Industry Leaders

Carleigh Baker is an author and teacher of nêhiyaw âpihtawikosisân (Cree-Métis) and European descent. Born and raised on Stó:lō territory, she currently lives on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwəta (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples. Her debut story collection, Bad Endings (Anvil Press, 2017), won the City of Vancouver Book Award, and was also a finalist for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the Emerging Indigenous Voices Award for fiction. Her short stories and essays have been translated into several languages and anthologized in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Her newest collection, Last Woman, and a novel, are forthcoming with McClelland & Stewart.

Jared Bland is Vice President, Communications and Community at Penguin Random House Canada, and formerly the publisher of McClelland & Stewart. He joined PRHC in 2016 from The Globe and Mail, where he was the paper’s Arts editor. For McClelland & Stewart, he continues to work with a small list of authors, including Omar El Akkad, Anne Michaels, Jordan Abel, Carleigh Baker, Jane Urquhart, Ivan Coyote, and ElamJain Abdelmahmoud.

Cevin Bryerman is the CEO and Publisher of Publishers Weekly. He has been with PW for 30 years and has led the international expansion of the magazine, which now has editions in Arabic and Spanish. In addition, Bryerman has launched international Show Daily publications with the London Book Fair, Bologna Children’s Book Fair, Frankfurt International Book Fair, and Guadalajara International Book Fair. And with the retirement of BookExpo, Bryerman is overseeing PW’s U.S. Book Show.

Randy Chan is the Director of Channel Marketing at HTP Books (Harlequin Trade Publishing); previously he held marketing roles at Penguin Random House Canada, HarperCollins Canada and House of Anansi Press. Randy has taught at the Simon Fraser University and Humber Collegepublishing program and has been a mentor to publishing students through the BIPOC of Publishing in Canada program.

Michael Christie is the author of three books, most recently the novel Greenwood, which was an international bestseller, was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, won the Arthur Ellis Award, and has been translated into 10 languages. If I Fall, If I Die, his previous novel, was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Kirkus Prize, was selected as a New York Times Editors' Choice Pick, and was on numerous best-of 2015 lists. His linked collection of stories, The Beggar's Garden, was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, shortlisted for the Writers' Trust Prize for Fiction, and won the Vancouver Book Award. A former carpenter and homeless shelter worker, he lives in Victoria, British Columbia, the unceded territory of the Lkwungen speaking people, and the Songhees, Esquimalt, and WSÁNEC First Nations.

Kevin Hamric is a 37 year veteran of the publishing industry and is currently the Vice President of Publishing Sales at VIZ Media. VIZ is the world's largest publisher of manga in the English language.

Kevin Hanson is the President and Publisher of Simon & Schuster Canada. He joined the company as President in 2005 and in 2013 also named the company’s first Canadian publisher. He is responsible for all of the publishing, sales, marketing, financial, and operations activities of Simon & Schuster Canada, which is also the exclusive distributor in Canada of the book and audio products of both Simon & Schuster and Simon & Schuster UK, as well as for Simon & Schuster’s roster of US distribution clients.

Samantha Haywood is President of the Transatlantic Agency. She has extensive experience selling authors in North America for publication and TV/film representation. She launched her client list with Transatlantic Agency in 2004 after working in the international rights departments of Random House of Canada Ltd and WCA Ltd. Samantha represents a diverse and vibrant client list of novelists, memoirists, investigative journalists, graphic novelists, cookbook authors and thought leaders. Samantha represents international rights for the renowned publisher, Drawn & Quarterly. She is also a founding member and former President of PACLA, the Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents.

Cyrus Kheradi is Senior Vice President at Penguin Random House LLC, New York City. He directs all aspects of international print and digital sales for Penguin Random House, U.S., which encompasses book distribution in over 190 countries. He has the additional responsibility of directing publishing business development in the East Asia region. Before joining Penguin Random House in 2010, Mr. Kheradi held various international positions with Simon & Schuster, the former Time Warner Book Group (now Hachette) and St. Martin’s Press (now Macmillan). Mr. Kheradi studied Economics and Political Science at Manhattan College and holds an MBA in Marketing from Anglia Ruskin University.

Chimedum Ohaegbu (CHIM-ay-doom aw-HAY-boo, she/her) lives in Vancouver on the territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. She’s the editorial assistant at McClelland & Stewart and was previously Uncanny Magazine’s managing and poetry editor, where she won two Hugo awards alongside her teammates. Her work is published in Arc Poetry Magazine and anthologized in the Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Vol.3, among others. Visit her at chimedum.com.

Meghan, in her past life, held various roles in the media industry as an assistant publisher for a digital magazine and in advertising with a national newspaper network. She now combines this extensive experience in media and communications to her role as Marketing Director at Page Two Books. Currently pursuing a PhD in publishing, Meghan also holds degrees in publishing and writing, plus a bachelor of international relations from the University of British Columbia.

Lindsay Paterson is Editorial Director of Appetite, based in Vancouver. She has been with the imprint since its inception in 2011 and has edited many of its bestselling and award-winning titles, including Canada’s bestselling cookbook of 2021, Mandy’s Gourmet Salads by Mandy and Rebecca Wolfe and Meredith Erickson, and its highly anticipated follow up, More Mandy’s. Among the award-winners are Taste Canada Gold winners Baking Day by Anna Olson and Let Me Feed You by Rosie Daykin, as well as The Wickaninnish Cookbook, finalist for the IACP Awards. Lindsay is looking forward to many forthcoming titles including Salad Pizza Wine from the team at Elena restaurant in Montreal, Plantcakes by Lyndsay Sung, Eat to Love by nutritional chef Mikaela Reuben, and Appetite’s first kids’ cookbook, Baking Wonderland.

Felicia Quon is Vice President, Marketing & Communications, Simon & Schuster Canada. Felicia Quon is Vice President, Marketing & Communications at Simon & Schuster Canada. A graduate of University of British Columbia, Felicia has lectured at Simon Fraser University and the Humber publishing programs. She is on the Board of Directors for The Festival of Literary Diversity (The FOLD). 

Deanna Reder is a Cree-Métis scholar and faculty member in the Department of Indigenous Studies and the Department of English at Simon Fraser University. She is a founding member of the Indigenous Editors Association, or IEA (established in 2019), and is Co-Chair with Dr. Sophie McCall and Dr. Marie-Eve Bradette, of the Indigenous Voices Awards. An anthology of selections by finalists since 2018, titled Carving Space, is being released by Penguin in May 2023. 

Stephanie Sinclair is a Cree, Ojibwe, and German/Jewish settler. She has worked for more than twenty years in the performing and creative arts, and for the last decade in literary management. She began that work at Transatlantic Agency in 2012, where she rose through the ranks to senior agent, representing literary fiction and non-fiction with a focus on Indigenous creators and political engagement. Her authors were acknowledged by virtually every awards jury in the country, including the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Griffin Poetry Prize, the Governor General’s Award, the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the LAMBDA Awards, the Toronto Book Award, and many others. In 2020, Stephanie joined CookeMcDermid Literary Management, becoming the #1 ranked agent in the country in both fiction and non-fiction, according to Publisher’s Marketplace. Stephanie recently joined PRHC as Publisher of McClelland & Stewart.

Todd Stocke is senior vice president and editorial director of Sourcebooks, one of the world’s leading independent book publishers. He oversees all Sourcebooks imprints and acquisition efforts in every category, including adult nonfiction, fiction, romance, mystery, horror, calendars, young adult, and children’s books. 

During his time at Sourcebooks, he has overseen the growth of its list from just a few titles a year to its current annual output of 400+, with regular appearances on New York Times bestsellers lists. With his roots in mixed-media, Todd is invested in all ways of bringing authors to readers through innovative print and digital publishing.

Pieter Swinkels worked at Rakuten Kobo for the past 12 years, most recently as Chief Content Officer. He was responsible for Kobo’s global publisher relations, for the self-publishing platform Kobo Writing Life and the Kobo Originals publishing program. He also led the development and launch of Audiobooks and the Kobo Plus subscription services. Before moving to Canada in 2011, Pieter worked as publisher at the leading Dutch publishing house De Bezige Bij in Amsterdam. Since leaving Kobo, Pieter has founded The Junction Media, which connects authors to readers around the world and empowers publishers to internationalize and verticalize their content. Pieter lives and works in Toronto.

Adrienne Tang, VP, Subsidiary Rights, is in charge of the Rights Department at Penguin Random House Canada (PRHC). She is responsible for domestic and foreign rights business across adult and children’s publishing at PRHC, which includes Appetite, Doubleday Canada, Knopf Canada, McClelland & Stewart, Penguin Canada, Random House Canada and Tundra Books. She joined PRHC in late 2020 to build a Rights Department, and has 17 years of experience in Canadian publishing. She regularly attends the Frankfurt, London and Bologna Book Fairs, the Salon du Livre in Montreal and has participated in Trade Missions in Germany and China.