Literary agent Stephanie Sinclair is set take over as publisher of McClelland & Stewart.The Canadian Press
Penguin Random House Canada has announced several key appointments, most notably Stephanie Sinclair as publisher of McClelland & Stewart and the online magazine Hazlitt and vice-president of Penguin Random House Canada. She succeeds Jared Bland, who asked to step down from his duties after six years.
Penguin Random House Canada is the country’s largest book publisher. Its many imprints include Allen Lane, Anchor Canada, Doubleday Canada, Knopf Canada, Penguin Canada, Random House Canada, Viking Canada and McClelland & Stewart.
Sinclair, who assumes her position on Oct. 3, comes from CookeMcDermid Literary Management, where she was the top-ranked agent in the country in both fiction and non-fiction, according to Publishers Marketplace. She began that work in 2012 at the Transatlantic Agency, where she built up an all-star list of Indigenous authors including Billy-Ray Belcourt, Joshua Whitehead, Alicia Elliott, Jessica Johns and Lee Maracle.
Sinclair will begin at M&S with some familiarity with the talent, having represented nearly 20 of the imprint’s authors, including Murray Sinclair, Jody Wilson-Raybould, Eternity Martis, Jordan Abel, Sharon Bala and Liz Howard.
Her predecessor, Bland, was appointed to the publisher’s position six years ago nearly to the day, coming from The Globe and Mail, where he was arts editor. In his reign as publisher, M&S books won the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, the Governor-General’s Literary Award, three Kobo Emerging Writer Prizes, two Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prizes for Nonfiction, two Griffin Poetry Prizes, two Scotiabank Giller Prizes and the Booker Prize.
Bland went on medical leave in 2019, but his health issues have stabilized. Effective immediately, he takes on the newly created position of vice-president, communications and community, with Penguin Random House. He will continue as publisher of M&S until the end of September.
An additional appointment was also announced. Beth Lockley, Penguin Random House Canada’s vice-president, marketing and communications, assumes the role of vice-president, marketing, focusing on marketing and publicity for books, authors and brands.
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Brad Wheeler