Writer and professor Ira Wells has been named the recipient of the 2026 Freedom to Read Award.

The annual award is presented during Freedom to Read Week each year by the Writers’ Union of Canada, and recognizes work that supports access to books and the freedom to read. Previous winners include authors David A. Robertson, Ivan Coyote, and Lawrence Hill, booksellers Anjula Gogia and Janine Fuller, and last year’s winner, poet, translator, and essayist Bänoo Zan.

Wells is an associate professor of literature at the University of Toronto and currently serves as president of PEN Canada. He is the author of three books, including his most recent title, On Book Banning: How the New Censorship Trivializes Art and Undermines Democracy, which deals explicitly with the problems of literary censorship.

Wells was nominated for the award by a fellow author for his “long-held stance against censorship.”

“This is witnessed by his record of publications, which often touch on the subject of societal thought control,” the nomination reads. “His most recent book, On Book Banning, is an extended exploration of the ways libraries have been ransacked, often under the guise of ‘protecting children.’”

The Writers’ Union announced the recipient of this year’s Freedom to Read Award on Feb. 27, the penultimate day of Freedom to Read Week.