HarperCollins is launching a new Canadian Classics series this spring. (Image courtesy HarperCollins)

HarperCollins Canada is the latest publisher to go elbows up with a line of classic Canadian fiction and nonfiction reprint editions. The multinational’s new Canadian Classics Collection is set to debut this spring with seven titles in a special series design.

“It is a curated list,” says Iris Tupholme, senior vice president and executive publisher at HarperCollins Canada. “It’s pointing to a group of books, fiction and nonfiction, that are of enduring quality.”

The five titles on the inaugural Canadian Classics list are:

• The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
• Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
• By Chance Alone by Max Eisen
• Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
• Any Known Blood by Lawrence Hill
• Birdie by Tracey Lindberg
• Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill

The titles will be released on May 5, 2026, to coincide with the release of the HarperCollins American Classics series, which is being launched to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The HarperCollins Canadian Classics series follows the debut last year of McClelland & Stewart’s Kanata Classics, a similarly conceived reprint line of classic Canadian texts.

Asked how the titles for the inaugural list were chosen, Tupholme identifies a number of considerations, including books with “timeless themes, literary excellence, and cultural significance.” In the last category, she singles out Eisen’s memoir of his time as a prisoner in Auschwitz as a book that is read by different generations, has been adopted as a text in schools, and has found a broad audience following its emergence as champion of the 2019 CBC contest Canada Reads.

All but one of the titles in the first tranche of books were published in the 21st century; the only one that wasn’t – Hill’s novel Any Known Blood – first appeared in 1997. Asked if there were any impulse to look farther back than this, Tupholme suggests that perhaps in future years there will be room to bring out older titles. Novels and plays by Timothy Findley or Sharon Butala’s 1994 novel The Perfection of the Morning are possible contenders for future Canadian Classics lists, she says.

As for the current group, Tupholme sees the relevance of the subjects and authorial perspectives as lending them cultural currency even in a relatively short time frame. “We have Tracey Lindberg’s book, for example, which was published in 2015, so it’s only over a decade old,” she says. “But Tracey’s book was at the beginning, perhaps, of [the new wave of] Indigenous writers writing their spiritual journey stories. So it seemed to have that kind of relevance – both the personal relevance and universal themes.”

The series design of the new books was created by Robin Bilardello at HarperCollins U.S., who was also responsible for designing the American Classics editions. Tupholme praises Bilardello’s vision for the series, saying, “We felt very fortunate indeed to have her work on them.”

The books will be printed in the U.S. and Tupholme says the publisher will push to get them picked up for course adoption. “We’re looking to all the sales channels and there’s a pretty fantastic marketing plan in place,” she says.

In the short term, Tupholme hopes that bringing these titles out in a new series format helps rekindle discussions about their themes and subjects as well as finding new readers. She notes that these are titles that have been shared and recommended by readers and hopes that kind of organic circulation continues. “That’s the fundamental point of putting something like this together,” she says. “Books to share, but also to revisit yourself.”