[2][3] In addition to his teaching and academic writing, Lecker has held a number of prominent positions in the Canadian publishing industry throughout his career.

The following year, he transferred to York University in Toronto where he met Jack David, who had founded the critical journal Essays on Canadian Writing in 1974.

Lecker completed his BA (1974), MA (1976), and PhD (1980) in English at York and was awarded a number of fellowships and scholarships throughout these years.

In 1977 Lecker and Jack David founded ECW Press, which was originally devoted to publishing reference works and critical studies about Canadian literature.

Over the past 15 years he has focused on two areas in particular: canonicity in Canadian literature and anthology formation as a reflection of the evolution of literary value and taste.

She published several novels, short stories, and books of poetry; was influential in Montreal literary circles; did a stint as a radio broadcaster; and provided reports to the Wartime Information Board during World War II, possibly as an American spy.

The book deals with all of Hedges’ works in a chronological fashion, mixing biographical commentary with literary analysis to produce a picture of a writer's life and concerns during a period when Canada's literature was coming of age.

Lecker aims to show that these anthologies, like all literature, are shaped by the conflict and contact among various individuals and institutions, including publishers, writers, reviewers, professors, tenure committees, funding agencies, critical journals, banks, and the bookselling industry.

Lecker explores many of the myths surrounding the teaching, studying, publishing, and promotion of Canadian literature.

In 2018, Lecker was named co-editor (with Lorraine York) of the Routledge series of critical studies of Canadian literature.

Lecker also edited the 24-volume series entitled Canadian Writers and Their Works: Essays on Form, Context, and Development with Jack David and Ellen Quigley.

Lecker was the senior editor for several multi-volume series published by Macmillan (New York) and G.K. Hall (Boston), including Masterworks and Critical Essays on World Literature.