Jamie Tennant

FIRST OF ALL: Please, if you support what I’m doing and what community radio does, consider going to cfmu.ca/fundraising and helping out!

Now: Hey folks! Today we talk with the incredible Amanda Leduc about her (also incredible) new novel The Centaur’s Wife. What we didn’t have time to talk about was the interesting information below!

I would not normally post an (edited for length) press release from a publisher, but as it’s about accessible publishing and how this book makes a difference…I think it’s worth it. Read on, and enjoy the show! (Note: it’s in future tense, but the book came out last month)

“Hamilton author Amanda Leduc’s book The Centaur’s Wife will be published in all accessible and conventional formats simultaneously, thanks to a unique partnership between the author, Penguin Random House Canada and Canada’s two accessible library services, the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) and the National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS).

The Centaur’s Wife will be released by Random House Canada on February 16 in standard print and audio, but also in accessible audio, e-text and braille, and will immediately be made available to Canadians with print disabilities through both NNELS and CELA.

“This is Amanda’s second book to be published in conventional and accessible formats simultaneously and represents a significant shift towards creating an equitable reading landscape,” says Laurie Davidson, Executive Director of the Centre for Equitable Library Access. “Amanda’s energy and passion for accessibility, and the commitment of her team at Penguin Random House Canada, made this possible. We hope this collaboration might become a template for other publishers moving forward so we can increase books for those with print disabilities.”

Typically, books are published in conventional formats first and then converted to accessible formats, resulting in a delay between the publication date and the time when the estimated 1 in 10 people with print disabilities in Canada can read these books.”