Could Ron MacLean lead a team to writing-contest victory?

On Thursday, Canadian society and business types will don their party wear for the annual Writers’ Trust of Canada fundraiser at Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel. The event supports a bunch of Writers’ Trust programs, including awards, grants, a Humber College scholarship, and the Berton House Writers’ Retreat in Dawson City, Yukon.

As usual, a Canadian author will be seated at each table, which should come in handy during the evening’s “So You Think You Can Write contest, judged by CBC’s Shelagh Rogers, bookseller Ben McNally, and Doubleday Canada publisher Lynn Henry.

This year’s author guest list features a roster of heavy-hitters, including Margaret Atwood, Jeanne Beker, Camilla Gibb, Richard Gwyn, Lawrence Hill, Michael Ignatieff, Ezra Levant, Ron MacLean, Mark McEwan, Kevin O’Leary, Anna Porter, Andrew Pyper, Noah Richler, Robert Rotenberg, Russell Smith, Sylvia Tyson, and Jane Urquhart. This got Quillblog thinking: who would you want at your table? Which author do you think could best guide non-writers to literary victory?