Oct 1, 2019

TORONTO, October 1, 2019 -- The International Visitors (IV) Programme, in association with the Toronto International Festival of Authors, today announced that Anne Collins, VP & Publisher for Knopf Random Canada Group at Penguin Random House Canada, will be the eighth recipient of the Ivy Award. Given annually to an individual who has made a substantial contribution to Canadian publishing, the Ivy Award will be presented by acclaimed author and former host of CBC’s The Fifth Estate, Linden MacIntyre, during the IV Programme Panel and Keynote Presentation event on Monday, October 28 at 3pm at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre. The free event, which is open to the public and members of the book industry, will also feature Keynote Speaker Fiona McCrae, Director and Publisher, Graywolf Press. The Toronto International Festival of Authors, Canada’s largest and longest-running festival of words and ideas, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and is on from October 24 – November 3, 2019.

“I keep staring at those words in the description of what the Ivy Award honours—‘a substantial contribution to Canadian publishing’—and thinking, well, I didn’t found a publishing company or even an imprint and have only been in the book business for a little more than 20 years, unlike the very distinguished people who have won this award before me. So I am going to view this honour as a really touching endorsement of what I have spent these years doing, which is working as hard as I can on behalf of writers—especially Canadian writers—to help them make the books they need to make and to try my best as a publisher to find them the readers they deserve,” said Anne Collins, VP & Publisher, Knopf Random Canada Group at Penguin Random House Canada.

"Anne Collins is a pivotal figure in the Canadian literary landscape. She has made significant contributions to Canadian publishing as an author and editor, and has also been an influential board member on countless committees and councils striving to enrich our nation’s arts communities,” said Geoffrey E. Taylor, Director, Toronto International Festival of Authors. “The jury is pleased to present her with the 2019 Ivy Award and celebrate her as she has done with hundreds of Canadian and international authors over the past two decades."

Anne Collins is the publisher of the Knopf Random Canada Publishing Group and has been a vice president of the company that is now Penguin Random House Canada, since 1998. Anne’s imprints are responsible for publishing about 350 Canadian authors of fiction and non-fiction, as well as publishing roughly 175 international authors. Books that she’s edited for Random House Canada and Knopf Canada have won and/or received nominations for every major literary prize in Canada, as well as international honours such as the Man Booker Prize. Ms. Collins is also the author of two acclaimed non-fiction books: The Big Evasion (1985), the first and only Canadian history of the abortion issue; and In the Sleep Room: The Story of the CIA Brainwashing Experiments in Canada, which won the 1988 Governor General’s Award for Non-fiction, was made into a CBC miniseries that aired in January 1998, and in 2000 was included in Great Canadian Books of the Century. Ms. Collins’ full bio can be found here.

The Ivy Award jury is composed of Deborah Dundas (Books Editor, Toronto Star), Alison Jones (Publisher, Quill & Quire) and Geoffrey E. Taylor (Director, Toronto International Festival of Authors).

Past Ivy Award recipients include: Brian Lam (2018), Phyllis Bruce (2017), Linda McKnight (2016), David Kent (2015), Dean Cooke (2014), Louise Dennys (2013) and Scott McIntyre (2012).

For more information about the IV Programme, please visit IVProgramme.com.

About Penguin Random House Canada

Penguin Random House Canada, the country’s largest book publisher, aims to nourish a universal passion for reading by connecting authors and their writing with readers everywhere. The company publishes over 500 new titles per year in the North American market across 19 distinct imprints and distributes another 10,000 titles in Canada on behalf of Penguin Random House publishers in the U.S. and the U.K., and many clients. It has also developed its own internationally recognized Toronto-based audiobook program. Visit penguinrandomhouse.ca for more information.

About Toronto International Festival of Authors

The Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA) is Canada’s largest and longest-running festival of words and ideas. Since 1974, it has hosted over 9,000 authors from more than 100 countries, including 22 Nobel Laureates and countless other award winners. Mandated to advance the art of literature, TIFA connects curious readers of every kind with leading authors and provides forums to showcase Canadian talent to the world. TIFA presents events and programmes all year round and will celebrate the 40th edition of the Festival October 24 – November 3, 2019. Based at Harbourfront Centre. To learn more, visit FestivalofAuthors.ca.