Literary Review replaces publisher
Turmoil in the publishing industry appears to be affecting one of Canada’s most highly regarded literary magazines.
The Literary Review of Canada sent an email to supporters saying it was undergoing a “period of transition.” Publisher Helen Walsh is leaving and being replaced in the interim by board member Mark Lovewell.
While the email was short on details, it did say the LRC “is launching a comprehensive strategic review and fundraising campaign to chart a course for the long-term outlook of the magazine.”
The email came from the editor-inchief, Sarmishta Subramanian, who would not provide any further comment.
Subramanian was named editor of the LRC in 2016, coming from a position as a managing editor at Maclean’s magazine. She replaced Bronwyn Drainie, a former CBC host and literary journalist who was with the magazine from 2003.
Contributors include some of the country’s best literary minds, such as Margaret Atwood, Alberto Manguel, John Ralston Saul, Rawi Hage, Drew Hayden Taylor and Charlotte Gray.
It’s no secret that literary magazines across the country have been struggling to find new sources of funding and ways to reach out to younger audiences. A 2015 Toronto Star piece looked at the changing landscape for literary journals. Some were heading online to look for other sources of funding, including crowdfunding; others such as Descant, were shutting down altogether.
Dan Wells, owner of CNQ, another independent literary magazine that focuses on long-form reviews, notes that the LRC is “one of the few remaining homes for critical writing in the country.”
He said finances make sustaining independent publications difficult. “Subscriptions — paid readership — has never sustained these types of enterprises, either historically or otherwise, which has always left them in a precarious position.”
Besides arts council funding and subscriptions, the LRC is set up as a charity and receives donations.
Drainie is named in the email as part of the LRC transition team. “We want the magazine to continue to be a healthy part of the Canadian letters scene and, of course, we want to keep it going in its print version while hopefully at the same time building its online presence,” she told the Star. While she wouldn’t give any detail, she did note they were “caught in the middle” between a younger cohort that wants material online and loyal supporters who prefer print.
But it would appear that a change in focus already has already begun, with Subramanian bringing on new writers and different features.
“I love what she’s been doing,” says Drainie. “I particularly love these big discussion items that she does where she brings two very good writers together and they have a dialogue.”
Poet Christian Bok interviewing writer and artist Douglas Coupland in the June 2016 issue is one example.
In her statement, Subramanian made a point of noting that the LRC “continues to enjoy the confidence of its funders the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council, OMDC and Heritage Canada.”
The Literary Review of Canada was founded in 1991 by Patrice Dutil “to be a place of serious discussion about book, politics and the important ideas of our time,” according to its website.
Unlike many announcements of this type, social media was quiet in terms of its reaction.