The University of Ottawa Press (UOP), like other any other publisher in Canada, must face the unavoidable problems of doing business in a small domestic market – all the more so since it publishes scholarly works often of interest only to specialists.
Nevertheless, the UOP has had several success stories, as was evident at a recent reception attended by some of the authors whose works were published last year.
Founded in 1936, the University of Ottawa Press is one of the oldest university-based publishing houses in Canada. “Things were difficult until 1965,” recalled Father Léopold Lanctôt, 92, the founder of UOP and the man who ran it for 47 years. “During the early years, we only published two or three books a year, because we didn’t have any money.”
Later, the UOP was able to obtain subsidies from various arts and research councils, but it has always had to be managed with care.
In order for the UOP to have a more solid footing, it has to widen its scope, says Ruth Bradley St-Cyr, who has been running the University of Ottawa Press since October of last year.
In 2003, the UOP published a broad range of works touching on such topics as mythology, mental health, translation, the history of dictionaries, Canadian studies, phenomenology, religions in Canada, children’s literature, science fiction, gender relations, cultural transfers, the Francophonie and the philosophy of human rights.
“Anything you can do to diversify helps with long-term survival,” said Bradley St-Cyr. “We want to do more books with widespread interest and maintain a more balanced list.”
Since 1999, the UOP has been publishing about 10 books a year on average. But Bradley St-Cyr has an ambitious goal: to publish 28 works in 2004.
Her plan is supported by Roda Roberts, the chair of the University of Ottawa Press editorial committee: “We hope to increase the number of publications. To do so, we need good manuscripts,” Roberts said, throwing out the challenge to researchers to come to her with book proposals.
