Call for Papers
2025 Conference of the Bibliographical Society of Canada
5–6 June, George Brown College, Toronto
New Histories of the Small Press
Small-press and independent publishing are major phenomena in the history of printing and the production of literature. As the largest publishing companies rationalize production, merge into conglomerates, shore up their market dominance, and compound their profits, hundreds of little publishing operations spring up in imitation or in opposition to them, to enable everything that capital neglects, from self-expression and local representation, to resistance and experiment. Small presses enable creativity, but not without risk: they promise individual and regional self-awareness at a cost. Small presses are alternately celebrated for their independence and disdained for their lack of financial resources. They seem to play a key part in many authors’ careers.
John B. Thompson has described the book industry in terms of a polarization: as big publishers increase their profit, small publishers increase in numbers (Merchants of Culture: The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century). This polarization and its effect on fiction has been further analyzed by Dan Sinykin (Big Fiction: How Conglomeration Changed the Publishing Industry and American Literature).The cultural output of the small press is vast in its diversity, from poetry and novels, to exhibition catalogues and posters, to hybrid digital-print periodicals. Kirsten MacLeod’s study of little magazines in the United States in the nineteenth-century not only revealed the twentieth-century modernist attraction to this form to be part of a longer history, but also showed how ephemeral most of the little magazines were (American Little Magazines of the Fin de Siècle: Art, Protest, and Cultural Transformation). Julien Lefort-Favreau has explored the range of what “independent” publishing means (creative, niche, alternative, indie, underground, counter-cultural, avant-garde, radical, etc.), observing that “independence” stems not only from a position but from a claim (Le luxe de l’indépendance: Réflexions sur le monde du livre). If libraries have succeeded in collecting only a fraction of what has been produced by small presses, literary and historical scholarship has tended to focus on only a fraction of what has been collected. Most histories of the small press focus on the same prominent players: in English Canada, for example, these are Contact Press (Montreal and then Toronto, 1952–66) and Coach House Press (Toronto, 1965–), associated with modernism and postmodernism, respectively. Each small press is different, however: each merits its own history.
For its 2025 annual conference, the Bibliographical Society of Canada invites new accounts of the small press, little magazine, or independent publishing initiative in Canada or elsewhere, however these key terms may be defined. What has the small press achieved, and in what framework of meaning should this achievement be understood? Bibliographical, historical, literary, and/or theoretical contributions are welcome, as are methods based in library and information science or the digital humanities. Proposals on the achievements of women, LGBTQIA+ and/or BIPOC subjects are especially encouraged. Small presses are diverse and numerous, they are scattered across the periods and locations of the history of the book, and they leave a rich record in their publications and their archives – but most have not yet had their story told.
Papers on other topics will also be considered. Proposals from early career professionals and graduate students are especially welcome.
Proposals may be in English or French. Proposals, which must be submitted via this online form, must include the following elements:
- Title of presentation
- Abstract indicating argument, context, and methods (max. 250 words)
- Bio (50–100 words) including full name, professional designation (e.g., graduate student, assistant professor, independent researcher, etc.), and institutional affiliation or place
Applicants to the Emerging Scholar Prize (see below) must also include:
- Cover letter (1 p.), explaining the applicant’s suitability for the prize
- CV (max. 3 pp.);
- Proof of student status or of graduation within the past two years (copy of diploma, copy of student identification, or official or unofficial transcript).
Presentations must be made in person: the conference will not be online or hybrid.
Deadline: 31 January 2025
Emerging Scholar Prize
TheEmerging Scholar Prize promotes the work of a researcher who is beginning a career in the fields of book history and bibliography broadly defined, including a study of the creation, production, publication, distribution, transmission, history, and uses of printed books, manuscripts, or electronic texts. Preference is given to topics with a Canadian dimension.
A revised article-length version of the paper will be published in The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada / Cahiers de la Société bibliographique du Canada subject to peer review. A grant of $500 accompanies the Prize and may be used to help the recipient attend the annual BSC conference or to meet costs associated with research. The recipient will also receive a one-year complimentary membership in the BSC.
Students of any nationality enrolled in a master’s or doctoral program (e.g., MA, PhD, MLIS) are eligible, as is anyone who has completed such a program within the last two years from date of convocation. Individuals holding tenure track/continuing appointments are ineligible, as are members of the Awards Committee and the BSC Executive.
Greta Golick Award
The Greta Golick Award has been given annually since 2022 to recognize and support the education of graduate students and early career researchers by facilitating their participation in the Society’s annual conference. The award is named in honour of Dr. Greta Golick (1956–2018), whose scholarship and teaching are remembered with admiration and gratitude. Inaugurated with a residual sum given to the BSC by the Canadian Association for the Study of Book Culture (CASBC) at its dissolution, the award fund is augmented by generous donations in Dr Golick’s memory. A grant of $250.00 accompanies the prize and will be used to help the recipient attend the annual Conference or to meet costs associated with research.
Students of any nationality enrolled in a master’s or doctoral program are eligible, as is anyone who has graduated from such a program within the last five years (from date of convocation). Individuals holding tenure track/continuing appointments are ineligible, as are members of the Awards Committee and the BSC Council. There are no restrictions regarding the topic of research so long as it relates to some aspect of bibliography or book history.