The tireless efforts of dedicated members resulted in a number of historical achievements, including
- drafting the first standard book contract to protect authors’ rights in negotiations with publishers;
- initiating a campaign to bring to Canadian authors a public lending right program; other Canadian writing groups joined the effort and the program was finally created in 1986; and
- successfully lobbying to have Canada join the Universal Copyright Convention. CAA is also known for its dedication to promoting awareness of the Canadian writing and publishing environment and to encouraging works of literary and artistic merit. Key accomplishments include
- acquiring Canadian Bookman, Canada’s first literary magazine, in 1921, and continuing to publish it through to 1998;
- launching Canada Book Week in 1922, and continuing to coordinate CBW celebrations for 36 years;
- launching Canadian Poetry, Canada’s first poetry magazine, in 1936;
- establishing the Governor-General literary awards in 1936, and subsequently turning them over to the Canada Council in 1959;
- publishing The Canadian Writer’s Guide, each with over 100 articles on writing and publishing; and
- establishing the CAA Literary Awards in 1975. More than 30,000 writers have been members of CAA over the past 8 decades, including Stephen Leacock, Bliss Carman and E.G. Pratt in the early years and, more recently, Robertson Davies, Timothy Findlay and Robert Munsch.
