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

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      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.

      Comments

      7 Comments

      Lee Bice-Matheson

      Jan 29, 2013 at 1:11pm

      Very sad indeed that this has happened. As a newcomer in the publishing industry it is sad to see this craft being bounced around like a ping pong ball.

      DavidH

      Jan 29, 2013 at 2:47pm

      Like most Canadians, I gave up on the Globe when they introduced pay-per-view.

      The G&M will have no trouble turfing good writers and editors now.

      Ann Birch

      Jan 29, 2013 at 2:50pm

      This is a slap in the face to Canadian writers and Canadian readers. Have the Globe editors considered cutting a few pages from the Sports section?

      David Allan Stein, Toronto

      Feb 3, 2013 at 3:51pm

      Have they considered dumping the publisher, that dim bulb from the dark mills of Manchester, who has run the paper into the ground?

      anonymous

      Feb 10, 2013 at 6:54pm

      Why the snide ad hominem remark? I had hoped that we had matured beyond the carping that's provoked by a foreigner, especially a Briton, taking a high profile job here. I'm as dismayed as the next reader - 41 years of Globe loyalty and counting - about what's happening to the Books and Arts sections at the Globe, but personal attacks don't achieve squat. So to set you straight: I've interviewed Phillip Crawley numerous times and he certainly never struck me as a dim bulb; he isn't from Manchester but a Geordie from Newcastle; and if you must quote William Blake get it right. It's dark, satanic mills.

      Saving the books section

      Mar 3, 2013 at 10:23am

      If the Globe and Mail books section was so important to publishers, why then did they buy so little advertising. This is how newspapers pay their bills.

      Timber Masterson

      Mar 6, 2015 at 3:28pm

      More cutting in the wrong areas.