Canada Reads

Canada Reads 2002 aired from April 16 to 19, 2002. The winning title was announced on April 23, 2002, Canada Book Day. Mary Walsh was the moderator.

Canada Reads 2003 aired from April 21 to 25, 2003. Bill Richardson was the moderator.

Canada Reads 2004 aired on both CBC Radio and CBC Newsworld from February 16 to 20, 2004. Bill Richardson was the moderator.

Canada Reads 2005 was broadcast from February 21 to 25, 2005. Bill Richardson was again the moderator.

Canada Reads 2006 was broadcast from April 17 to 21, 2006. Bill Richardson was again the moderator.

Canada Reads 2007 aired from February 26 to March 2, 2007. Bill Richardson again moderated the competition. For the 2007 competition, each of the five winning advocates from past series returned to champion a new title in an "all-star" edition of the series.

Canada Reads 2008 aired from February 25 to 29, 2008. Jian Ghomeshi moderated the competition.

Canada Reads 2009 aired from March 2 to 6, 2009. Jian Ghomeshi moderated the competition.

Canada Reads 2010 aired from March 8 to 12, 2010. Jian Ghomeshi moderated the competition.

Canada Reads 2011 aired from February 7 to 10, 2011. The producers announced a slightly different format for the 2011 contest. Throughout the month of October 2010, an online vote was held to determine the books that listeners consider the 40 "most essential" Canadian novels of the past decade, and the panelists made their choices from within that list. Only novels, not short story collections, were eligible; however, novels which have previously been included in a Canada Reads competition were still eligible for renomination.[6]

The books for this edition were all non-fiction. A list of 40 non-fiction books were announced as being the shortlist finalists in October 2011,[7] including And No Birds Sang by Farley Mowat, Shake Hands with the Devil by Romeo Dallaire, The Last Spike by Pierre Berton, The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs, and Paris 1919 by Margaret MacMillan. Listeners could vote on up to five books they wanted to be shortlisted.[8] The debates aired from February 6 to 9, 2012. Jian Ghomeshi moderated the competition.

On the first day of discussions, panelist Anne-France Goldwater "caused shock and outrage among literary types" (according to The Globe and Mail) by calling Carmen Aguirre "a bloody terrorist" and alleging that Marina Nemat "tells a story that's not true".[9][10] In response, Marina Nemat posted on Facebook, "I hope [Goldwater] can produce evidence to back up her claims. If not, I would like to receive a public apology from her."[11] Nemat's Prisoner of Tehran was the first voted off, with Stacey McKenzie casting a tie-breaking vote.[12] Arlene Dickinson (the panelist defending Prisoner of Tehran) called McKenzie's vote "the wrong choice for the wrong reason".[12]

The theme for 2013 was "Turf Wars", with the advocates and titles chosen to each represent one of Canada's major geographic regions (British Columbia, the Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces). Books and panelists for 2013 were revealed on November 29, 2012 on Q. The debates ran from February 11 to 14, 2013.

The theme for this year was "A Novel to Change Our Nation." Books and panelists were revealed on November 27, 2013 on Q. Jian Ghomeshi moderated the competition.[13]

The 2015 edition of Canada Reads was moderated by Wab Kinew, with the theme of the discussions being "One Book to Break Barriers".[14] Panelists and titles were announced on January 20, 2015, with the debates taking place from March 16 to 19.

The 2016 edition of Canada Reads was moderated by Gill Deacon, and conducted on theme of "Starting Over". Panelists and titles were announced on January 20, 2016, with the debates taking place from March 21 to 24.

The 2017 edition of Canada Reads was moderated by Ali Hassan, on the theme of "The Book Canadians Need Now". Panelists and titles were announced on January 31, 2017, and the debates took place from March 27 to 30.

Note: Tamara Taylor was originally announced as advocate for Company Town but had to withdraw due to a conflict with the filming schedule of her Netflix series Altered Carbon. Measha Brueggergosman was announced as Taylor's replacement on March 9, 2017.[15]

The 2018 edition of Canada Reads was moderated by Ali Hassan, on the theme of "One Book to Open Your Eyes". Panelists and titles were announced on January 30, 2018, and the debates took place from March 26 to 29.

The 2019 edition of Canada Reads was moderated by Ali Hassan on the theme "One Book to Move You". The books and panelists were announced on January 31, 2019, with the debates taking place from March 25 to 28.[16]

The 2020 edition of Canada Reads was moderated by Ali Hassan on the theme "One Book to Bring Canada into Focus". The books and panelists were announced on January 22, 2020. The debates were originally slated to take place from March 16 to 19; however, as the debates normally take place in a theatre in front of a live audience, they were postponed to a later date in light of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.[17] In the interim, the CBC produced a series of five specials, one profiling each of the five nominated books through interviews with both the writer and the advocate, to air in place of the original debates.

In July, it was announced that the debates would take place in the week of July 20 to 23.[18]

The 2021 debates will take place in the week of March 8 to 11, 2021, moderated by Ali Hassan on the theme of "One Book to Transport Us".[19]

Radio-Canada, the French-language service of CBC, aired a French version of Canada Reads, entitled Le combat des livres ("Battle of the Books"), from March 29 to April 2, 2004. It was moderated by Marie-France Bazzo.

The 2005 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from March 14 to March 18, 2005. It was moderated by Marie-France Bazzo.

The 2006 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from January 30 to February 3. It was moderated by Marie-France Bazzo.

The 2007 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from February 26 to March 2 and was moderated by Christiane Charette.

The 2008 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from February 25 to February 29 and was once again chaired by Christiane Charette.

The 2009 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from March 23 to 27, and was once again chaired by Christiane Charette.

The 2010 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from March 22 to 26. Christiane Charette moderated.

The 2011 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from March 14 to 18. Christiane Charette moderated.

Beginning in 2012, the production and broadcast of Le Combat des livres was transferred from Charette's program to the network's new literature show Plus on est de fous, plus on lit!, hosted by Marie-Louise Arsenault.

The 2013 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from March 18 to 22. Marie-Louise Arsenault moderated. It was an all star season featuring previous winners.[20]

The 2014 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from March 31 to April 3. Marie-Louise Arsenault moderated.

The 2018 edition of Le Combat des livres, the first time the show has aired since 2014, ran from May 7 to 11, 2018.[2] Marie-Louise Arsenault moderated. The books were selected to represent the regions of Canada, with one book representing each of Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, Western Canada and the Indigenous peoples of Canada.[2]

The 2019 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from May 6 to 10, 2019, with Marie-Louise Arsenault moderating. The books were selected on the same theme of regional representation as the 2018 edition, with one book selected to represent each of Canada's four major geographic regions and one book selected to represent indigenous literature.