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ABPBC to honour Orca Book Publishers and Gregory Younging at 2018 awards ceremony

July 25th, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VANCOUVER — The Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia (ABPBC) is pleased to announce the 2018 recipients of two awards recognizing outstanding contributions to the province’s publishing industry. Victoria’s Orca Book Publishers will receive the Jim Douglas Publisher of the Year Award, and professor, publisher, and author Gregory Younging, who is based in Penticton, will receive the Gray Campbell Distinguished Service Award. The recipients will be honoured at an industry reception to be held in Victoria on September 20, 2018.

Orca Book Publishers, recipient of the 2018 Jim Douglas Publisher of the Year Award:

Orca Book Publishers and its publisher, Andrew Wooldridge, are recognized for their accomplishments as one of Canada’s leading children’s publishers, specializing in imaginative, engaging, and culturally significant books for young readers. In addition, they have navigated a successful transition in ownership, built a dynamic team, and developed a significant presence for the press across North America.

Founded in 1984, Orca Book Publishers is an independently owned Canadian children’s book publisher of award-winning, bestselling books in a number of genres. With more than 1,000 titles in print and more than 80 new titles launched a year, Orca publishes a wide range of books for children, from beautifully illustrated board books and picture books to middle-grade and young-adult fiction. Titles published by Orca Book Publishers have received international recognition, and have been translated into dozens of languages. Originally published as a dual-language edition of English and Arabic, Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey (2016) is now a bestselling, award-winning book translated and available in nine different countries. Pride: Celebrating Diversity & Community (2016) won the 2017 Stonewall Honor Book in Children’s and Young Adult Literature. Seeking to present global matters to the next generation, acclaimed author Monique Gray Smith was approached by Orca to write a middle-grade nonfiction book on Indigenous Reconciliation, resulting in Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation (2017). Additional series have been developed to help young readers examine global issues in a culturally sensitive way, such as Orca Footprints, Orca Origins, and The World Around Us.

Wooldridge is a past president of ABPBC and has served on the executive of Association of Canadian Publishers. Wooldridge began his career at Orca in 1992, working in their warehouse part-time while finishing a degree at the University of Victoria, and has since worked in nearly every department at the press. Wooldridge is responsible for developing Orca’s foray into the U.S. market, which now accounts for 65 per cent of sales.

Orca Book Publishers previously received the Jim Douglas Award in 2006 when company founder Bob Tyrrell was the publisher. Tyrrell, now retired, oversaw an innovative succession strategy more than fifteen years in the making; Wooldridge gradually acquired shares of the company between 2004 and 2017, when he became the full owner and president of the company. In April 2018, Associate Publisher Ruth Linka purchased a minority share in the company.

The Jim Douglas Publisher of the Year Award is presented as deserved to an active BC book publishing company that has, in recent times, earned the respect and applause of the community of publishers for a specific publishing project, an extraordinary contribution to the BC publishing community, and/or its extended commitment to excellence in publishing. Jim Douglas (1924–2016) was founder of J. J. Douglas Publishers, which later became Douglas & McIntyre.

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Gregory Younging, recipient of the 2018 Gray Campbell Distinguished Service Award:

Gregory Younging, member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation in northern Manitoba, publisher, professor, and author, is recognized for his advocacy for Indigenous editorial agency in Canadian publishing. Through his work as publisher of Theytus Books, the first Indigenous-owned publishing house in Canada, and with the Indigenous Editors Circle, he has led the industry in responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action. He is a trusted resource for Indigenous and non-Indigenous publishers of Indigenous texts, engaging them in meaningful dialogue about traditional knowledge and cultural protocol through workshops, mentorships, consultations, and the recent publication of his book The Elements of Indigenous Style.

Younging worked for the TRC as Assistant Director of Research and was involved in several major Reconciliation initiatives prior, including constitutional talks and First Ministers’ Conferences between 1982 and 1987, and the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in 1996. Younging was the managing editor of Theytus Books from 1990 to 2004, and returned to the press as publisher in October 2015. Younging is also a faculty member at UBC Okanagan as a professor of Indigenous studies. He joined the Indigenous Editors Circle (formerly the Aboriginal Editors Circle) in 2014 and was the faculty coordinator for the initial three sessions. As an instructor in the program, he’s taught Indigenous and non-Indigenous editors how to respect Indigenous cultural practices, protocols, and traditional knowledge.

The Gray Campbell Distinguished Service Award is presented annually by the Association of Book Publishers of BC to an individual or individuals who have made a significant contribution to the book publishing industry in the province. Named for the pioneering publisher and founder of Gray’s Publishing, the Gray Campbell Award recognizes the importance of the many individuals who comprise the book industry; their energy and creativity are essential to the continued creation and dissemination of books that tell our stories.

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The Association of Book Publishers of BC (ABPBC) is an association of 28 provincially owned and controlled book publishing companies. The ABPBC works to support the long-term health and success of the Canadian-owned book industry in British Columbia. For more information, visit books.bc.ca.

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The ABPBC would like to thank our event sponsors, Friesens Corporation, Island Blue Printers, and International Web Express Inc.

The ABPBC acknowledges the support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund, the Canada Council for the Arts, Creative BC, and the City of Vancouver for our activities.

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Media contact:
Heidi Waechtler, Executive Director, Association of Book Publishers of BC
heidi@books.bc.ca | 604-684-0228