CBC Books has announced the five celebrity panelists and the respective titles they’ll be defending in the 2016 edition of Canada Reads. This year’s theme is “starting over,” with a focus on immigrant and other stories of transformation and change.
Actor and wrestler Adam “Edge” Copeland will defend Michael Winter’s Minister Without Portfolio (Hamish Hamilton Canada), Olympian Clara Hughes will defend Lawrence Hill’s novel The Illegal (HarperCollins Canada), social entrepreneur Farah Mohamed will defend Saleema Nawaz’s Bone and Bread (House of Anansi Press), author and G Adventures founder Bruce Poon Tip will defend Tracey Lindberg’s Birdie (HarperCollins), and actor and writer Vinay Virrmani will defend Anita Rau Badami’s The Hero’s Walk (Knopf Canada).
The “battle of the books” will again be hosted by author Wab Kinew, and will take place in front of live Toronto audiences and broadcasted on CBC Radio One, CBC-TV, and online March 21–24.
The winning title will be donated to select libraries, and the winning publisher will make a financial gift to Frontier College’s Aboriginal Summer Literacy Camps for Canadian First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children.