSHIP
Book Bans “Common and Rampant” in the U.S.
According to a new report from PEN America, challenges and outright bans of published work in public schools and libraries are at an all-time high. The report, The Normalization of Book Banning notes the following:
“Never before in the life of any living American have so many books been systematically removed from school libraries across the country. Never before have so many states passed laws or regulations to facilitate the banning of books, including bans on specific titles statewide.”
Close to 700 books were subject to bans or ban attempts in 2024-25, which continues the steady rise in coordinated challenges since the beginning of the decade. Florida led the country in bans, followed closely by Texas and Tennessee.
LIBRARIES
BookNet Lists Most Circulated Books of 2025
BookNet Canada has released their library analysis for 2025, including the lists of the top ten Canadian books circulated through library systems. Bestselling authors Louise Penny and Carley Fortune take five of the ten spots between them on the fiction list, while Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Value(s) comes a close second to Malcolm Gladwell’s latest in nonfiction. Children’s and young adult stalwarts Robert Munsch and Mélanie Watt hold their ground in the juvenile list.
BookNet developed LibraryData to collect “weekly circulation data from over 80 public libraries across Canada representing approximately 25% of the Canadian English-language population. Library staff, their suppliers, and publishers can use LibraryData to investigate trends, identify collection opportunities, and more.”
Many of the books on all three lists are holdovers from the 2024 lists as well, indicating the staying power of titles within library collections.
PRIZES
New Nonfiction Prize Launched
Gordon Hill Press and The Porcupine’s Quill have placed a new prize on Canada’s literary landscape. The Molly Peacock Nonfiction Prize is open to unpublished creative nonfiction manuscripts by Canadian authors.
The presses’ Facebook announcement of the new prize notes that $1,000 will go to the winning author “upon acceptance of an offer of publication.” What’s more, other submissions to the contest may also receive an offer of publication. The prize appears to be an open call for non-fiction submissions by the presses involved, combined with an intended $1,000 advance. Or will there be an advance offered on top of the award? Time will tell.
The submission deadline is June 30, and the winner is set to be announced in September, which is at the very least a quick submission turnaround by industry standards.
FESTIVALS
Vancouver Writers Fest Loses Another Champion
In less than a year, Vancouver’s premier book event, Writers Fest, has lost its founder, Alma Lee, who died in March 2025, and longtime director Hal Wake, who passed away on January 7 of this year. Giants of the west coast writing scene, both Hal and Alma had close connections to The Writers’ Union of Canada.
Hal was awarded an honorary membership in recognition of all the work he did getting Canadian authors in front of festival audiences and the general public. (He worked for years as a books producer on CBC Radio before taking over the festival.)
Alma Lee, of course, was the Union’s founding executive director and, by legend, pretty much carried the union around in a satchel for the first few years while it established itself as a force for good for Canadian authors.
Writers Fest continues under the direction of current artistic director Leslie Hurtig.
