Westwood Creative Artists, one of Canada’s largest literary agencies representing more than 400 writers, is looking for a candidate to fill a full-time 12 week internship position, beginning Monday February 12^th and ending Friday May 4^th, with possible flexibility for the right candidate.

A considerable amount of time during this internship will be spent working with WCA’s international rights director and rights associate in preparation for the London Book Fair in April. There will also be the opportunity to work with other WCA agents and at the reception desk. In the rights department, the intern will be involved in catalogue proofreading, general preparation and follow-up for the London Book Fair. There will also be some data entry and other administrative tasks. While working with individual agents, the intern will understand how the agent manages his or her authors, learn about Canadian and US submissions, and provide needed support in a varied number of capacities. At the reception desk, the intern will really be at the “nerve centre” of the agency. Tasks will include daily administration work, reading submissions, and receiving authors and publishers as they arrive at the agency.

We offer a competitive honorarium of $1500, a lively and congenial work environment in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood, and an excellent opportunity to gain an overview of the publishing industry in Canada and abroad through the lens of the literary agent and the writers we represent.

The ideal candidate will be eager to learn, highly organized, energetic, and have a positive outlook. Strong proofreading and computer skills required; previous office experience and knowledge of the publishing industry an asset; passionate attention to detail and accuracy a must. Please send your cover letter, resume, and references to the attention of Carolyn Forde at Carolyn@wcaltd.com at your earliest convenience or by January 2^nd. We appreciate all applications but will only reply to candidates selected for an interview.

We’re thrilled for Charolotte Gray, whose book The Promise of Canada: 150 Years – People and Ideas That Have Shaped Our Country won the 2017 Ottawa Book Award for English non-fiction.

Of the non-fiction winner, Charlotte Gray, the jury wrote: “Charlotte Gray’s approach to a definition of Canada is both surprising and surprisingly familiar. By choosing nine Canadians to profile, some, like Tommy Douglas, obvious choices, others, like Harold Innis, more obvious in hindsight – she arrives at a sweeping, multi-faceted mosaic that seems exactly right. Brilliantly illustrated, beautifully written, this is more than a celebration of Canada’s 150th: it’s a book to be read and savoured for a long time to come.”

Congratulations to Joel Thomas Hynes, winner of the 2017 Governor General’s Literary Award in the category of Fiction. Hynes, an accomplished multidisciplinary, award-winning artist, tells the story of tragicomic Newfoundlander Johnny Keough in We’ll All be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night.

We are proud to announce that three WCA authors have been longlisted for the 2018 BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, one of Canada’s largest book prizes.

• Ken Dryden, Game Change: The Life and Death of Steve Montador and the Future of Hockey
• James Maskalyk, Life on the Ground Floor: Letters from the Edge of Emergency Medicine
• Doug Saunders, Maximum Canada: Why 35 Million Canadians Are Not Enough 

From the 150 books by 45 publishers that were nominated for the $40,000 prize, the prize jury selected a longlist of 10 books. To read more about the prize and the 2018 finalists, click here.

We are pleased to announce that the feature-film adaptation of the late Richard Wagamese’s popular novel, Indian Horse, has won two key audience awards. The film was awarded the Vancouver International Film Festival Super Channel People’s Choice Award and the Calgary International Film Festival‘s award for Audience Favourite, Narrative Feature. To read more click here and here.

Congratulations to 2017 Governor General’s Literary Awards shortlisters Joel Thomas Hynes and Matt James. We’ll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night from multidisciplinary award-winning artist Hynes has been nominated in the Fiction category. When the Moon Comes, illustrated by painter, musician and past Governor General’s Award winner Matt James, is nominated in the Illustrated Books category.

The winners will be announced November 1, 2017.

Bill Gaston’s most recent collection of short stories, A Mariner’s Guide to Self Sabotage, received a thoughtful review in The Globe and Mail. His writing is praised as, “so clean and self-effacing that it is remarkably easy to overlook the careful technique behind it.” The article goes on to say, the collection “is further proof – as though any further proof were necessary – of Bill Gaston’s surpassing mastery of the short-story form.” Read the article here.

We’re excited about the buzz David Chariandy’s long awaited second novel Brother has garnered. The Globe and Mail says Brother, “is a celebration and a reckoning, a study of community and of family and of the ways each relies on the other, and of the power of art to build and the ability of those in power to destroy.” To read the full article, click here.

Congratulations to David Chariandy, whose long awaited second novel Brother is shortlisted for the 2017 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize.

The Writers’ Trust Awards is made possible through generous support from corporate, foundation, and individual sponsors. Partners CBC Books, The Globe and Mail, and Indigo provide additional support. The project is partially funded by the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage. The winner will be announced on November 14.