LLP: Who We Are

President & Publisher
Linda Leith

[Photo: Judith Lermer Crawley]

Montreal writer and publisher Linda Leith was born in Northern Ireland. Her most recent book is the literary history Writing in the Time of Nationalism: From Two Solitudes to Blue Metropolis (Signature 2010 and Leméac Éditeur, 2013, French translation by Alain Roy). Leith is the author of the memoir Marrying Hungary (Signature 2008) and of three novels. The founder of Blue Metropolis Foundation and festival artistic director until December 2010, she created Salon .ll. and Linda Leith Publishing / Linda Leith Éditions in 2011.

Chief Financial Officer
David Gawley

[Photo: Linda Leith]

A newcomer to the world of publishing, David Gawley has years of experience in financial analysis and plain old-fashioned bookkeeping. He retired after thirty-nine years with Canadian Pacific Railway where he worked in the Operating Department developing and implementing systems. A native of Toronto and graduate of the University of Toronto, he is treasurer of the Friends of the Westmount Public Library, English secretary of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Volunteer Association, and an editor of Canadian Rail, the magazine of the Canadian Railroad Historical Association.   

Editorial & Marketing Intern

Alyssa Shand-Perreault
 

 
[Photo: Meaghan Prefontaine]  

LLP Editorial & Marketing Intern Alyssa Shand-Perreault was born in Montreal and has lived in four different countries. She speaks English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, and is a student of English Literature and Communications Studies at McGill University.

Advisory Council Members
 

Lise Pouliot Bergevin
 

Lise Pouliot Bergevin started her publishing career in July 1976 as a publishing assistant for Éditions françaises / Larousse Canada, rising to the role of publisher and general manager. Between 1988 and 1998 she managed the scholarly publications of Université de Montréal. Since July 1988 she has been shareholder and general manager of Leméac Éditeur, the distinguished Montreal literary publisher of Quebec and international writing.
[Photo: Georges Dutil]

Rana Bose
 

Born and raised in Calcutta, Rana Bose has over 30 years experience in Engineering and Management, a field in which he continues to work as mentor and consultant. Best known in Canada as a playwright, his plays include The Death of Abbie Hoffman and Five or Six Characters in Search of Toronto. The author of the novels Recovering Rude (Véhicule Press 2000) and The Fourth Canvas (TSAR 2008), Bose lives in Montreal, where he is one of the editors of the arts and politics webzine Montreal Serai. [Photo: George Smid]

Ann Charney
 

Ann Charney is an award-winning novelist, short story writer and journalist. Her work has been published in the US, Italy, France, Germany, as well as in Canada. She is a member of the Conseil des Arts de Montréal and the Honorary Board of the Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival. She has also been named to the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France. [Photo: Joyce Ravid]

Patrick Coleman
 

Patrick Coleman is Professor of French and Francophone Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of works on Rousseau and Gabrielle Roy and served as editor of Québec Studies between 2000 and 2005. His most recent books include Anger, Gratitude, and the Enlightenment Writer (Oxford, 2011) and an annotated edition of Balzac’s The Wild Ass’s Skin (Oxford, 2012). [Photo: Candis Snoddy]

Maurice Forget, C.M., Ad.E.
 

Maurice Forget is a Montreal business lawyer known for his community involvement, particularly in the arts. Counsel and former Chair of the Fasken Martineau law firm, which he joined in 1969, he has also led the Montreal Arts Council (1999-2006), Heritage Montreal, and the Foundation of the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal. In 1998 he was admitted to the Order of Canada in recognition of his philanthropy in the fields of education, healthcare and the arts. [Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay]

Julian Gollner
 

Julian Gollner has worked extensively in Management Consulting, Risk Management and Information Technology, with a degree in Economics from Concordia University. He holds multiple certifications within the IT field, and brings experience both from the corporate and not-for-profit sectors, including Blue Metropolis Foundation. He lives in Vancouver, where he is a Manager at Ernst & Young, as part of its Advisory Services Performance Improvement practice.

Yvonne Hunter
 

Formerly Vice President, Publicity and Marketing for Penguin Books Canada, Yvonne Hunter is an independent publishing and PR executive based in Toronto. A CGA with fifteen years of publishing experience, she has held positions with the Literary Press Group, HarperCollins and Penguin, and has won numerous awards including a CMA Gold Award for 100 Years of Anne, a national campaign celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Anne of Green Gables, and CBA Awards for Publisher of the Year and Marketing Achievement of the Year for Penguin's critically acclaimed Extraordinary Canadians series. [Photo: Monique de St. Croix]

Tommy Schnurmacher
 

Tommy Schnurmacher is a national award-winning broadcaster and the host of a highly-rated radio talk show on CJAD 800 Radio in Montreal. During his 15-year-tenure at the station, he has interviewed thousands of guests, including Canadian prime ministers, Arianna Huffington, Pulitzer prize-winning novelist Jeffrey Eugenides, and show business personalities like Clint Eastwood, Catherine Deneuve, and Charlie Sheen.