Hamilton book on ‘Canada Reads’ long list
The 20th edition of the annual book debate will include Gary Barwin’s ‘Yiddish for Pirates’
Hamilton author Gary Barwin’s book “Yiddish for Pirates” has been selected for the long list of the “Canada Reads” 2021 debate, the 20th edition of “Canada Reads,” that will happen between March 8 and 11.
“Canada Reads” annually pits several books playfully against each other for the title of the book that every Canadian should read for the year, with each book being championed in a panel debate by a celebrity defender.
CBC Books will reveal this year’s panellists and the books they choose to speak on Jan. 14.
Barwin, writer of several books of poetry and fiction, was a finalist for both the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Gov. General’s Literary Award for fiction for “Yiddish for Pirates” (Adela Talbot, Vintage Canada). The book won the Leacock Medal for Humour.
It’s a nautical odyssey narrated by a wisecracking, polyglot parrot. The parrot, who now lives in a nursing home in Florida, tells the story of Moishe, a boy who joins a ship’s crew in 1492 and ends up travelling to the Caribbean with Christopher Columbus.
The debates will be on CBC Radio One, CBC TV, CBC Gem, and on CBC Books and they will be hosted by Ali Hassan.
Hassan, an actor, comedian and host of CBC Radios “Laugh Out Loud,” has hosted Canada Reads since 2017. Often a guest host of “As It Happens” and “q” on CBC, he also has recurring TV roles on “Designated Survivor,” “Odd Squad” and “Cardinal.”
“Canada Reads” première in 2002. The first winning book was “In the Skin of a Lion” by Michael Ondaatje, which was defended by musician Steven Page.
Other past winners include Lawrence Hill”s “The Illegal,” defended by Olympian Clara Hughes,and Lisa Moore’s “February,” defended by comedian Trent McClellan.
Last year’s winner was actor Amanda Brugel, defending the memoir “We Have Always Been Here” by Samra Habib. The 2021 long list is: “Yiddish for Pirates,” by Gary Barwin
“All Together Now,” by Alan Doyle
“Butter Honey Pig Bread,” by Francesca Ekwuyasi
“Autopsy of a Boring Wife,” by Marie-Renee Lavoie, translated by Arielle Aaronson
“Two Trees Make a Forest,” by Jessica J. Lee
“Dirty Birds,” by Morgan Murray
“The Lonely Hearts Hotel,” by Heather O’Neill
“The Midnight Bargain,” by C. L. Polk
“Tatouine,” by Jean-Christophe Rehel, translated by Katherine Hastings and Peter McCambridge
“Thunder Through My Veins,” by Gregory Scofield
“Wendy, Master of Art,” by Walter Scott
“You Are Eating an Orange. You Are Naked,” by Sheung-King
“Tilly and the Crazy Eights, by Monique Gray Smith
“Hench,” by Natalie Zina Walschots
“Jonny Appleseed,” by Joshua Whitehead