Head Tale

This had been a shitty year for me, even before the COVID pandemic hit.

Coteau Books, which was a long-standing literary press in Canada for nearly half a century, and which I’d served on the board of directors of for nearly a decade, entered bankruptcy protection in late February.

I’ll likely do a longer post about some of what happened at Coteau at some point far far down the road.

But the main thing to mention, at least from my perspective as someone who was at the table as the entire situation developed, is that this bankruptcy happened due to a long series of unfortunate events, some within board control but many beyond our control; it was not the fault of any one individual or any one decision; and it was reflective of numerous arts and/or book-related organizations that have gone through similar financial difficulties in Saskatchewan and across Canada in the past but which almost always manage to pull out of the nose dive – something Coteau simply wasn’t able to do in the end despite incredible efforts of many involved.

I guess the other thing to note is this isn’t a convenience store or a clothing store going bankrupt – this is a part of Saskatchewan’s cultural fabric gone.  I was as excited for some of our upcoming titles for this fall as I was for any Coteau had *ever* released and I only hope most of them can find new homes with other publishers.

Anyhow, one of the steps in this bankruptcy process is to have an auction of Coteau’s assets including computers, office equipment and a ton (literally!) of books.

I’d encourage you to check out the auction.