The 19th edition of the International Visitors (IV) Programme, in association with the Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA), today announced that Ben McNally will be the 15th recipient of the Ivy Award, given annually to an individual who has made a substantial contribution to Canadian publishing. McNally will be honoured during the 2026 Ivy Award & Conversation taking place at Victoria University in the University of Toronto during the Toronto International Festival of Authors on Wednesday, October 28, at 2:30pm (ET). The event will also feature a Keynote Conversation between James Daunt, CEO of Barnes & Noble and Craig Swinwood, CEO of Harlequin & HarperCollins Canada.
Ben McNally has been a bookseller since 1969. His career in books – 57 years and counting – started at Coles, where he became a buyer before moving on to management at The Book Cellar, Book City, and Nicholas Hoare. McNally is best known for his beloved eponymous shop, Ben McNally Books, “a cherished independent Toronto bookstore and a champion of Canadian authors” (The Globe and Mail, 2019).
Ben McNally Books, a stalwart of the city’s Best Of lists, opened its doors in 2007. Its flagship store at 366 Bay St. is remembered as Toronto’s most beautiful and well-stocked bookshop. In 2020, Ben McNally Books relocated twice before finding a new permanent home at 108 Queen Street East. In 2025, two of McNally’s children, Rupert and Danielle, assumed operational responsibility for the store. McNally does not consider himself retired: he is recovering from knee replacement surgery, and looks forward to spending more time at the store.
“The Ivy Award is an opportunity each year to celebrate the vibrancy, creativity and resilience of Canada’s literary and publishing community,” said Roland Gulliver, chair of the Ivy Award jury. “From authors and publishers to festivals and booksellers, we all work for something we fiercely believe in: the power of books and stories to change lives. This year’s Ivy Award winner, Ben McNally, encapsulates this belief. Over decades, he has worked tirelessly to champion books and writers through his bookstore, wherever the location. He is a beloved figure in the book community who turns out, whether rain, shine or snow, to make sure the best books find their readers.”
PACLA (Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents) Person of the Year Award
The PACLA (Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents) Person of the Year award is awarded by the Canadian literary agent community to recognize and celebrate exemplary individuals in editing, publicity and marketing, or sales, who have gone above and beyond in support of authors.
PACLA is delighted to announce that Anita Chong has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the PACLA Person of the Year Award.
Anita Chong is the Editorial Director of Fiction at McClelland & Stewart. Among the many acclaimed books she has edited and published are Sharon Bala’s The Boat People, Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries, Michael Christie’s Greenwood, Tessa Hulls’s Feeding Ghosts, Tsering Yangzom Lama’s We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies, Jen Sookfong Lee’s The Hunger We Pass Down, Michael Ondaatje’s The Distance of a Shout, Janika Oza’s A History of Burning, Vivek Shraya’s The Hystericals, Souvankham Thammavongsa’s How to Pronounce Knife, and Richard Wagamese’s Starlight. Her authors have been shortlisted for or won major awards including the Giller Prize, the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Pulitzer Prize, The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, and the Booker Prize.
View the full press release here.
The IV Programme is supported by the Government of Canada.
