Illustration by Jillian Tamaki

It looks like somebody couldn't wait for Coach House Books' open house. Three days before the venerable Toronto literary press was to hold its annual bash, thieves broke into its offices and made off with four computers. The equipment itself wasn't terribly valuable, but the files they held were: irreplaceable email and the electronic versions of Coach House's entire fall line-up, including books by avant-garde filmmaker Mike Hoolboom and playwright Darren O'Donnell.

Having once toiled at the press (I was their managing editor three years ago), I know how back-ups are not always a priority for overworked staff. This theft, however, means a loss of several weeks’ worth of labour. With Coach House's fall launch just a month away, staff will have to scramble madly to finish them. I'm sure that if the perps have any conscience at all – or a particular fondness for CanLit – they'll transfer those files to a DVD asap and send it Coach House's way.

-- Jason McBride