The dissident writer and publisher Josef Skvorecky, author of 1984’s Governor General’s Literary Award“winning novel The Engineer of Human Souls, has died at the age of 87, according to media reports.

Skvorecky came to Canada in 1968 following the Soviet invasion of his homeland, Czechoslovakia. With his wife Zdena Salivarova he founded 68 Publishers, which provided a home for dissident writers including Vaclav Havel and Milan Kundera.

Skvorecky is also the author of The Cowards, The Swell Season, and Dvorak in Love. He is survived by his wife.