May Controversy at Noon: Why Buy Canadian

The current trade war between the United States and Canada–including tariffs focused on the book and publishing industry– has people thinking about buying products made in Canada and supporting local companies that keep our money in Canada. With Canadians paying closer attention to how our money is spent, is there now a fresh opportunity to get the word out there about reading books authored by Canadian writers that are also published in Canada? Join our group of panelists as they consider the potential for upward trends in buying local, and the impact the current climate could have on the Canadian literary scene and publishing industry overall.

Laura Rock Gaughan – Panelist

Laura Rock Gaughan serves as the executive director of the Literary Press Group of Canada (LPG), a national arts service organization that supports Canadian-owned literary publishers and promotes the growth of Canadian literary culture through All Lit Up and many other projects. She’s also a writer, with fiction and essays published in Canadian, Irish, and US journals and anthologies. Her first book, MOTHERISH, is a short story collection published by Turnstone Press.

Jay Millar – Panelist

Jay Millar is the co-owner and co-publisher of Book*hug Press, a Toronto-based independent literary publisher working at the forefront of contemporary book culture. He currently sits on the board of the Ontario Book Publishing Organization as Treasurer. Jay operates a secret bookstore called Apollinaire’s Bookshoppe, specializing in the books that no one wants to buy, and is the author of seven collections of poetry, the most recent of which is I Could Have Pretended to be Better than You: New and Selected Poems.

Katie Lafreniere – Panelist

Katie Lafreniere is an Assistant Professor of marketing at the University of Alberta. She has a MSc in management and PhD in business. She studies language and communication, both among consumers (e.g., product reviews) and between consumers and firms (e.g., how managers should respond to reviews). Her research has been featured in Harvard Business Review, CBC, and the Wall Street Journal.

Hazel Millar – Panelist

Hazel Millar is the co-owner and co-publisher of Book*hug Press, a Canadian independent literary publisher working at the forefront of contemporary book culture. Hazel has been working in the publishing industry since 2009. In addition to her work at Book*hug Press, she is the Past Chair of the Board of the Literary Press Group of Canada and sits on several publishing-industry boards and advisory committees. She lives in Toronto with her husband, Jay Millar (aka the other half of Book*hug Press), their sons, and a cool, diva calico cat named Tess.