Canadian literature and publishing will be highlighted at the annual Book Summit held in downtown Toronto PHOTO BY SARAH MACDONALD
By Sarah MacDonald
Humber College will host the annual Book Summit at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto next summer, the Government of Canada announced.
The government has committed to funding $35,000 over the next two years through the Canada Book Fund, a branch of Canada Heritage, according to a press release from the organization.
“Humber is really beginning to be a hub for all kinds of creative industries and that’s really the foundation of our economy going forward,” said conservative MP Bernard Trottier (Etobioke-Lakeshore). “So we look at these things as returns on investment.”
“Humber has shown it is capable of doing a very successful summit,” said Trottier. “There isn’t any reason why there wouldn’t be funding allowed for the 2014 summit as well.”
The Book Summit has been organized by the Book and Periodical Council since 2001, said Anne McClelland, the Council’s executive director, adding the partnership with Humber has been a win-win move.
“Partnering with Humber College’s creative book publishing program has been a natural fit for the Book and Periodical Council, enabling us to combine the expertise of both sectors,” said McClelland.
Humber has been a partner of the Book Summit since 2006.
“It puts us in the centre of the publishing education world, which is a great thing,” said Joe Kertes, dean of Humber’s School of Creative and Performing Arts.
The event offers keynote speeches and workshops available to anyone who wants to go but it is mandatory for publishing students to attend, said Natalie St.-Pierre, program assistant for the creative publishing program. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for Humber students in the publishing program,” said St.-Pierre.
Having students involved in the event also helps raise the profile of the program, said St.-Pierre.
It’s unclear whether the format of the event will stay the same but programming planning started in early September, said St.-Pierre.
The Book Summit will be held on June 20, 2013.