Canada Reads

How different regions engaged with Canada Reads 2018

What Canada Reads looked like for 10 Canadian cities.

Across the country, several communities celebrated Canada Reads 2018. Broadcasts, competitions and author visits brought together audiences from British Columbia to Newfoundland around CBC's annual battle of the books.

Canada Reads 2018 ran from March 26 to March 29, 2018 and was hosted by Ali Hassan.   

Library workers in B.C. comment on Canada Reads 2018

Wendy Wright (right), the director of the Smithers Public Library, Patricia Gibson (centre) of the Prince George Public Library and Lou Allison (left) of the Smithers Public Library talk Canada Reads 2018. (Wendy Wright/Patricia Gibson/Lou Allison)

Three Northern B.C. librarians brought their professional insights to a series of Canada Reads discussions. They commented on each book featured on the shortlist through a series of roundtables on Daybreak North, culminating in a discussion of the show's finale.

What Albertans thought of Canada Reads 2018

Five local celebrities gathered at the St. Albert Public Library to defend the five books on the Canada Reads 2018 shortlist. (Chris Martin/CBC)

Readers in St. Albert, Alta. gathered at the local library for a third year in a row to partake in their own Canada Reads debates. It featured, for a third consecutive year, a host of celebrities from Alberta chiming in on the shortlisted book they admired the most.

Craig Davidson meets with Thunder Bay residents to discuss attitudes towards disabilities

Canada Reads finalist Craig Davidson, centre, shares the stage with Thunder Bay school bus driver Dylynn Kempton, left, and student Kendal-Lynn Douglas, far right. (Raili Zgrych)

In Thunder Bay, Ont., the author of Precious Cargo shared the stage with a local student with disabilities and a school bus driver. Discussions centred on common misperceptions of disabilities and what people can learn from each other.

How readers in Sudbury saw themselves in the Canada Reads 2018 books

Coordinator of public services, Mette Kruger, shows off how thoroughly she read and enjoyed Sharon Bala's novel, The Boat People. (Markus Schwabe/CBC)

Over five days, CBC Morning North featured a different library worker from Sudbury, Ont., commenting on the shortlisted book that resonated with them. Many guests spoke of the spiritual, emotional or social parallels they found in each story. 

Toronto audiences participate in the launch of Canada Reads 2018

Here and Now's Gill Deacon, centre, looks on as Greg Johnson, far left, enthuses over the memoir Precious Cargo at the Canada Reads 2018 launch event in Toronto. (CBC)

In Toronto, panellists and authors shared the stage with Here and Now's host Gill Deacon to discuss the Canada Reads shortlist announcement. Each pair explained what their selected book means to them and why they believe it reflects this year's theme as the "one book to open your eyes." 

Mark Sakamoto visits the city that changed his family's history

Mark Sakamoto engages with an audience member as he signs a copy of his Canada Reads shortlisted memoir, Forgiveness. (Library and Archives of Canada)

The winning author of Canada Reads 2018, Mark Sakamoto, spoke to audiences in Ottawa about his Second World War memoir Forgiveness. His conversation with CBC All in a Day's Alan Neal touched upon how the decisions made in the capital led to his grandfather's capture as a prisoner of war and his Japanese Canadian grandmother's internment in Alberta. 

How Quebec City made Canada Reads its own

CBC Breakaway's Saroja Coelho, far left, asks journalist and educator Mary McCown, centre right, what makes Craig Davidson's memoir, Precious Cargo, the book Canadians should be reading in 2018. (Julia Caron/CBC)

Five panellists, which included writers, sat down to exchange their thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of the shortlist. For an evening, these experts engaged with CBC Breakaway's Saroja Coelho in a debate that became Quebec City's response to Canada Reads.

How the students in New Brunswick brought Canada Reads home

These books are featured in Young Fredericton Reads. Go to our Facebook page to vote for your favourite. (Kirk Pennell/CBC )

Four students in Fredericton, N.B. gave Canada Reads a YA spin. They defended four Canadian, mostly YA fiction, titles using social network platforms in conjunction with CBC's Information Morning to get their arguments across to the public.

YA author Cherie Dimaline invites audiences in Halifax to a conversation on storytelling 

Cherie Dimaline, left, talks about the themes in her Canada Reads shortlisted novel, The Marrow Thieves, with Mainstreet's Bob Murphy, right. (Kelley Edwards/CBC)

In Halifax, the author of The Marrow Thieves sat down with CBC Mainstreet's Bob Murphy and local Indigenous teens to talk about creating stories in the 21st century. Dimaline stressed the importance of helping Indigenous youth see themselves and their narratives thrive in fiction.

St. John's joins Sharon Bala in welcoming newcomers and their stories

Sharon Bala (left) shared her story at a public event in St. John's, N.L. hosted by Weekend AM's Heather Barrett (right). (Andrew Sampson/CBC)

In St. John's, N.L., the author of The Boat People joined Weekend AM's Heather Barrett for a book reading. Afterwards, recent asylum seekers were invited to reflect on Bala's novel about the treatment of Sri Lankan refugees in Canada and to share stories of their own journeys.