The International Visitors Programme – which offers cultural exchange between Canadian and foreign publishing professionals – has announced David Kent as the winner of its annual Ivy Award for his substantial contribution to the Canadian publishing industry.

Kent served as the president and CEO of HarperCollins Canada for more than a decade until 2014. He has also held various executive positions in North American publishing, including president and publisher of Random House Canada and Doubleday Canada, and vice-president of marketing and sales at Simon and Schuster U.S.

The Ivy Award jury, comprising Cooke Agency founder Dean Cooke, Quill & Quire publisher Alison Jones, Humber College School of Creative and Performing Arts dean Joe Kertes, and IFOA director Geoffrey Taylor, said in a press release:

David Kent has devoted his life to being a champion of talented writers, both established and new – even those gifted writers who were working their way toward publication but had not yet arrived. He was endlessly generous with his time and resources to see to it that good literature was published and read.

Kent will receive his award preceding the Governor General’s Literary Award shortlist panel at the International Festival of Authors in Toronto on Oct. 26.