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Canada has been home to some major literary talent in the past. Authors such as Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje have captivated readers around the world with their novels and stories.

This year, however, the Canadian Broadcast Corporation has decided to honour the true stories of Canada by featuring only non-fiction titles in the annual Canada Reads competition.

Canada Reads is a battle, which pits Canadian icons against one another in defense of a work of Canadian literature. This year, the defenders are: Alan Thicke (everyone’s favourite TV Dad), Stacey McKenzie (of Canada’s Next Top Model), Arlene Dickinson (CEO and Dragon’s Den venture capitalist), Shad (London, Ontario Rapper), and Anne-France Goldwater (the Judge Judy of Montreal). Each advocate chooses a book from the top ten list as decided by Canadians.

The final list of nomineesrepresents a variety of stories from our own backyard, all the way to the far eastern corner of Russia, all true stories, written by Canadians.
The Game, written by Ken Dryden and championed by Alan Thicke, gives a first hand look into the NHL and playing on a team that would one day win the Stanley Cup. The only other local story is from Dave Bidini in On A Cold Road, supported by Stacey McKenzie, telling of the Rheostatic’s tour across Canada with The Tragically Hip.

The stories then move abroad, discussing Marina Nehmat’s journey as a teenager in an Islamic political prison in Prisoner of Tehran (championed by Arlene Dikinson), and Carmen Aguirre’s Something Fierce, which recounts her life growing up as a revolutionary in a totalitarian Chile. Shad is defending Something Fierce.
Finally The Tiger is a tale of a vengeful tiger that hunts men in eastern Russia. The Tiger was written by John Vailant and will be supported by Anne-France Goldwater.

The debates will be hosted by Jian Ghomeshi, and will air February 6th-9th at 11 am on CBC Radio One and livestreamed on CBC Books at 10 am.

If your Internet connection goes out, you can join the live studio audience at the debates. Get tickets here.

Karan Warraich,
President, CCSAI
416-289-5000 ext 2324
kwarraich@centennialcollege.ca

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