On April 2, 2020, internationally renowned Canadian poet, novelist and essayist Margaret Atwood hosted an online literary conversation with Former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson on the National Arts Centre’s Facebook page. This event kicked off a new chapter of #CanadaPerforms, opening up to proposals from professionally published authors, poets, essayists and novelists, who have seen their 2020 spring-summer book tours and launch events cancelled.
Reading books is one of the ways all of us staying at home are able to imagine other worlds, dream, escape and reflect on what we’re all going through. Books are accessible, digital or in print. They can be borrowed and ordered online.
We hope you will enjoy the fiction and non-fiction reading list from Margaret Atwood and The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson.
FICTION
Suggestions from Margaret Atwood:
- Five Little Indians, by Michelle Good, Harper Collins
- Obsidian, A Dreadful Water Mystery, by Thomas King, Harper Collins
- The Baudelaire Fractal, by Lisa Robertson, Coach House Books
- Kill the Mall, by Pasha Malla, Knopf Canada
Suggestions from Adrienne Clarkson:
- Ridgerunner, by Gil Adamson, House of Anansi Press
- The Library of Legends, by Janie Chang, Harper Collins
- Probably Ruby, by Lisa Bird-Wilson, Coteau Books
- Forest Green, by Kate Pullinger, Doubleday Canada
- The Night Piece, Collected Short Fiction, Written by Andre Alexis, McClelland & Stewart
- How to Pronounce Knife, by Souvankham Thammavongsa, McClelland & Stewart
- The Certainties, by Aislinn Hunter, Knopf Canada
NON-FICTION
Suggestions from Margaret Atwood:
- Successful Aging, by Daniel J. Levitin, Allen Lane - Penguin Random House Canada
- Gideon’s Bible, A Father & Son Discuss God, the Bible and Life, by Rick Salutin & Gideon Salutin, illustrated by Duan Petricic, 49th Shelf
Suggestions from Adrienne Clarkson:
- The Skin We're In - A Year of Black Resistance and Power, by Desmond Cole, Doubleday Canada
- Nobody Ever Talks About Anything But the End A Memoir, By Liz Levine, Simon & Schuster
The authors chapter of #CanadaPerforms is made possible through an additional $100,000 contribution from Facebook Canada that will go to published authors hosting online literary events.
Authors who wish to apply can find details here: https://nac-cna.ca/en/canadaperforms/apply
