Canada Reads 2017 is right around the corner with a diverse slate of novels this year.
The competition is organized annually by the CBC, and gives five personalities the chance to defend five different books in a debate that spans several episodes. At the end of each episode, one book is voted out of the competition until only one is left—the book every Canadian should read.
This year’s final five books were written by authors with Inuk, Caribbean, Métis, and Kenyan backgrounds.
Some, such as Sara Jamieson from Carleton University’s English department, believe the competition’s diversity reflects Canada’s personality.
“The idea of Canada as a diverse society is something that is very important to many Canadians, so [Canada Reads] may be speaking to that,” Jamieson said via email.
She added the diversity of novels is a response to the current political climate.
“With the arrival of the Trump presidency there is the sense among many people that the idea of diversity as something that should be valued and celebrated is under threat,” Jamieson said.
Though most agree that diversity is an important part of Canadian society, Gerald Lynch, an English professor at the University of Ottawa, said it should not be a substitute for talent.
“We should not tolerate bad writing for the sake of inclusive representativeness, just as we should not tolerate what we believe to be wrong,” Lynch said via email.
Lynch is also critical of literary competitions, and said they can do more harm than good.
“Readers are lazy when they allow competition juries to do their thinking for them,” Lynch said. “Books are your brain food, your soul food. Readers need to think for themselves.”
On the other hand, singer/songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk, one of the defenders in this year’s book debate, said she thinks awareness of novels like this year’s final five is important.
“We have a responsibility to know what is going on in our country and our world as we Canadians stand to influence the rest of the planet greatly,” Kreviazuk said via email.
The novels moving on to the final part of Canada Reads 2017 discuss numerous topics, including environmental and human rights, humanity, and relationships.
Kreviazuk is defending The Right to Be Cold by Sheila Watt-Cloutier. The book emphasizes the effects of the receding Arctic ice on the survival of Inuit culture.
Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis follows the journey of 15 dogs who are given human consciousness by the gods Hermes and Apollo, and will be defended by rapper and spoken word artist Humble The Poet.
Company Town by Madeline Ashby is set in the future and is about an oil rig community owned by a wealthy and powerful family in the Canadian Maritimes. Murders threaten the stability of the city, and one girl, Hwa, must choose between saving others or herself. It will be defended by actress Tamara Taylor.
The Break by Katherena Vermette is about the interconnected narratives of different characters that take place after a young Métis mother witnesses someone in trouble on the Break—a barren field outside her house. The novel will be defended by comedian Candy Palmater.
Nostalgia by M.G. Vassanji takes place in the future when physical threats to the human body no longer affect mortality; meanwhile the brain’s storage capacity is at risk. The book will be defended by Ottawa city councillor Jody Mitic.
The Canada Reads 2017 debates will take place from March 27 to 30 in Toronto, and will be hosted by Ali Hassan from CBC’s Laugh Out Loud.
A portion of the sales of the winning book are given to charitable organizations working to promote literacy.
– Photo by Angela Tilley
