Janet Friskney on The New Canadian Library: The Ross-McClelland Years, 1952-1978

A specialist in Canadian publishing history, Janet B. Friskney, is the author of New Canadian Library: The Ross-McClelland Years, 1952-1978 (published by the University of Toronto Press). Her publication credits include articles on the Methodist Book and Publishing House of Toronto, nineteenth-century Bible and tract society activity in Canada, and the history of publishing for the blind in Canada. She served as Associate Editor to Volume 3 of the History of the Book in Canada, and edited and introduced Thirty Years of Storytelling: Selected Short Fiction by Ethelwyn Wetherald. 

We met at Carleton University to discuss the history and evolution of McClelland & Stewart's New Canadian Library (NCL) reprint series. Topics covered include the relationship between Jack McClelland and Malcolm Ross, selection criteria, the commerce of publishing a reprint series, teaching Canadian novels in Canadian universities, the ambivalent nature of introductions used to accompany some NCL titles, book designer Frank Newfeld, Canada's literary heritage, and the current status of the NCL.