TORONTO — CBC today announced its annual battle of the books, Canada Reads 2020, is set to take place from Monday, July 20 to Thursday, July 23, following its postponement in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ali Hassan, host of CBC Radio’s Laugh Out Loud, returns for his fourth year as host of Canada Reads, moderating the debate between five Canadian panellists who will champion Canadian books that speak to the theme, “One Book to Bring Canada Into Focus”.
The Canada Reads 2020 debates will be broadcast each day at 11 a.m. (11:30 NT) on CBC Radio One, livestreamed at 11 a.m. ET (8 a.m. PT) on CBC Gem and CBCbooks.ca, and broadcast at 4 p.m. (4:30 NT) on CBC TV. Each day of the competition, one book will be eliminated by the panellists until a winner is voted the must-read book for Canadians in 2020.
“Now more than ever, it’s important to find ways to bring people together to foster dialogue and debate big ideas, and while this year’s show will unfold a little differently, the core reasons why our passionate defenders want Canadians to read these books hasn’t changed,” said Hassan, in the news release. “I look forward to hosting these enlightening conversations for audiences across the country.”
Defending this year’s book contenders are: NBA TV host Akil Augustine; Kim’s Convenience, Workin’ Moms and The Handmaid’s Tale actor Amanda Brugel; country music singer George Canyon; YouTube creator and LGBTQ advocate Alayna Fender; and Letterkenny actor Kaniehtiio Horn.
The final five books that will be defended by the Canada Reads 2020 panellists are:
- Akil Augustine defends Radicalized by Cory Doctorow (Tor/Raincoast Books)
- Amanda Brugel defends We Have Always Been Here by Samra Habib (Viking/Penguin Random House Canada)
- George Canyon defends From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle (Simon & Schuster Canada)
- Alayna Fender defends Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club by Megan Gail Coles (House of Anansi Press)
- Kaniehtiio Horn defends Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson (Knopf Canada/Penguin Random House Canada)
For more information, please see the news release.
