On May 11, Sault-based publisher Tagona Press captured its second North American Independent
Publishers’ Award (the ‘IPPYs’). Tagona’s ‘Hastings – A Four Season County’ was named a 2023
IPPY ‘Best Regional Non-Fiction’ bronze medal winner.
The Hastings book is part of Tagona’s uniquely crafted ‘Four Season Ontario’ series, where each
work features gorgeous images captured by talented regional photographers. All visual art is
supported by a connecting storyline and compelling image captions. 2021 IPPY winner ‘Prince
Edward – A Four Season County’, the beautiful ‘Durham – A Four Season Region’, and Hastings will
be joined by other ‘Four Season’ series books later this year.
Tagona publisher Bryan Davies expressed his gratitude for the diverse creative talents who have
collectively contributed to the 2023 IPPY award win. “I am honoured to be part of our publishing
team. I am equally thrilled to work with such gifted photographers. The IPPYs attract hundreds of
entries every year – winning this second North American award is also a testament to a wonderful
Sault creative ecosystem that has connections everywhere. Gary and Joanie McGuffin’s terrific
insights and photo edits, Aaron Alessandrini’s design and layout brilliance, Helen Dow’s writing,
Thomas Davies’ research, Kapptive Studios providing great e-commerce support, and our Art Hub
on Spring studio mates – all committed to creating and promoting world class work”.
Accomplished Hastings area photographers Jim Buck, Rene Fisher, John Foster, Janet Foster, and
Phil Norton provided over 90 images that have attracted their own critical acclaim. Davies also
noted that with four more books set for 2023 publication, and Dundurn Press (Canada’s iconic
independent publisher) now distributing Tagona books nationally, Tagona continues to live its
motto – From the Sault to the World.
Tagona will soon launch a ‘Print on Demand’ service that may be unique to the Canadian publishing
industry. Selected images taken from Tagona books and Gary McGuffin’s internationally acclaimed
nature / conservation photography portfolio (including those being exhibited in the dynamic
Smithsonian Institute ‘Boreal Forest’ North American exhibition that will run until 2027), can be
acquired by anyone as high-quality prints – beautiful, affordable, and uniquely Canadian visual art
telling its own beautiful stories
