Winnie Czulinski –
Annick Press, newly located in north Riverside, is celebrating five decades this year of publishing bold, relevant, quirky books for young people.
Even more than forty years ago in Willowdale, this multi-award-winning company produced titles like Our Brother Has Down’s Syndrome and The Paper Bag Princess (a kick-ass heroine who says, “Ronald… you are a bum” to an ungrateful prince she rescues). Annick’s young-adult offerings today include Stormy Seas: Stories of Young Boat Refugees, and Funny, You Don’t Look Autistic: A Comedian’s Guide to Life on the Spectrum.
Rick Wilks was in his 20s and Anne Millyard was his mother’s friend with two teenage children, when they partnered in 1975 as Annick. “We were seeing (in books) a lot that didn’t reflect the experiences of kids at all, irrelevant, not addressing the issues,” said Wilks. “I thought this was a wonderful idea all along, but without any real notion it was going to be my career.”
The two began a tough, exciting, and often disheartening ride in an old house as Annick’s office on a North York side street. In a stroke of luck, they published Robert Munsch, a beloved author with over 85 million books sold worldwide.
“We are eternally grateful!” says Wilks. “And it was a total aberration. A bestseller book in this country is 5,000 copies.”
After Millyard retired several years ago, a commuter-weary Wilks moved the company to a Downtown East industrial brick building on Carlaw, more convenient for staff and creators. He sublet part of the premises when the pandemic sent employees to work from home. More recently Annick moved into the building of major Canadian independent publisher ECW Press, at 665 Gerrard Street East. “We save on rent, and it’s a good fusion,” enthuses Wilks.
The two companies have 40 employees between them, though often just four or five are in the street-front office. Editors and staff – Black, multicultural, Indigenous, queer – reflect publishing diversity.
“I think it’s really important that kids in North America learn about their peers in other parts of the world, like a 16-year-old in the Middle East or Sierra Leone,” says Wilks. Annick’s offerings touch common chords locally too, with books like The Words We Share (by Jack Wong), in which a young girl helps her dad navigate life in a new country where she understands the language more than he does.
A Cave in the Clouds: A Young Woman’s Escape from ISIS, by Badeeah Hassan Ahmed and Susan Elizabeth McClelland, got Annick Press on the Federal Bureau of Investigation watch-list. Controversy and topical world news aside, the publisher aims to get deep into the heart of marginalized people.
“We have a mentorship program, for creators from communities who’ve traditionally been excluded,” says Wilks. “We pay them $1000 to join the program, and to work extensively with an editor on their project. It’s about being able to learn what publishing is all about.”
Annick’s new Indigenous editor, Nancy Cooper, also the author of three published children’s books, is of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation (near Orillia), but is from northern Ontario.
“When I was growing up, I didn’t see myself reflected in the pages of books, except in really stereotypical ways,” she says. Through her work with the Ontario Library Service, Cooper administers an Indigenous book award – with a nomination process that went from a three-year publication catchment to books published just in the year prior. “There’s been an explosion in (Indigenous) publishing,” says Cooper, who loves her Annick work – and its location. “I’m an east-ender through and through.”
Annick was among the first children’s book publishers to achieve the Global Certified Accessible accreditation from non-profit software company Benetech. It was assisted by eBOUND Canada, which helps independent Canadian publishers in the digital marketplace. Making its e-books fully accessible for readers with disabilities, puts Annick at the forefront, especially with the European Accessibility Act legislation taking effect this summer.
As director of Annick, Wilks remains in touch with former partner Millyard, now in her 90s. He says that some of their early books still doing well are “a great testament to her.”
But after some deep thinking, he recently made a major move – and sold Annick to ECW co-publisher David Caron. Preserving the company’s legacy was important. “I wanted Annick to live on as Annick – didn’t want it to be consumed within another company, or taken over by someone who’d push it off in another direction.”
Wilks is thrilled with the transition. “I’m staying on. This is my passion. And now it’s time for new blood, new management, and new ideas.”
www.annickpress.com
