Report suggests Martin Levin is out as Globe and Mail books editor

There's more disturbing news for Canadian book lovers.

In the wake of Douglas & McIntyre seeking court protection from creditors and a raft of closures of local book and magazine stores, it's been reported that the Globe and Mail no longer has a literary editor.

Under the headline "Globe slashes book section", Now newspaper writer Susan G. Cole has reported that Martin Levin—editor of the books section for almost 17 years—and assistant editor Jack Kirchhoff "will no longer serve in their posts".

"It's all about celebrity now and being the first one to come out with a review, as if the first review is definitive," Levin told Now. "But a book review should be only an opening salvo, the beginning of a conversation."

For many years, the Globe and Mail published a self-contained books section in its Saturday edition, but declining ad revenue resulted in it being folded into the arts section.

The subhead for the Now article is "Focus section takes over", which suggests that book coverage will move into this part of the weekend edition.