Biblioasis, indie publishing house, puts Windsor on the literary map with Giller finalists

Move aside, Toronto: the new literary capital of English Canada may now be Windsor, Ont., thanks to the success of upstart small publisher Biblioasis, which is gunningfor Giller glory.

Biblioasis has two books in the running for the nation's richest book prize, the $100,000 Scotiabank Giller Prize, which will be awarded Tuesday night.

Anakana Schofield's novel Martin John and Samuel Archibald's short story collection Arvida (translated by Donald Winkler) both made the short list of five titles.

Biblioasishad a third book that made the Giller long listRussell Smith's short story collection, Confidence, which was alsoa contender for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. The publisher alsoreleased Robyn Sarah's poetry collection My Shoes Are Killing Me,which won a Governor General's Literary Award last week.

"It's been a massive success, with home run after home run this fall. Overnight, Biblioasis has turned into the most prestigious small press in Canada," Smith, a Globe and Mail columnist as well as an author,told CBC News.

"I am thrilled to be in the company of these authors who are getting so much attention and will be getting international attention soon."

Biblioasis founder Dan Wells, who got into publishing 11 years ago after first opening a bookstorein 1998, is modest about his company's accomplishments. But he did reveal the secret to his success.

"What it really comes down to is every writer we publish, we believe in completely," he said.

Whereas big publishers may have other pressures or considerations, "the only thing that matters to us is the work and whether we can respond to it and whether we, as a small group, can get behind it fully and passionately sell it."

Biblioasis founder Dan Wells

9 years ago

Duration 1:26

Biblioasis founder Dan Wells, who published 2 of the 5 Giller Prize 2015 finalists, reveals what he looks for in a manuscript.

Inthe video above,Biblioasis publisher Dan Wells reveals what he looks for in a manuscript.

As an experienced bookseller the editorial office is in a converted garage behind the bookstore that shares the Biblioasis name Wells has firsthand experience of what readers may like.He also credits the firm'sWindsor location as part of their successsince they were able to afford to buy their building which they likely couldn'taffordin Toronto's hot real estate market.

As a result, Wells said, Biblioasis has more freedom to take risks.

"We can invest more into things like an international translation program. We can invest more into things like short stories, non-commercial genres that other presses in big cities maybe have to be more careful about, even if the desire is there."

His Giller-nominated authors agree.

"I think Biblioasis is getting to be so successful these days because these guys take a lot of risks," said Archibald, whose short story collection was published in translation.

"I made the choice to go back to Biblioasis after my first book," notedSchofield.

"I'm so impressed with how hard Dan Wells works for us and they did amazing things."

But with all the accolades so far during this literary awards season, Wells has found himself making a lot of trips to Toronto. He'll be back again Tuesday for theGiller Prize gala, nervously waiting to see if one of his books comes out the winner.

"Although I have horses in the race, in many ways I feel I'd already won," he said.

"We've won in the sense that it's raised the profile for these books."

The Scotiabank Giller Prize gala will be televised Tuesday, November 10 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) on CBC Television.