FOR THIS MONTH’S Kidlit Spotlight (p. 21), Halifax writer Stephanie Domet interviewed Margie Wolfe, publisher of Toronto’s Second Story Press, who has been producing feminist books for more than 40 years. Last October, the Canadian Children’s Book Centre honoured Wolfe for her publishing and socialjustice work at an event during which many of her colleagues stood up to praise her longtime commitment to the cause.
Wolfe talks to Domet about a forthcoming Second Story title, Naomi M. Moyer’s Black Women Who Dared, which features profiles of 10 Black women and women’s collectives from Canada and the U.S. Wolfe expresses concern that the current demand for female-empowerment titles is seen as a new trend rather than part of a broader legacy.
While it is true that many publishers are now taking a much-needed hard look at their programs to ensure that they have a good mix of voices across cultural and gender lines, Wolfe is correct in her assessment that independent Canadian children’s publishing does have a legacy of producing progressive material for young readers. Pioneers such as Wolfe, Groundwood Books founder Patsy Aldana, Anne Millyard and Rick Wilks at Annick Press, the collective that launched Kids Can Press in 1973, and the late Tundra Books founder May Cutler helped establish an industry baseline for meaningful, inclusive kidlit. Those groundbreaking publishers also paved the way for this new generation of editors, authors, and illustrators dedicated to telling stories relevant to contemporary readers.