The books and authors that inspired Canada Reads author Esi Edugyan
Washington Black is being championed by Olympian Mark Tewksbury on Canada Reads 2022
Esi Edugyan is curious by nature. Her examination of life through a historical and racial lens has resulted in novels about the Black experience throughout history. She is a two-time winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize and her novel Half-Blood Blues was defended by Olympian Donovan Bailey on Canada Reads in 2014.
Her third novel, Washington Black, tells the story of 11-year-old Washington "Wash" Black, a slave on a Barbados sugar plantation in the 19th century. His master is Englishman Christopher "Titch" Wilde, someone obsessed with developing a machine that can fly.
When a man is killed, Titch must choose between his family and saving Black's life — and the choice results in an epic adventure around the world for Wash.
Edugyan won the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize for Washington Black and it was also on the 2018 shortlist for the Man Booker Prize and the 2018 shortlist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.
Washington Black is being championed by Olympian Mark Tewksbury on Canada Reads 2022.
Canada Reads will take place March 28-31. The debates will be hosted by Ali Hassan and will be broadcast on CBC Radio One, CBC TV, CBC Gem and on CBC Books.
Here are some of the books and authors Edugyan has loved reading over the years.
L.M. Montgomery, R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike
"I was one of those kids who read so many different things. I remember reading Anne of Green Gables — I think every Canadian child at some point picks up that book.
I think every Canadian child's at some point picks up that book.
"So reading a lot of L.M. Montgomery, but also reading a lot of horror novels like R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike and all of those writers."
Just as Long as We're Together by Judy Blume
"I was a big fan of Judy Blume as well. I had a copy of Just as Long as We're Together that I would read over and over again until it literally fell apart and I had to get a new one.
That one just really spoke to me with the female friendships and all of that.
"That one just really spoke to me with the female friendships and all of that."
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
"Harriet the Spy was another book that I really found delicious because she seemed to be somebody who was on the margins, kind of looking and trying to see the details of others' lives.
That one just really spoke to me with the female friendships and all of that.
"I thought that was great, and I wanted to be just like that."
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
"I decided by the end of high school that I wanted to be a writer, and my sister had a friend who had just bought an antiquarian bookshop. I asked her, 'What is your absolute favourite novel?' And she said, 'You have to read Crime and Punishment.' And she said, 'I know it feels like it's very daunting and a very heavy, heavy thing. But you know, there's a lot of humour in it.'
I remember buying this Dover Thrift Edition of Crime and punishment and reading it and just being just blown away. I hadn't read anything like this.
"I remember buying this Dover Thrift Edition of Crime and Punishment, reading it and just being just blown away. I hadn't read anything like this."
So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell
"William Maxwell's novel So Long, See You Tomorrow is very slim and slender, but contains a whole world. You read it and you don't know how he's done this."
The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante
"During lockdown, I just couldn't put down Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan quartet. I read The Days of Abandonment a few years ago and really admired it, but somehow hadn't made my way to the magnum opus. I couldn't even write — all I could do was read these books night and day.
I think a lot of women recognize that kind of friendship, which is filled with competition, but also with some great love.
"I loved the richness, the aliveness and the complexity of the relationship. I think a lot of women recognize that kind of friendship, which is filled with competition, but also with some great love."
Esi Edugyan's comments have been edited for length and clarity.
The Canada Reads 2022 contenders
- Christian Allaire champions Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
- Malia Baker champions Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez
- Tareq Hadhad champions What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad
- Suzanne Simard champions Life In the City of Dirty Water by Clayton Thomas-Müller
- Mark Tewksbury champions Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
