Mystery novelist Louise Penny boycotts U.S., cancels U.S. book launch amid trade war
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!
As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
Now, more than ever, we need your support.
Starting at $15.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.
Subscribe Nowor call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.
Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Brandon Sun access to your Free Press subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $20.00 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.00 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/03/2025 (384 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Canadian mystery author Louise Penny says she is boycotting the United States.
The bestselling writer from Quebec’s Eastern Townships says she won’t go to the U.S. until the end of the trade war, which she characterizes as an “economic sword” wielded by President Donald Trump.
She cancelled plans to launch her new novel “The Black Wolf” at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and will instead hold the event at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
Penny also says she won’t take the book on a U.S. tour, a first for the novelist who has won numerous awards on both sides of the border and in 2021 cowrote a book with former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
Penny says she doesn’t mean to punish American readers, but rather wants to stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” with fellow Canadians, many of whom could be impoverished by Trump’s threatened tariffs.
She says she also has moral objections to Trump’s policies that make travelling stateside “unpalatable.”
“What is happening is not just a potential economic catastrophe for Canada and so many other nations, it is a moral wound,” Penny wrote Friday in a statement on her website.
She says she hopes American readers will attend her events in Canada, where she says they’ll be welcomed “with open arms.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.