Canadian Author Challenge 2016 - Planning Thread

By popular demand, we'll be having a Canadian Authors challenge in 2016, and I've taken it upon myself to organize it (my name is Ilana, for those of you who don't know me yet). Both members of the 75ers and non-members are invited to participate. Like most of these reading challenges, there is no obligation to read all the authors or participate every month. Feel free to dip in and out as you wish.

After polling your opinions for a few days, I've come up with the following list, which I think it's a good one. We'll get a good sampling of coast-to-coast Canadian literature, from both "Old Stock Canadians" (to borrow Stephen Harper's most unfortunate expression) as well as immigrant voices, with a near half and half break between men and women, and a majority of living authors. I might get criticized for a preference for literary fiction and for many other reasons besides, but I believe the following list would make for a solid first edition of the CAC, as I hope many of your will agree. I've tried to pair older established authors with emerging new voices (in some cases), and also to make sure at least one of the two authors each month is more easily accessible in libraries around the globe (or so I hope).

January: Robertson Davies, Kim Thúy

February: Helen Humphreys, Stephen Leacock

March: Farley Mowat, Anita Rau Badami

April: Margaret Atwood, Michael Crummey

May: Michel Tremblay, Emily St. John Mandel

June: Timothy Findley, Joseph Boyden

July: LM Montgomery, Pierre Berton

August: Mordechai Richler, Gabrielle Roy

September: Miriam Toews, Dany Laferrière

October: Lawrence Hill, Jane Urquhart

November: Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Laurence

December: Alice Munro, Rawi Hage

Some suggestions and comments from Paul, lifted from his thread:

Rohinton Mistry - A Fine Balance, I would probably select as the best novel written in my lifetime - where the heck is he by the way?

M.G. Vassanji - The In-Between World of Vikram Lall is very good.

Robertson Davies - The Fifth Business is indeed the business.

Alice Munro - pretty much any of her short stories.

Margaret Atwood - I really enjoyed Alias Grace

Brian Moore - The Colour of Blood ought to have won the Booker.

Carol Shields - deservedly won acclaim for The Stone Diaries

As well I would like to read Gil Adamson, Andre Alexis, Joseph Boyden, Timothy Findley, Rawi Hage, Helen Humphries, Wayne Johnston, Guy Gavriel Kay, Alistair MacLeod, Yann Martel, Michael Ondaatje, Mordechai Richler, Gabrielle Roy, Dan Vyleta and many others I am sure.

Some suggestions from Lori (lkernagh), also lifted from Paul's thread:

Nice list, Paul! Some good choices that would also be on my list, such as Robertson Davies, Timothy Findley, Michael Ondaatje, Carol Shields, Helen Humphries and Gabrielle Roy. I would replace Margaret Atwood with Margaret Laurence and I would add David Adams Richards and Michael Crummey. There are stacks more, but that is the 'off the top of my head' list. ;-)

I will have to look through my tbr to help me make suggestions of my own, but I'd like to right away cast a third vote for Robertson Davies as he is one of my all-time favourite Canadian authors and seems to be generally well-liked. I would also suggest leaving Margaret Atwood out of this particular challenge; while she is also one of my favourites, Mark already has an Atwood April going every year, which I think serves the purpose beautifully and we could then leave that spot open for an equally deserving author.

Authors already proposed I'm eager to read:

Joseph Boyden - has met with much acclaim. I would read Through Black Spruce as it's been on the tbr for ages. I know Suzanne (Chatterbox) is quite a fan of his.

Michael Crummey's Galore has received many awards and accolades and seems well-liked among our community, though he has other titles to choose from as well.

Timothy Findley: his most popular books seems to be The Wars, which won the Governor General's Award in 1977. I would read The Piano Man's Daughter, which was shortlisted for a Giller Prize in 1995 and also been on my stacks for many years.

Guy Gavriel Kay seems like a good idea to throw in some fantasy into the mix.

Helen Humphries might prove a popular choice, for those who have already read Coventry, there are several other titles to choose from, including The Frozen Thames which met with many positive reviews among our group members last year.

Margaret Laurence came to my attention fairly recently, and her The Stone Angel came highly recommended and is furthermore part of a cycle of books which all seem to be well-loved on LT.

Rohinton Mistry seems like an obvious choice to include. For those who have already read his Booker Prize Shortlisted A Fine Balance, there are many other great titles to choose from, such as Family Matters, Such a Long Journey and Tales from Firozsha Baag.

Alice Munro - a great short story writer and good to read for those who want to cover Nobel Prize winners.

Michael Ondaatje for his English Patient and beyond. I would probably pick up In the Skin of a Lion or Cat's Table, having read TEP recently.

David Adams Richards's Mercy Among the Children won the Giller Prize and was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award in 2000.

Mordechai Richler writes wonderfully about Montreal. I strongly suggest Barney's Version and would probably read some of his older classics, such as The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.

Gabrielle Roy is a great suggestion for some French Canadian content. The Tin Flute / Bonheur d'occasion is a great classic here in Quebec and mostly takes place in my current neighbourhood of St-Henri, when it was inhabited mostly by poor French Canadians with large families. It won the prestigious Prix Femina in Paris in 1947.

M.G. Vassanji is a recipient of the Order of Canada, and his The In-Between World of Vikram Lall received the Giller prize in 2003, while The Book of Secrets won the Giller in 1994.

***

Thoughts? Please share away!

Wow! This looks really interesting! You go, you Canadians! Onward.

Heather O'Neill- love her books!

I've read some books by Cathy Spencer. Love her.

I really liked The Book of Secrets when I read it two or three years ago and I'd like to read more of MG. Vassanji's works. I've liked but not loved the two novels I've read by Carol Shields. Other authors I'm eager to try are Alice Munro, Margaret Laurence, Michael Ondaatje, and Gabrielle Roy. Some I'm interested in that haven't yet been suggested are Giles Blunt, Jane Urquhart, Elizabeth Hay, Malcolm Gladwell, Pierre Berton, Emily Carr, and L.M. Montgomery.

I would suggest embracing the Atwood April month in the first year. It would keep at least some participants from having to choose between Atwood and whoever else might be the Canadian author for April, and it might draw in new participants who weren't already aware of the challenge.

>8 cbl_tn: Sounds like a good compromise

How about Mavis Gallant and Miriam Toews?

CAC sounds really good. I see several authors here whose books I have in my TBR piles. I have a bunch of Louise Penny books there as well. Can she go onto the possibles list?

I'm definitely interesting in reading more Canadian literature. I have greatly enjoyed Alice Munro, have A Fine Balance on my tbr pile forever, and would recommend adding Howard Norman to the list of possibles. I know he is technically an American, but "After dropping out of high school, Norman moved to Toronto. Working in Manitoba on a fire crew with Cree Indians, Norman became fascinated with their folkstories and culture. He spent the next sixteen years living and writing in Canada, including the Hudson Bay area and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador." (Wikipedia) I think it possible to stretch the definition of Canadian, since he wrote so much about the land and its native people. Furthermore, I have it from his own mouth that he he holds dual citizenship, and considers himself Canadian. I met Mr. Norman at a book festival in 2009. When I mentioned that many people are surprised to learn that he is not Canadian, he said "Oh, but I AM." Good enough for me. He belongs in one of our challenges somewhere, because his writing is superb.

A quick vote for Michael Ondaaje who is wonderful. Also Anne Michaels because of Fugitive Pieces.

Oh great, some feedback already!

>5 maggie1944: Thanks Maggie. Of course the challenge is open to readers of all nationalities, goes without saying!

>6 torontoc: Heather O'Neill is a great suggestion! I've had Lullabies for Little Criminals in the stack for wayyyy too long, and The Girl Who Was Saturday Night is also intriguing; like Lullabies, it also received many accolades.

>7 Ameise1: Hi Barbara, Cathy Spencer is new to me, but if she garners more interest we will definitely consider her as an option for the CAC.

>8 cbl_tn: Thanks for some great comments and suggestions Carrie. I'm glad to see you interested in some of the names that have been put forward already. I've yet to pick up anything by MG Vassanji and feel his time should come sooner than later, at least in my personal reading choices. I'm familiar with Giles Blunt by name, but that's about it, however reading his short bio on the author page has made me curious to find out more! I've got Jane Urquhart's The Stone Carvers on the wishlist and wouldn't mind an added incentive to pick her up.

eta: Carrie, sorry, I did mean to address you suggestion that we embrace Atwood April in our challenge. I think it's a good idea and might work for the reasons you bring up. I'd be curious to know what other potential participants think about it?

>9 elkiedee: Two other great suggestions Luci, and two more authors I've yet to discover though I've been meaning to for ages.

>10 Fourpawz2: Hi Charlotte! Happy to see you here. Of course Louise Penny would be as deserving as others to be at the very least considered since she is popular among so many folks here, and it would be fun to mix a bit of crime fiction into the mix as well. It already looks like we might get enough suggestions to run the challenge for a couple of years... or maybe double up like Paul does to give people more options to choose from?

>11 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks Linda for brining up Howard Norman. Another new-to-me author, and I do see on his LT page that both Canadian and American citizenships are listed, so I see no reason why he shouldn't also be included in our list for consideration.

>12 charl08: We can definitely add Anne Michaels to the maybes list, Charlotte. I wonder, are her other books much read? I'd love to make room for Fugitive Pieces sometime.

***

Just as a general note, I thought I should maybe start a complete list of authors suggested on this thread, but LT already does that for us, since whenever the author touchstones are activated, they automatically show up in a list on the right-hand column. So for anyone wanting to weigh in on suggested authors, do have a look to see what might appeal to you among those!

I love Guy Gavril Kay and think he should be one of the featured authors.

I agree with you on leaving Atwood out of this mix or you could roll the Atwood April read into this read. I generally try to read an Atwood for April due to the influence of LT so incorporating it here wouldn't bother me at all.

Yippppeeeeeee!

I saw Louise Penny mentioned and remembered that I have really liked the Giles Blunt books over the years.

Another advantage by persuading you into the mix Ilana would be, I would have thought, to open up a little on that part of the population of French Canadians. Haven't read any but I have seen books recently plugged by Jacques Poulin and Denis Theriault and I would have thought that one month might include them, non?

Non-fiction - the late John Kenneth Galbraith?

I am sure that you'll choose wisely.

I love the idea of adding Mavis Gallant to the mix.

Why not have a crime author of the reader's choice one month? Louise Penny, Giles Blunt -- there are others, too. Could do the same for non-fiction -- that would enable people to read Pierre Berton's history books, too, or various and sundry biographies, narrative non-fiction books, etc. Could do that in addition to an author of the month -- a themed read. One could be poetry (Atwood is a notable poet as well.)

Gabrielle Roy is French Canadian, Paul, and Mordecai Richler writes about Montreal.

I'd love to see some cross-Canada representation -- some from the West, including Vancouver/BC, and from the Maritimes (including possibly Linden Macintyre's books).

^Nice job, Ilana! I was hoping someone would set up a CAC. You did a terrific job, with the Steinbeckathon, which inspired the AAC, so I can see this being a success too.

We are going to be hopping with the Author Challenges next year! Hopefully, many of these authors will be on our VAST TBR shelves!

I am a big Atwood fan and she is a Canadian treasure, so I say give her the April spot and I won't bother with the AA, for next year. God knows, I still have plenty of hers to read.

Speaking of Canadian treasures, you will have to include Munro! So...Munro March...or Munro May??

I have plenty of Munro on shelf too!

We appear to be missing:

Robertson Davies
Louis Hemon (for French Canadian -- Maria Chapdelaine)
Marie-Claire Blais
Geraldine MacEwen (poetry)
Frances Itani
Stephen Leacock (humorist; fiction -- an annual humor writing award is named in his honor)
Sinclair Ross
WP Kinsella
Jane Urquhart
Guy Vanderhaege
WO Mitchell
Farley Mowat

Did anyone throw in Michael Ondaatje?

ETA: Something to ponder: http://news.nationalpost.com/arts/books/ten-authors-you-have-to-read-if-youre-a-...

And I think this is a great list: http://qwiklit.com/2013/05/25/the-great-write-north-25-classic-canadian-novels/

Thanks so much for doing this, Ilana!

I saw this post earlier and started putting together a list of authors. I'm thrilled to see many are included above now.

Alice Munro
Margaret Atwood
Jacques Poulin
Joseph Boyden
Carol Shields
Alistair MacLeod
Jane Urquhart
Robertson Davies
Wayne Johnston
Michael Crummey
Helen Humphreys
Elizabeth Hay
Lucy Maud Montgomery
Miriam Toews
Michael Ondaatje
Lawrence Hill
Giles Blunt
Farley Mowat
Ann-Marie MacDonald

The have books of the first 10 authors on my shelf, just waiting to be read, but I know, for instance Poulin, does not have a large oeuvre, so maybe he wouldn't work. I love Louise Penny, but she just (just!) has the one series that may be off-putting to some.

Looking forward to seeing how this shakes out!

>20 Chatterbox: Robertson Davies was mentioned in >2 Smiler69: , >3 Smiler69: and >4 Smiler69: above...but Farley Mowat...Yes!

One suggestion that's a bit out of the box: Charles de Lint. Great, great fantasy writer.

Very happy to see the thread up and the great suggestions already appearing! YAY!!!!!

Lots of awesome suggestions. Please do keep in mind we can by all means keep this challenge going the following year if there is enough interest. It'll be hard making final choices, so I'll let the discussion and suggestions come in, and it would be helpful if people weighed-in on authors already suggested by others, i.e. if you especially want to see an author featured, and he/she has already been listed DO add you two cents!

It looks like it might be a good idea to take over Atwood April for several reasons some of you have brought up, and of course, with Mark's blessing, so our first author is chosen: we've got Margaret Atwood picked for April 2016. I couldn't be happier as I have loads of her books on the stacks, including the last two books in the MaddAddam trilogy.

And since I and several others seem to think Robertson Davies is a must, that makes two of our authors picked for the CAC so far:

January: Robertson Davies (I've arbitrarily decided we should start the year with him since some people might want to read more of his work over the year*)

April: Margaret Atwood

Just 10 more spots to fill... unless we run a pair each month, such as male/female (as with the BAC) or fiction/other genre (as suggested by Suzanne).

Too knackered to make other comments right now, so I'll be back with more responses tomorrow.

eta: *of course, this could be argued about any of the chosen authors, but he has several trilogies that are well-worth plunging into.

>25 Smiler69: Perfect! I was thinking of reading Fifth Business in January.

Yay Ilana! Thanks for doing this. I'll read The Manticore in January.

I have few ideas about great Canadian authors, but perhaps less well known.

Wayson Choy The Jade Peony, All That Matters. He writes about the Chinese experience back in the early 1920's etc when people had to have ' paper wives" and the prejudice against Chinese people when they first immigrated to Canada. He has won several prizes.

Anita Rau Badami She has written several books about the South Indian immigrant experience as well as life in India. Really an excellent author. Books - The Hero's Walk, Tamarind Mem, Can You Hear the Nightbird Call?, Tell it to The Trees.

I'd also suggest David Bergen. He has written a diverse number of Can Lit books and won prizes. A few of his books Leaving Tomorrow, The Time In Between, The Matter with Morris, The Age of Hope.

Thanks so much for leading this, Ilana! I'd be thinking of it, but was scared to take the lead. Good for you! I had in mind maybe two authors per month, so that people can see what is available to them / what suits them. Maybe a well known Canadian author and a lesser known author? We sure have a lot to chose from. Great suggestions so far!I'm in!

I'm throwing out one more Canadian author who is a favorite of mine - Stuart McLean of Vinyl Cafe fame. He's a great humorist.

Another quintessential Canadian author I haven't seen mentioned is Douglas Coupland. His subjects are serious, but there is also a very humorous element to them. We could pair him with someone like Rohiton Mistry, who isn't funny at all.

>31 Nickelini: I was going to suggest Coupland as well. Another writer I like is Timothy Taylor. And what about Miriam Toews?

>31 Nickelini: Good idea, Joyce. I was thinking along the likes of combining a popular Canadian author with a less well know author. Sure, Douglas Coupland

How about Alistair MacLeod and, if there is non-fiction in the mix, Ken McGoogan. I am eyeing McGoogan's Celtic Lightning: How the Scots and the Irish Created a Canadian Nation which followed me home from the bookstore today. Can't wait to dive in. I see that Atwood has been chosen for April. Will there be alternate authors or just the one author for the month?

Hahaha see Ilana, I did tell you that there was a market for this!
You have a little thinking to do when you have caught up on your sleep on the format to use (1 or 2 or mixed genres or whatever). I am happy to place myself in your capable hands in this regard. I do like the fact that the way the other challenges have operated have been varied.

Mark's original one (AAC) has one solid pick every month. Mark canvasses views generally and then agonises manfully to produce the list.

The BAC challenge gives a male and a female option every month and is beset by my elements of theatricality in the selection process which is actually a thinly veiled veneer to slightly cover up that I am hopeless at making up my mind! So I shortlist three women and three men per month (usually of a similiar style or background or period), we debate a bit and then I try to glean the consensus to downselect. I have fun doing it but it is time-consuming and I do a fair bit of research such that the choices don't lead me into the realm of buffoonery.

Jacqui bravely stepped forward this year with an ANZAC challenge and her method was to have one Aussie and one Kiwi every month to choose betwwen.

For your CAC you can adopt a tested method or I am sure there are still further ways of skinning cats!

Thanks for setting this up, my dear.

I like the idea of pairing a "classic" Canadian author -- Robertson Davies, Atwood, Laurence, Munro, the staples of CanLit -- with someone who isn't part of the canon yet, or who is more "popular", eg Coupland, or Miriam Toews or any of the several other names added above. There could be an extra option each month: a book of Canadian history; Canadian poetry; Canadian humor (Leacock, Terry Fallis, Stuart McLean); mysteries; drama; etc., with the reader choosing whatever book fits into that category -- that freedom might mean fewer shared reads, but at the same time, give us all exposure to more books? (For instance, now Justin Trudeau is PM, I've resolved to finally break down and read the two volume bio of his father...) That might gave this author challenge a bit of a twist from the way it has been done up to now? Just a thought...

Yay, another challenge! :)
I starred this thread with all the best intentions for next year, but after my embarrassing non-presence in all author challenges and on LT in general this year since March I'll just watch and then in 2016 hopefully read what has been selected.

>19 msf59: I adore that picture! So sweet, and classy, and lovely.

If you want people to cast votes,

I'll pick

Helen Humphreys have already read one or two of her books
Lawrence Hill have read one of his books and I'm keen on him
Farley Mowat have read couple of his books , lots more to read
Elizabeth Hay have not read any of her works, but am keen to try
MG. Vassanji have not read any of his books, , but I'm keen to try

and my others >28 vancouverdeb:

Carol Shields read one by her

Like >36 Chatterbox:, I like the idea of pairing two a month - maybe one less known author with a well known author/ or a serious author with lighter author

With the caveat that I'm really no good at following through on reading plans, these authors piqued my interest:

Helen Humphreys
Rohinton Minstry
Alastair MacLeod
Michael Ondaatje
Robertson Davies
Margaret Atwood (I like the idea of tying this to the Atwood April read)
Louise Penny - although this group is already such a fan of Louise Penny's books I wonder if most people will have read all of them?
Guy Gavriel Kay
L. M. Montgomery
Jane Urquhart
Charles de Lint
Anne Michaels
Ann Marie MacDonald

For those who plan to join this author challenge next year, I would like to mention a quiet little challenge group called Canadian Fiction/Non-Fiction Reading Challenge - basically, read a book for each province. An easy way to complete two challenges in a year.

Chiming in to said that I also like the idea of pairing a "classic" author with a "popular" one each month.

Didn't have a clue until today that the author of one of my favorite novels is Canadian. Born in BC, now lives in Portland.

The author is Patrick deWitt.

The novel is The Sisters Brothers.

Other books by him: Ablutions and the new one, Undermajordomo Minor.

>41 countrylife: I like the idea of reading a book per province/territory, but in practice... the Yukon/Nunavut/NWT will have few contenders (and PEI may only have LM Montgomery!) while Ontario and Quebec will be awash with great authors that many of us will want to read. Might be fun to have a "regional" challenge in one of the months...

Yes, Patrick deWitt is Canadian, though he's one of those authors I often forget is, since he doesn't live there and hasn't really set much of the work he's done (that I have read, at least) in Canadian settings. But then neither has Michael Ondaatje, or Guy Gavriel Kay!

But then neither has Michael Ondaatje, or Guy Gavriel Kay!

Or Rohiton Mistry, or Helen Humphreys, or . . . I could go on.

So many great comments and suggestions! I've just spent the last hour or two tabulating your suggestions so far, looking up bibliographies, reading articles... time well spent. I was already painfully aware I didn't read enough Canadian lit, but it so rewarding already having my list of authors so much enriched and expanded! I need to take my dear Coco out for a walk asap, so will keep comments short right now, though I'm dying to respond to each and every comment... but later for that. For now, I'd just like to share the results I've garnered so far. Authors which are clearly favourites, with three or more votes are (in the order in which they appeared on the thread):

Rohinton Mistry
MG Vassanji
Robertson Davies (our first January pick)
Alice Munro
Margaret Atwood (our "Atwood April" pick)
Carol Shields
Joseph Boyden
Timothy Findley
Helen Humphries
Guy Gavriel Kay
Alistair MacLeod
Michael Ondaatje
Mordechai Richler (gets two votes from me!)
Gabrielle Roy
Margaret Laurence
Michael Crummey
Giles Blunt
Jane Urquhart
Elizabeth Hay
LM Montgomery
Miriam Toews
Louise Penny
Farley Mowat
Lawrence Hill
Douglas Coupland

It's already quite evident that two authors per month is the way to go at this point, since I've left off many great authors mentioned on this thread which I think deserve our attention. All this to say, keep the suggestions coming in and DO clearly identify your favourites, as I do want to make this a democratic choice as much as is possible. I will of course weight in, as I do intend to read from my tbr as much as possible, which is certainly not lacking in Canadian authors as it is, but will be all too happy to discover new-to-me authors of course.

I haven't even had a chance to look up my above-mentioned tbr and provide my own list of options, but some of you have named authors I'd forgotten were already in that vast collection!

I try to read one of the BAC per month as that is about what I can manage. I would try to do the same with the CAN list as well.

I vote for the following:

Guy Gavril Kay
Helen Humphries
MIchael ondaatje (I haven't read anything by him)
Louise Penny
LM Montgomery (I haven't read anything by her including her most famous works.)
Jospeh Boyden
Miriam Toews

The others are authors with which I am not familiar so will leave those picks to others.

My faves:

I'd love to see

Mordecai Richler
Mavis Gallant
Margaret Laurence
Hugh MacLennan (Two Solitudes fame...)
Marie-Claire Blais or Jacques Poulin (we need more francophone writers!!)
Timothy Taylor (because I really want to read Stanley Park)
Guy Vanderhaege (to boost Western Canadian representation...)
Thomas King (aboriginal/First Nations)

I'm neutral on Louise Penny, simply because so many of us have read so many of her books already. It would be easy to slot one in here for late in 2016 and read the next Gamache/Three Pines book, but more fun to discover a new author, mebbe? Yes, she's good, but she feels to me like a mystery author who happens to be Canadian. If doing mysteries, then Maureen Jennings' Inspector Murdoch mysteries, set in late Victorian Toronto, might be an intriguing option -- and new to almost everyone.

Thanks for setting this up, Ilana. I don't know how often I will be able to participate, but the following authors would certainly grab my attention:

Rohinton Minstry
Joseph Boyden
Timothy Findley
Giles Blunt
Guy Gavriel Kay
Guy Vanderhaege
Margaret Lawrence
Helen Humphreys
Heather O'Neill
Louise Penny

Some authors in my tbr worth considering:

Austin Clarke
Emma Donoghue - she's Irish-Canadian and I'm surprised she hasn't been named yet!
Steven Galloway
William Gibson
Vincent Lam
Lori Lansens
Ruth Ozeki
Tom Rachman
Arthur Slade (mostly YA)
Kim Thúy (great option for French writer of Vietnamese origin)
Richard B. Wright

Others seen in articles provided by Suz:

Thomas King (Native American)
Robert Kroetsch
Eden Robinson

...

An hour or more has passed since I typed the above. I've just have a very long and fruitful conversation with my bf Pierre, who is very much French Canadian (as a separatist, he'd insist on being called a Québécois), and owns a book about influential Québécois artists and writers (not to show off, but one of his paintings is included in said book (it's called Anthologie de la littérature québécoise by Serge Provencher for those interested).

Here are some influential French Canadian/Québecois authors for condsideration

Dany Laferrière (born Windsor Kléber Laferrière, 13 April 1953) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dany_Laferrière, is a Haitian Canadian novelist and journalist who writes in French (and has been translated into English, among many other languages). He was elected to the Académie française on 12 December 2013, and inducted this year, in May 2015. I would put in a double vote that we include him among our 24 authors this year in honour of his recent induction.

Réjean Ducharme (born August 12, 1941) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Réjean_Ducharme, is a Quebec novelist and playwright who currently resides in Montreal. He is known for his reclusive personality and has not appeared at any public functions since his first successful book was published in 1966. A common theme of his early work is the rejection of the adult world by children. Ducharme's L'Avalée des avalés / The Swallower Swallowed was chosen for inclusion in the French version of Canada Reads, broadcast on Radio-Canada in 2005 and won the Governor General's Literary Award (Poetry, 1966).

Michel Tremblay (born 25 June 1942) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Tremblay, was born in Montreal, Quebec, where he grew up in the French-speaking neighbourhood of Plateau Mont-Royal, at the time of his birth a neighbourhood with a working-class character and joual dialect, something that would heavily influence his work. He has been openly gay throughout his public life, and he has written many novels; La Duchesse et le roturier (The Duchess and the Commoner), La nuit des princes charmants (Some Night My Prince Will Come), Le Coeur découvert (The Heart Laid Bare), Le Coeur éclaté (The Heart Broken) and plays centred on gay characters. his work has been translated into many languages, including Yiddish, and including such works as Sainte-Carmen de la Main (Sainte-Carmen of the Main), Ç'ta ton tour, Laura Cadieux (It's Your Turn, Laura Cadieux), and Forever Yours, Marilou (À toi pour toujours, ta Marie-Lou). Needless to say, I think he is an essential French-Candian author to include this year.

Claude Gauvreau August 19, 1925 – July 7, 1971 in Montreal, Quebec) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Gauvreau, was a québécois playwright, poet, sound poet and polemicist. He was a member of the radical Automatist movement and a contributor to the revolutionary Refus Global Manifesto. Some of his works available in English translation are The Charge of the Expormidable Moose (La charge de l'orignal épormyable), Entrails (Entrailles) and The Lucid Clusters: Poetics of Claude Gauvreau (translated, and with an introduction by, Ray Ellenwood)

Anne Hébert (August 1, 1916 – January 22, 2000) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Hébert, was a Canadian author and poet. She won Canada's top literary honor, the Governor General's Award, three times, twice for fiction and once for poetry. Her novels include Kamouraska In the Shadow of the Wind (Les fous de Bassan) , and The First Garden (Le premier jardin). As a woman who's writings are widely available (or so I should imagine) in translation, I would wish to include her this year also.

Émile Nelligan (December 24, 1879 – November 18, 1941) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Émile_Nelligan, was a francophone poet from Quebec, Canada. Several schools and libraries of Quebec bear the name of Émile Nelligan. Since 1979 the Prix Émile-Nelligan has rewarded the authors of a French-language poetry book written by a young poet in North America. His works available in translation are Selected Poems - 1960 (translated by P. F. Widdows) and The Complete Poems of Emile Nelligan.

Robert Lepage (born December 12, 1957) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Lepage, is a playwright, actor, film director, and stage director, one of Canada's most honoured theatre artists. His plays have been adapted into many languages, such as Le Dragon bleu (The Blue Dragon) and Le Projet Andersen (The Andersen Project) and some have been adapted to film, such as La Face cachée de la lune (The Far Side of the Moon).

Others which I will provide more information about after dinner and rest:

Jacques Godbout
Nelly Arcan
Jacques Ferron
Bryan Perro (YA fiction)
Wajdi Mouawad (French Canadian Lebanese playwright)
Gaston Miron (playwright and important Québécois figure).

I totally second Michel Tremblay! His The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant is a wonderful read with just a little dash of magical realism. Francois Gravel is another one that I would love to recommend, but I don't know how accessible his books are outside of Canada. His Fillion Family trilogy was an excellent read for me but I appear to be the only person on LT to read/own/wishlist the first two books from that trilogy. ;(

I would also like to second (or third) the previous mention of Jacques Poulin.

>46 Smiler69: & >51 lkernagh: Lori is right, dear Ilana Jacques Poulin has been mentioned lots of times!

Interested to see your comment about Donoghue. The same would apply to Jo Walton to of course who holds a Canadian passport too despite being as welsh as the daffodil. I don't see why they shouldn't be considered; Brian Moore too.

I will of course try to read whoever you choose. The Manticore is already being re-assured about its usage in January.

This is fun!!

Sorry I haven't responded to individual comments since post #14, but please know, each and every one of you that I've read all your comments very closely and made notes and definitely letting your voices weigh in the balance. Ultimately, there will be some "executive decisions" to make since of course there is a limited amount of spots and a wealth of great authors to choose from. I'll try my best to make allowances for a variety of tastes, but if I don't end up choosing a particular author, he or she might end up making the cut for the next round, if there is interest again for an CAC in 2017... just saying, because I'm getting a bit nervous about making final choices. Atwood and Robertson and many of the "established" authors seem like evident choices, but we'll see how it goes and I'll just follow my intuition and hope I hit everyone's soft spot one way or another. :-)

Before I sign off for the night:

According to my tabulations so far, a number of authors have become likely choices as far as "established" authors, with five or more nominations each. Here they are by order of number of votes I've counted so far (including my vote):

Helen Humphreys (8) (I and others mistakenly spelled her name "Humphries")
Michael Ondaatje (8)
Giles Blunt (6)
Alice Munro (5)
Farley Mowat (5)
Louise Penny (5)
Miriam Toews (5)
Jane Urquhart (5)

Some likely contenders

4 suggestions each so far:

Carol Shields (4.5)
Timothy Findley
Guy Gavriel Kay
Margaret Laurence
Alistair MacLeod
LM Montgomery
Jacques Poulin
Gabrielle Roy

3 suggestions each so far:
Douglas Coupland
Michael Crummey
Elizabeth Hay
Lawrence Hill
Heather O'Neill
Mordechai Richler
MG Vassanji

As I've said before, I will use a democratic method to choose the final authors list as far as possible, but ultimately will have to make some harder choices to ensure lesser-read authors (for example, Québécois authors) also make the cut.

eta: had forgotten to add Coupland and Vassanji in the count. Fixed.

Is Gil Adamson Canadian? If so I have been wanting to read Outlander for some time.

Ilana, I totally understand that you need to make your own executive decisions and I thank you for taking on the challenge, but one concern I have is actually finding a copy of some of the lesser known authors, or authors who have only written one book.

>55 benitastrnad: Yes she is Benita, I'll add her to the list of possibilities

>56 vancouverdeb: That is something which needs to be considered of course, Deborah. I'll try my best to include authors who are available to most, but as there will be two authors for each month to give more choices, there may be a few in there which might not be so readily-available, but only paired with authors which are. Do you think that would be acceptable?

***

Ok, my sweetie is waiting for our late night tea, so I'll be back tomorrow. Happy discussion!

>57 Smiler69: That sounds perfect, Ilana . Two books a month allows for plenty of choice! Once again , thank you for taking on the organizing of this, which is a lot of work.

I'd also toss a vote in favor of Dany Laferriere and Anne Hebert, whose Kamouraska is rather iconic. Very different writers, but both very quebecois. (sorry don't want to fuss around finding my accents aigu tonight...)

Yes, a few authors have fewer works, or only one work. For instance, Alistair MacLeod, I think has one novel and one published short story collection, so folks who've read those already will either re-read or not participate.

Remember, though, that many of these books will find there way into paperback swap, and that Amazon Canada has cheap copies available, too.

I didn't mention Emma Donoghue because I don't really see her as a Canadian novelist, any more than I really see Eleanor Catton as a Canadian novelist. Technically, sure, as in they would be eligible for a GG or the Giller, but in terms of identity, even? There are plenty of of immigrant writers, like Rawi Hage (a name that hasn't been mentioned yet!) who I'd consider more "Canadian".

So, I'll toss Hage's name into the mix. Born in Lebanon, author of Cockroach and Carnival.

>59 Chatterbox: I did mention him in passing Suz and Rawi Hage is someone I would like to get to soon. I had the same issue with the BAC in respect of someone like VS Naipaul who may be a British citizen but is someone I associate with Trinidad.

Add my vote to Alice Munro. I loved the short story collection of hers that I read and I have a couple more that I want to get to. Who am I kidding? I want to read everything she wrote and one day I will. ;-)

Ok, taking some time to respond to your individual messages this morning:

>15 benitastrnad: It looks very much like Guy Gavriel Kay will make the cut Benita, considering he's already had quite a few votes. As for Margaret Atwood, I guess it would have been unthinkable not to include her in the first edition of the CAC, and Mark was very generous to offer her up to us.

>16 PaulCranswick: My dearest Paul, I don't know how "wise" my choices will end up being, but I hope I'll manage to hit the right note with the majority with a mix of two authors each month to choose among (you're the one who gave us that idea to begin with of course). As for Québécois authors, I guess I should feel some shame (but somehow, do not) that I'm only familiar with some of them by name, as have hardly read any of them. Maybe because they're too close to home? Maybe because I don't identify as a Quebecer? Who knows. But I will take this opportunity to introduce some very famous French Canadian authors who aren't so familiar to our LT crowd, and I'm grateful to my dear Pierre for helping me come up with a great list of likely candidates. I'll come clean with you right away and tell you that Jacques Poulin will NOT make the cut. I read a couple of books by him a couple of years ago when there was a huge engouement over him among the 75ers, and he just. got. on. my. nerves. So no Jacques Poulin for the CAC this year, but I've determined with Pierre that we will have 4 French Canadian authors in the mix to more or less proportionately represent Quebec in the Canadian landscape, and some of the names I've brought up are very much authors who should be read and will probably be appreciated by many too.

>17 Chatterbox: Suz, it's looking like I'll be following a similar system to what you've suggested, by choosing 2 authors and aiming for a mix of an already very well-known and prolific one, along with a lesser-read one (at least among our LT crowd), and will indeed do my best to mix in different genres; NF, Fantasy, Crime, etc.

I've been wanting to read Mavis Gallant for years, but we'll see whether she makes the cut this year, with so many awesome proposed authors to choose from.

>18 msf59: >19 msf59: Thanks for you vote of confidence, Mark! I was a bit nervous about taking on this challenge when it first came up on Paul's thread recently, because I don't know from half measures and am already very busy lately, and knew this would end up taking up a lot of my time, but I'm having so much fun with it already that it's well worth it.

Alice Munro will definitely make the cut this year, it's just a question of deciding who I'll pair her with at this point. We can hardly leave her off the list considering her influence, and the Nobel prize does make her rather essential reading.

>20 Chatterbox: Thanks for the links to those two articles Suz, I found them very inspiring and informative. As you've probably seen, Michael Ondaatje has indeed been suggested quite a few times and is a confirmed selection. Like the others, it's just a question of what other author I'll be pairing him with. I'll still let some votes come in over the weekend, but you can see from my message >54 Smiler69: that we've already got quite a few leads. I will likely make room for Stephen Leacock in the humour category thanks to your suggestion and those two articles you've provided us with, which definitely support him as a great choice for us. New to me, too!

>21 Copperskye: Thanks for that list Joanne, so many great suggestions, which as you've seen, seem to echo with others in this group. I think you'll end up seeing quite a lot of those authors making the final cut. And if not this year, maybe in a future edition, if this challenge finds enough supporters next year. I'm very much undecided about what to do about Louise Penny. She has a huge amount of fans, but then there are so many other great established writers that I'd feel badly about leaving off the list, and other crime writers (such as Giles Blunt are also calling out to us... so we'll see... I'm looking forward to seeing how this shakes out too! ;-)

>22 laytonwoman3rd: Thanks for that Linda, thanks to you I didn't need to repeat myself. Of course, Robertson Davies is now one of our first selections, but I knew before I even took on this challenge that he'd have to be included in a CAC. His books are so influential, and fun to read besides!

Farley Mowat? Yes, definitely needs to be in our first selection too. Thanks for adding your vote.

>23 drneutron: Thanks for that Charles de Lint suggestion, Jim. He's definitely under consideration. It's looking very much like Guy Gavriel Kay will make the cut due to popular demand, and I'll just have to see if we can fit in two fantasy writers in the mix, but we'll try!

>24 lkernagh: I'm also very happy to see that amazing response so far Lori! :-)

>26 Copperskye: >27 EBT1002: I'm glad you ladies have already planned your January reads as far as the CAC goes, ladies. And Ellen, I will definitely join you with The Manticore, which after Fifth Business fairly recently, will also be a reread for me, but it's been such a long time that I need to read it again before getting to the final book in the trilogy which will be new to me... but which I plan on reading in 2016 for sure. Maybe you'll join me for World of Wonders later on in the year?

>28 vancouverdeb: Ah! Finally I have a minute to get back to you about your suggestions, Debbie! I think all three authors are really interesting options. About Anita Rau Badami: she was in one of the painting classes I took a few years ago here in Montreal; a day-long studio type experience where you work on individual projects. I just knew her as "Anita" but also found out she was a published author when she made a mention of her latest book, just in passing. I was intensely curious, but somehow didn't dare ask her full name, because worried she might be hurt that I didn't recognize her right away. In any case, I'd love to include her in our final selection, but whether she makes the cut or not, I'll definitely pick up one of her titles at least this year, so thanks so much for bringing her up!

As for David Bergen, I've had his The Time in Between on my shelf since 2008... after I'd seen him mentioned in one of the "best of Canadian authors" list somewhere (that book being a Giller Prize winner).

>29 vancouverdeb: I had to take quite a few days to think about whether it was a good idea for me to take on this challenge Debbie, because the initial stage at least requires quite a bit of coordination, but it's been hugely fulfilling so far. And thanks so much for your two-author suggestion, as I'll be adopting the system you've suggested... great idea since we have such a wealth of great authors to choose from and flexibility is always good.

>30 Copperskye: Stuart McLean is officially on the contenders list Joanne! Let's see if he garners any other votes... anyone?

>31 Nickelini: Thanks for bringing up Douglas Coupland Joyce. I think your idea of pairing him with Mistry is rather brilliant too. We'll see if that's where he ends up being in the final shuffle, but he's definitely a likely contender.

>32 banjo123: Timothy Taylor is new to me Rhonda, but you and Suz and the writeups I've read about him have made me very curious about him. Will he garner more votes perhaps? Miriam Toews is looking like a very likely contender at this point with five votes so far.

>33 vancouverdeb: Once again Deborah, I've taken note.

>34 Familyhistorian: Meg, as you may have read by now, we're definitely going for the two author system, because of the great wealth of suggestions we've garnered, and also because yes, we want to include non-fiction, poetry, humour, fantasy, and probably YA in the mix too, to satisfy all the various cravings out there.

I've taken note of your suggestion. Would anyone else like to see Ken McGoogan featured? He definitely sounds interesting!

>35 PaulCranswick: Oh dear, how I hate that s****ing cats expression ass a cat lover, as you can imagine! But yes, I do get your point Paul. I've loved the way you've handled the author reveals for your challenge both last year and this one... makes for lots of anticipation and excitement! You are by far more systematic than I can ever hope to be however, so I rather doubt I'll manage to make as elegant pairing systems as you've managed to do, but I'll try not to make a complete hash of it dear friend. And mentor. ;-)

>36 Chatterbox: I love the idea of pairing a "classic" writer with a "popular" one Suz, and that's probably the route I'll end up taking perhaps with some modifications to fit in the lesser-known French Canadians. As far as giving an extra (third?) choice... it's not a bad idea, but then again, what with the wealth of challenges we've got going here among the 75ers and other groups as well (Categories Challenge, for instance, which a lot of people here participate in) offering too many options might make the whole thing a bit too loose. Everybody likes to go about selecting their reading in their own way, but I know I like to follow certain guidelines to help me choose among the thousands of options available just on my tbr, and never mind the library!

>37 Deern: Nathalie, there is nothing to feel embarrassed about. Whether and how and when you pick up some of the authors suggested in the various challenges is completely up to you as I'm sure nobody is keeping tabs. I look at all these challenges as helpful guidelines to help me pick my next read when I'm feeling overwhelmed by choices, but I have no compunction at all about picking up whatever strikes my fancy at any given moment, whether it's featured in any of the challenges or not! You're welcome to participate or not as you choose my dear! xx

>39 vancouverdeb: As you can see in the current poll (>54 Smiler69:) Deborah, your votes definitely make a difference. I'm quite eager to see who will end up making the final cut!

>40 souloftherose: Heather, it looks like quite a few of the authors you'd like to see in the challenge have already been named several times.

Charles de Lint gets two votes so far, as does Anne Michaels... would anyone else like to cast their votes for them?

>41 countrylife: Cindy, thanks for bringing up that challenge. It's always fun being able to make several challenges coincide.

>42 lkernagh: I like that "classic/popular" pairing too Lori, seems like a great way to go. The only hitch will be when comes to pairing those French Canadian authors, who might be considered "classic" or "popular" here in Québéc, but maybe not so much in the rest of the world... but I'll try to make it work somehow.

>43 Limelite: I absolutely ADORED The Sisters Brothers, thanks for bringing up deWitt. I've also been meaning to read his latest, Undermajordomo Minor whether he makes the cut in this challenge or not.

Would anyone else like to add their vote for Patrick deWitt?

>44 Chatterbox: You're right Suz, trying to fit in one author per region won't really work for us for this challenge, but anyone is welcome to join both challenges of course and if they can make them coincide, all the better!

>47 benitastrnad: Benita, I think it's great that you can fit in a BAC selection every month. Some people manage both authors, some people only read a few of the selections over the year, or just one... there is of course no "right" or "wrong" way of doing these challenges. Ultimately, they should inspire, not restrict or make people feel obligated, or so I should hope.

Thanks for your votes. Those authors you've mentioned definitely are in demand, so very likely several will make the final cut.

>48 Chatterbox: I'm on the same page as you re: Louise Penny, Suzanne. Yes, she's very popular and well-liked, but in the "classic+popular" system, I think I'll also use a "classic+lesser known" one to accommodate authors more of us need to discover for ourselves. I know I'll be reading lots of new-to-me authors with this challenge... some of it from my tbr, others from the library or AbeBooks if need be (though of course our Municipal and National library systems here in Montreal are very well stocked, needless to say).

Definitely agreed we need to have more French Canadians. I'm thinking 4 Québécois authors might give a good representation, maybe more if possible, but I won't push it either. What do you think?

Great suggestions with Thomas King and Guy Vanderhaeghe are also great suggestions. Anyone else?

>49 DeltaQueen50: I'm glad you've made your way here Judy. Lots of great suggestions, quite a few of which will likely make the cut, as you can see from the numbers so far (>54 Smiler69:), though of course some lesser-mentioned authors will have to be included too, just to open up possibilities as much as we can.

>51 lkernagh: Lori, Michel Tremblay is one of those authors I've been meaning to get to since I was a teen, but somehow took for granted and never did till now, and I mean to remedy that. He's so influential that I think he'll simply have to make the final cut. I'm sure I've come across François Gravel as a children's book author, and certainly know the illustrator Pierre Pratt, who has closely worked with him on those books, but you've made me terribly curious about his Fillion Family books. For some reason, I can only identify two of them, and having trouble finding a third. I've spent a good 25 minutes searching for them and so far have only found Fillion et Frères and Adieu Betty Crocker, what would be the third books French title? I'm not sure how available he is to a wider public, so not sure I can include him in the CAC, but he's certainly going on my wishlist!

>52 PaulCranswick: Paul, glad you'll be joining Ellen and I with The Manticore. I read the first two books of the Deptford Trilogy ages and ages ago and didn't get to the third, so have revisited Fifth Business (which was on my "to reread often" list anyway), and will definitely finish the trilogy in 2016 so I can move on to the other ones. I'm due for a reread of the Cornish Trilogy, which I discovered nearly 30 years ago, and have yet to discover The Salterton Trilogy (of which I have the first two books, Tempest-Tost and Leaven of Malice ... the unfinished "Toronto" trilogy, and I have a book of his letters, For Your Eye Alone : Robertson Davies' Letters, 1976-1995 which will no doubt prove very satisfying once I have most of his novels under my belt.

>55 benitastrnad: I've been curious about Outlander by Gil Adamson for a long too Benita, probably more so than for Gabaldon's book of the same name.

Any other takers??

>56 vancouverdeb: >58 vancouverdeb: Yes, having had time to think it over Deborah, I think the author pairings will follow a "classic"/"popular and "classic"/"lesser known" format for a well-rounded representation. And... the pleasure is all mine. I have as much fun making reading lists as I do actually reading the books!

>59 Chatterbox: I'm glad you've weighed in on Dany Laferriere and Anne Hebert, Suz. Along with Michel Tremblay and another yet to be determined female author, I think we'll have our Québec contingent of the challenge. I'm rather wanting to include Kim Thúy for the immigrant experience and also because he books have met with so much acclaim, even though only two of them have been translated into English so far. Thoughts?

And yes, I've now got two votes for Rawi Hage so far. Not sure yet where my final votes will go.

>60 PaulCranswick: Add my vote to Alice Munro.

Done! I've only read one of her collections of short stories, Runaway, ages ago and loved it, and been meaning to read all her work too. She's definitely among our final choices.

***

Here are our confirmed "classic" or "reasonably well established" authors so far:

Margaret Atwood
Robertson Davies
Helen Humphreys
Farley Mowat
Alice Munro
Michael Ondaatje
Jane Urquhart
Michel Tremblay (Québécois)
Dany Laferrière (Québécois)

I'll decide when to slot them in once more votes are in and I've figured out the pairings.

I have read several of the Canadian authors mentioned, but I'm not really going to offer a vote. I would, however, like to not see all of the popular authors in a single year if this could develop into an annual challenge. If that happened, we would probably see participating numbers dwindle in future years.

>71 Smiler69: Very good point Lori.

>71 Smiler69: What books would you recommend for Michel Tremblay and Dany Laferriere?

I can find copies of The Heart Laid Bare and The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant for Tremblay on Book depo
and for Laferriere - I am a Japanese Writer and How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired amongst others?

>63 Smiler69: I just wanted to point out that not all French Canadian authors are Québécois. Don't forget the Acadians.

>70 Smiler69: - The Fillion trilogy - which is probably a loosely fit trilogy - has the following English translations: A Good Life, The Extraordinary Garden and Adieu, Betty Crocker, in that order. Is it possible that Fillion et Frères was split into two books when translated into English? My favorite translator of French Canadian works into English is Sheila Fischman so I tend to read any French Canadian works that she translates... but as you say, I doubt Francois Gravel books have a broad English language distribution to include him in the CAC. ;-)

Loving the energy here!

>74 PaulCranswick: Paul, Michel Tremblay has been hugely prolific in his 50-plus-year career. Since his first play, written in 1960, he's penned 32 novels and 27 more plays, which obviously leaves us with quite a wealth of options. I scanned various online articles to see which of his novels and plays are most popular and came up with the following list:

Novels:
C't'à ton tour, Laura Cadieux / It's Your Turn, Laura Cadieux (1973)
La grosse femme d'à côté est enceinte \ The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant¹ (1978)
Thérèse et Pierrette à l'école des Saints-Anges / Therese and Pierrette and the Little Hanging Angel² (1980)
Des nouvelles d'Édouard / News from Édouard (1984)
Le Cœur découvert / The Heart Laid Bare (1986)
Hôtel Bristol New York, N.Y / Bristol Hotel New York, NY (1999)

¹ First book in the 6-part Chroniques du Plateau Mont-Royal
² Second book of the Chroniques du Plateau Mont-Royal

Plays:
Les Belles-sœurs or The Sisters In-Law (1968)
À toi, pour toujours, ta Marie-Lou / Forever Yours, Marie-Lou (1970)
Albertine, en cinq temps / Albertine in Five Times (1984)
Le Vrai Monde? / The Real World? (1987)
Encore une fois, si vous permettez / For The Pleasure of Seeing Her Again (1998)

Dany Laferriere is also a prolific writer, but for what it's worth, How to Make Love to a Negro without Getting Tired was among the recommendations on CBC's 100 novels that make you proud to be a Canadian list, which was released on July 1 (Canada Day) last year (the David Homel translation... don't know if there are others). It has been described as being "corrosively humorous" and being in a similar vein as Bukowsky and Limonov.
He also won the Medicis Prize for his novel L'énigme du retour / The Return, an autobiographical story about a Haitian immigrant who goes on a trip to bury his father after being separated from him since childhood. This has been lauded as his most "completed" oeuvre and will probably be the one I'll start with.
More of his work in translation can be found on his wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dany_Laferrière

>75 Familyhistorian: Haven't forgotten Meg... if you have suggestions to make for Acadian writers, we're listening!

>76 lkernagh: Thanks for the additional feedback on François Gravel, Lori. I do see that Sheila Fischman has translated four of his novels into English and have finally pinned down all three original French titles with your help;
A Good Life is Fillion et frères
The Extraordinary Garden is Je ne comprends pas tout
and obviously, Adieu, Betty Crocker is the same in both languages.
Will definitely look out for him!

I'm really happy with the response we've gotten so far too!

>72 thornton37814: I had the same thought as Lori about not putting so much in the first year that there's not much left for future years.

My local public library doesn't offer anything by Michel Tremblay. Hopefully he'll be paired with someone more accessible to readers in my corner of the world. The library does have a couple of titles by Dany Laferriere.

>79 cbl_tn: It's a valid point and one I've given some thought to. The fact is we won't be able to fit in all the popular authors in the first year anyway since we need to leave room for lesser known ones (lesser-known by the wider public, that is). I've also considered that some authors among the "classics" have a rather large output and we might consider repeating them over at least a couple of years, as, for instance, Mark was running Atwood April for some time... so I could very well envisage running her, Robertson Davies, and Alice Munro again, for example, along with author authors we haven't featured yet. But it does look like there are loads of great suggestions ablready; WAY more than the 24 we can fit into one year!

Sorry you can't find Michel Tremblay at your library. You might try Amazon or AbeBooks or to find cheap used copies of his work. And yes, I'll do my best to pair less easily available authors with more readily available ones. That being said, the ways of local library systems can be mysterious, and if for some reason neither author can be found on a given month in a particular region, alternative choices do exist, as mentioned by Suzanne higher up (>59 Chatterbox:).

With so many challenges going on, I'll be reading ones that I can find in a library or free. I'm not willing to spend money on a book unless it's one I just can't live without reading. Of course, I can try ILL if it's an author I really want to try that isn't available, but I'm not going to run up costs for our library on something that I don't think I will really enjoy when it's fiction.

>81 thornton37814: Same here. I'm more likely to just skip authors that aren't available at a local library rather than purchase a book I'm not sure I'll like. I'm not going to request an ILL for something I don't have to read.

This is purely me, but I don't yet think of Helen Humphreys and Dany Laferriere as "classic" Canadian authors. I see them as somewhere in between classic and newer -- established, but not yet canonical. Humphreys I don't see as canonical at all, really -- more popular in a general sense, while Laferriere I think is pushing more boundaries and doing things more creatively. But both are still forging careers, not yet really "there", in the same way that even Ondaatje is. Urquhart, arguably, I could put in the same category as Laferriere -- clearly heading toward that canonical status and a notch above popular and just appealing to a lot of readers as a quality author, but not yet the next Atwood or Davies or Richler -- Great Canadian Novelist. (in the same way the Timothy Findley was in the final years of his life, say.) Just my 0.02; subjective, as all this stuff is!

As far as Quebecois novels go, I'd say four or five would be fine -- maybe one of the real classics, Hemon or Anne Hebert; Richler as an anglophone quebecker, and three or four others, a mix of older and newer voices doing different things, but paying attention to what's available, and what has been translated.

>79 cbl_tn:, >81 thornton37814: and >82 cbl_tn: - These are really good comments. The 'thing' about books in North America - based on my experience - is that the majority of American authors' works are readily available in Canada (and probably elsewhere) but the majority of Canadian authors' works are not always readily available outside of Canada. Publisher issue? Reader demand/interest issue? I tend to find these kind of things fascinating to analyze but probably not very helpful when trying to plan an author challenge. Valid points if the purpose if to reach as broad a spectrum of readers as possible.

>80 Smiler69: Just to add that my library has two of Michel Tremblay's books, plus several Farley Mowat and Jane Urquhart (as well as Munro, Atwood, Humphreys who are much more well known here). I am enjoying reading here about all these authors who are new to me very much: will probably pick up Urquhart soon having found her now.

Just out of curiosity, since ILLs are free for us here in Montreal from both Municipal and National libraries, how much does an ILL typically run to? There is always the possibility of asking your local libraries to acquire certain titles...

I do and will try to include authors which are widely available, but for the reasons Lori brought up just above, that won't always be the possible, especially with French language authors, whoever much worldwide acclaim they might have received. Of course we hope for maximum participation in the challenges, but there is never anything like any obligation to read ALL the selections. Then again, I'm not a dedicated completist by any means, so easy enough for me to say.

>83 Chatterbox: Suz, I have to own up to not being terribly concerned with labels, since they are all too often misleading, even at the best of times, so I hope I won't get in trouble for playing around with words a little. Some authors are Classics we can all agree on (LM Montgomery comes to mind, but we don't have a great many like her), while others can be considered as "established" by virtue of having a relatively wide body of work and having received numerous honours and acclaim. To take Jane Urquhart's example, she was a recipient of the Order of Canada, and I can't think of anything representing "establishment" more than that kind of honour. Same for Laferrière--he's a member of l'Accadémie française... How much more "established" can you get as an author, really, save for a Nobel Prize in literature??

eta: I edited my title in >71 Smiler69: as it was obviously misleading... But do note I had written "Classic" and not Classic (note quote marks, which I intended to show I was being loose with the interpretation of the word...)

eta2: it occurs to me I should ask you what your definition of an Established Canadian author might be. Also, I'd love to include Findley in the final cut. With the latest selection round I made my choices of Anglo writers purely based on those most often mentioned so far (which wasn't the case for francophone writers, evidently.)

Obviously your comment has given me lots to think about!

This is a fabulous thread and a very big "good on ya" for starting it up. As I scroll through and see all the names I realize how fabulously lucky we are to have such a rich group of fantastic books and writers in Canada. I have been in a bookclub for 37 years and we have done mostly Canadian with a few ventures farther a field from time to time but you have a great list going. Last year I read Swamp Angel by Ethel Wilson and I loved it. p.s. I love your drawings too!

Typing on the iPad is something of a punishment, so I'll be back with more comments and replies later on Sunday. Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone!

I will put a major plug in for John Vaillant who has written one novel that I thought was very good Jaguar's Children and he has written 2 other non fiction books that were very good too The Tiger and The Golden Spruce. There are some great non fiction books too (Wade Davis) but maybe you are wanting to keep with fiction. I will also put in a plug for Miriam Toews. I thought All My Puny Sorrows was amazing.

One comment I have to make, as someone who took part in the read a book/s from every province/territory in Canadian Challenge a few years ago is that there is no agreement amongst most Canadians on who exactly are the " best Canadian authors" authors. We have great authors, but we are young country and fairly small in population, so we in the quiet challenge agreed that each of us had are own interpretation of the " best 10 Canadian Authors" and we happily agreed we were all correct. :)

As regular visitors to my thread will attest, I do have a certain infamy for splurging gratuitously on books and I can confirm that I will utilise Book Depository (who deliver free to Malaysia) to ensure that I can take part in all the challenge authors named. I understand that some of our members are dependent upon library books to join in but I am optimistic that my circumstances will allow a certain philanthropy through quizzes and so on to give away one or two challenge books via Book Depo as I used as a means to bribe people to visit my thread in those days!
I book per challenge author for the American / Canadian / and British Author challenges per month next year. I will canvass this in December such that books can be got in time. I will have a think as to how to determine who wins the books each month and update.

>86 Smiler69: Lori and I are both academic librarians. My library only charges for interlibrary loans when the lending library charges us. The local public library has the same policy. However, there are costs in staff time and postage/shipping that are not passed on to library patrons. I'm not willing to incur those costs on my library's behalf for something that isn't work-related.

I've looked at WorldCat holdings for a few of Tremblay's English translations and I didn't see any public libraries in the mix. They're available in the U.S., but primarily in academic libraries. I can't justify a purchase for my academic library that doesn't support our curriculum, and I don't want to ask the public library to purchase books that few public libraries hold. Library budgets aren't limitless, and money spent on one book is money that isn't available to spend on a different book or resource.

I'll chime in with support for Anita Rau Badami. I was introduced to her by a Canadian friend here on LT some years ago, and have read two of her novels. I'm also up for some YA literature, if that is included. I will probably participate in one of three challenges each month, the AAC, the BAC, and the CAC. I can't possibly hope to get to even one author from each challenge every month. But I'll follow all three, and no doubt my TBR piles and lists will just continue to grow. Probably my last conscious thought before leaving this planet will be "Oh, yes...I ought to read THAT."

I also work in an academic library (in Alabama - U.S.) Our institution does not charge for ILL's either. I think that is fairly standard for most academic libraries in the U.S. We have a contract with a shipping company to deliver our ILL requests to the requesting library so are able to cut some costs that way. I think that some public libraries do charge for doing ILL's - at least for the shipping costs, but we get and send ILL requests to many public libraries as well. I should know as I am the substitute ILL person in my library and so fill some of the ILL requests.

My advice would be for library patrons to inquire about ILL services and if they are available to use them. Even if they are charged it should be less cost than purchasing the book.

Let me chime in that even if you (Ilana) pick someone that is difficult for me to get where I live I will still appreciate the exposure to the author. I really wanted to read B.S. Johnson from the BAC this year but I could not find anything by him locally. I've kept an eye out when I've gone to used books stores and I was able to find an Omnibus with several of his works this past September. I won't get to him soon but this is an author I knew nothing about and now I do. I think this is also what the challenges are about.

>84 lkernagh: Lori, thanks for your very pertinent comment. I would go on to add that almost every country has well-established or "famous" writers which are much talked about within their own borders, but seldom manage to cross over to gain mass worldwide acclaim, such as Atwood or Monroe and LM Montgomery have, for example. It is also probably a truism that American writers are more easily found outside the US than Canadian, Italian, French, South American (you name it) writers might be found IN the US. Since we're running a Canadian authors challenge, we simply can't automatically rule out authors which might not be present in every single library worldwide, while also being sensitive to the fact that we do want maximum participation by readers and do try to choose authors that are more easily found. I'm having trouble expressing myself clearly today, not sure why, so I hope this note won't be picked apart too much... :-|

>85 charl08: Thanks for chiming in Charlotte. I'm glad you are able to locate a good portion of the authors picked so far at your local library. Much like you, what I enjoy most about all these challenges (AAC, BAC, ANZAC, TIOLI, Booker, et al) is that they do expose us to many writers and works we may not have considered before, so that even if I don't have time for, or can't source specific works easily, they do become authors to look out for, when once they were virtually unknown to me.

>88 mdoris: Thanks so much for your very kind and touching comment, Mary. Ethel Wilson is a new name to me, but I see Persephone Books has one of her works on their catalogue, which is wonderful, but also unfortunately, a good indication that it is not easily found elsewhere. All the same, I've taken note of your suggestion.

>90 mdoris: I've also read The Tiger by John Vaillant and found it completely engrossing. I'm not sure I have the courage to read Jaguar's Children, but I know it was very well received (and I'm a wuss besides). I've made a note of him and Wade Davis too, since we will indeed be including non-fiction writers in the mix. Miriam Toews has been requested quite a lot, so she's a very likely candidate at this point.

>91 vancouverdeb: Sounds like you all arrived at a very wise consensus, Deborah!

>92 PaulCranswick: Bless your generous soul, Paul! Can't wait to see how it all pans out.

>93 cbl_tn: Fair enough. I chose Tremblay because he is considered to be one of the most influential living French Canadian writers, with a huge body of work spanning a 55-year career and plays and novels having been translated worlwide. I'm sorry he isn't readily available for you, but I think he's an author very much worthy of inclusion in this first edition of the CAC. I'm glad to know you DO have access to Dany Laferriere on the other hand, so all is not lost! :-)

>94 laytonwoman3rd: I'm glad to see another vote for Anita Rau Badami, she's got three nominations now, including mine, as I'm extremely curious to delve into her work. Would you have any YA authors you'd like to suggest? I think your approach will probably be adopted by quite a lot of participants. With so many challenges to chose from, and our individual toppling tbr collections, sometimes it's best to just dip in and out, but it's lovely to know you'll be following all the challenges closely all the same!

>95 benitastrnad: Thanks for your comment Benita. I can understand some people not wanting to incur cost for books or authors they might never have heard of before and may or may not end up liking. I tend to splurge on books more than is decent or realistic, considering the state of my finances, but then I can also be extremely conservative of mere pennies AND especially my time, when it comes to books I'm not entirely sold on, with a tbr collection which daily grows and is close to promising to outlive me.

>96 luvamystery65: I think this is also what the challenges are about.

Bless your kind heart, Roberta! I couldn't agree with you more. xx

#100
My TBR shelves show every sign of out living me as well.

>101 benitastrnad: Gives us good reasons to want to live (and keep our eyesight) for as long as is humanly and scientifically possible! :-)

>96 luvamystery65: I think you've hit the nail on the head. There will always be completists who want to be able to get a book for every author in every challenge, but I tend to agree that sometimes just the discussion alerting us to new books is what counts. For my part, there are several authors being discussed her for whom I'd have to re-read a book if they are chosen, since I've already read their complete oeuvre. I'd rather discover something new than re-read a book, and may well choose not to participate in reading that author, but that's my choice -- and for lots of others, they will be a new discover. (I'm thinking of Giles Blunt, in particular -- his latest novel has just arrived, and I don't plan to wait until 2016 to read it!)

>87 Smiler69: I wasn't suggesting that YOU should be terribly concerned about my thoughts re labels, simply voicing those thoughts. I suppose I tend to divided writers more into three camps than into two: there are those who have become canonical and whose careers span decades/lifetimes (or who, like Richler, Davies or Laurence, are now dead), who I would define as classics. Then there are those who have accumulated plaudits: winning big prizes and honors but whose careers are still building. (And the final group is those who are just getting going, out of the gate.) Does anyone today remember Sir Charles G.D. Roberts, who received a knighthood for his services to Canadian literature, and who was seen as a big innovator in Canadian poetry and prose in his day? Hugh MacLennan was named to the OC, received 5 GG awards, wrote The Two Solitudes (an iconic work) as well as Barometer Rising and The Watch that Ends the Night, three mid-century classics that now you'd be hard pressed to find on any curriculum. He hasn't survived the test of time. That's the only point I was trying to make. I think it's entirely possible that Urquhart, for instance, could end up as another MacLennan. We don't see it now, because she is still writing and producing fresh material that appeals to us as readers, while MacLennan is frozen in another era, in amber -- but it is at least a possibility. Atwood, however, has demonstrated a versatility and a distinctiveness that means I doubt she'll go in that direction (ditto Tremblay), over a longer period of time. Hope that explains my effort to draw a distinction which may be meaningless in terms of how you choose candidates, and certainly wasn't intended as such, but more to be me, thinking "out loud". So -- the way I tend to see writers are the clearly important/significant ones; the ones heading in that direction, but where only time or a more extensive and/or more diverse or more ambitious body of work (depending on the case in point) will confirm that, and the younger, emerging writers, who demonstrate incredible talent and promise, but where you have no idea yet whether they just have a few books in them or the wherewithal to do something amazing.

Again, the above is simply the product of my rumination; I wasn't intended to tell you what or how to think about any of those authors. As I noted in my previous post, that's all subjective anyway. We all will have authors in any of these groups who we think are amazing and others we wonder how/why they end up getting published at all. I, personally, just find the rush to anoint people as the next great novelist a little worry, and so tend to dig in my heels. Even though I love Joseph Boyden's novels, he has only published three, and a collection of stories. I may dub him a top favorite of mine, and rush to read whatever he writes, and think he is immensely talented, but what will he do over a career? Will they hold up, or be superseded by someone who is even better?

What a great list of books and authors. From the west coast, I'd like to submit Jade Peony by Wayson Choy, a very accurate rendering of Vancouver's Chinatown in the 1960's.

Wow, there's been a lot of activity here! And lots of authors to choose from. Who knew? :) Which ever authors make the cut, Ilana, I'm sure it will be a fun year of Canadian reading.

No one (including me) has mentioned Emily St John Mandel (Station Eleven). She was born in BC but lives in the States, I believe. Would she be considered a Canadian author, or no? I'm not really looking to add a new name to the pot; I was curious because I happened to pick up a copy of her Last Night in Montreal at the library on Friday and then realized I hadn't seen her listed here.

>100 Smiler69: Which brings us back to my original comment/request that it would be nice if Michel Tremblay could be paired with an author whose works are more accessible in my neck of the woods so that I won't have to skip a month. :)

Lord, this thread is a cyclone of ideas and suggestions! I'm just skimming and will admittedly wait for the final tallies.
However, I will provide two meager votes:
Helen Humphreys
and
Miriam Toews

Thanks for setting up this challenge, Ilana! I failed badly in my own attempt to read Canadian literature in 2013, and I have acquired a good number of books that would fit this challenge. Here are the ones I have in my library:

Confirmed Authors:
Margaret Atwood: The Blind Assassin; The Handmaid's Tale
Roberston Davies: The Deptford Trilogy
Alice Munro: Lives of Girls and Women; The View from Castle Rock
Michael Ondaatje: In the Skin of a Lion; Running in the Family

Possible Authors Already Mentioned:
Michael Crummey: Galore
Rawi Hage: Cockroach; De Niro's Game
Alistair MacLeod: No Great Mischief
Emily St. John Mandel: Station Eleven (if she is deemed eligible)
Anne Michaels: Fugitive Pieces
Rohinton Mistry: Tales from Firozsha Baag
Lawrence Hill: The Book of Negroes (US title: Someone Knows My Name)
Jacques Poulin: Spring Tides
Miriam Toews: All My Puny Sorrows (I'll probably read this in December, though)
M.G. Vassanji: The In-Between World of Vikram Lall

I don't think that anyone has mentioned Lisa Moore yet. Her novel February was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2010. Other authors not yet mentioned whose books I own are Annabel Lyon (The Golden Mean, which was shortlisted for the Giller Prize in 2009), Esi Edugyan (Half Blood Blues won the 2011 Giller Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize that year), and Anthony De Sa, an author from Toronto who is of Portuguese descent (I enjoyed his novel Kicking the Sky).

For the sake of discussion, does Eleanor Catton count? (I'm guessing not.) She was born in Canada but has lived in New Zealand since the age of six, and her brilliant novel The Luminaries won the Booker Prize in 2013. If she counts she would definitely get my vote, as I want to read her debut novel The Rehearsal.

Of the possible authors mentioned, I would be most in favor of reading Rawi Hage, Rohinton Mistry, Lawrence Hill, Jacques Poulin, and M.G. Vassanji (and, if she is chosen, Eleanor Catton).

Hello! I'm not a member of this group but I saw this thread mentioned in the 2015 Category Challenge group and thought I'd drop in.

We'd been discussing the possibility of doing a three-month Robertson Davies group read for the 2016 Category Challenge. See this thread.

We'd tentative set it for April to June, but we could consider moving it to coincide with your Robertson Davies month. Alternatively, we can leave it as it is, and those here who want more Davies once January is over can join us later in the year. Everyone is welcome to join the discussion, whether you're a member of the 2016 Category Challenge or not! :)

>100 Smiler69: The only Canadian author of YA literature I'm familiar with is L. M. Montgomery, and of course she's already been mentioned. Oh, and I believe Farley Mowat wrote for young adult readers as well. Here is a list of "100 Young Adult books That Make You Proud to be Canadian". Perhaps it will lead to some recommendations from readers who are familiar with these?

I vote for Lawrence Hill too.

I wasn't able to get back to you right away with the Acadian writers because I was at the Surrey International Writers' Conference for 3 days. I came up with the following two names who actually have books in English (translations) Clive Doucet and Antonine Maillet.

Emily St. John Mandel is clearly a Canadian author by any reasonable yardstick. It would be like disqualifying someone from the BAC because they maintain a home abroad - it is a reading challenge and has not been organised by the IRS!

She holds Canadian citizenship as I understand.

Lisa Moore is a good call and can be compared with Alice Munro who paved the way for her genre in Canada.

Haven't heard of Farley Mowat so that will be interesting.

Oh my Ilana, you do have a lot of opinions on your hands and once again I thank you for your all of your work.

I will just tell you a little bit more about my choices, Anita Rau Badami and Wayson Choy. My son took a Canadian Literature course at the University of British Columbia, and part of the focus was on the immigrant experience that so many of we Canadian have experienced. Because he and his now wife had to read both of those authors as a part of that course, I was introduced them too. The immigrant experience of Canadians and their history is so much of Canadian Culture.

That said, Ilana, please just chose as you see fit. If you are pulling out your hair by now , I totally understand and any choices that you make , will have my support.

Best wishes to you, Ilana.

Like Mark, myself and Jacqui (where is she by the way?) for the AAC, BAC and ANZAC challenges Ilana has the quandary of how to pare down the probables and the possibles into a list that intrigues. There won't be a single one of us that agrees entirely with whatever gets picked and that is part of the fun of it all.

Well done, Ilana, and keep it up!

I loved reading Farley Mowat as a lad. Never Cry Wolf and The Snow Walker were favorites.

I would like to request that Josef Skvorecky be added to the list. According to Wikipedia he is a Czech-Canadian author. He died in 2012 but had immigrated to Winnipeg after the Prague Spring uprising and his banishment from Czechoslovakia. He spent half of his life in Canada. He ran a publishing company in Canada and was also an author. Many of his works were written after he moved to Canada, but I will understand if, upon investigation, you think his work isn't Canadian enough. Our library has 15 titles listed by him so he should be easy enough to find. I learned of him from a BBC Radio 4 program titled "Foreign Bodies." This a program done by Michael Lawson that "examines how mystery novels reflect a country's history and political system." I really like the program and have learned about several authors from the podcasts that I have downloaded.

Whew! So many amazing suggestions! Certainly doesn't make my life easier, but does make things that much more stimulating. I'll be taking the next couple of days to figure out possible pairings. Actually, not sure at all how long it'll take me, but it's amply clear by now that given the wealth of great authors that have been nominated, we'd have plenty to work with for several editions of the CAC! For now, I'll do my best to try to pair authors which might be harder to find with authors which should be well represented in most public libraries.

Answering individual messages next.

eta: I've counted over 100 nominations in my little notebook!

>103 Chatterbox: Thanks for your message Suz. In the end, I think my picking method will have to me a combination of crunching numbers plus pure instinct as to what might make an interesting mix. Nobody will agree in the end that I've come up with a "perfect" mix, least of all me, but that's fine. As other challenge organisers know from experience, "You can please some of the people some of the time..." etc. ;-)

>104 Zumbanista: Thanks for another Wayson Choy nomination.

>105 Copperskye: You're right Joanne, nobody had yet mentioned Emily St John Mandel, which once again goes to show what a wealth of authors we have to choose among. Definitely adding her to the list, and have also wishlisted Last Night in Montreal, as I'm curious to read more of her work now I've read Station Eleven.

>106 cbl_tn: Carrie, you make a good point, and I'll try to make accessibility my guiding principle with the author pairings.

>107 EBT1002: Ellen, you'll be glad to know that Helen Humphreys is already a confirmed choice, and Miriam Toews is a very likely contender due to popular demand, plus the fact I have yet to discover her and have several of her books on the tbr!

>108 kidzdoc: Thanks so much for your great suggestions Darryl. I'm glad to see your personal library is already well-stocked with Canadian authors, and I'm sure you'll find several of those authors you've mentioned on the final list. As for Eleanor Catton, I know she might be up for debate, but if she's Canadian enough to have gotten the Governor General's Literary Award, then she's definitely Canadian enough for us!

>109 mathgirl40: Thanks for dropping by Paulina! Everyone is welcome to join into this challenge by the way. I honestly don't know what to suggest with regards to Robertson Davies for the Category challenge. One of the reasons I've reserved January for him was because he's written several trilogies and I thought some people might want to continue reading some of his books in the course of the year.

>110 laytonwoman3rd: Ah yes of course! Good point about LM Montgomery and Farley Mowat. In fact, I've been meaning to get to The Dog Who Wouldn't Be this year, so maybe I'll just bump it onto the CAC challenge. Thanks so much for that "100 Young Adult books That Make You Proud to be Canadian" list. I was a bit shocked to see that I'd only read ONE book on the whole list, and that virtually all the titles were unknown to me. A great resource, and I'll be adding plenty of those to my wishlist and it might help guide my choices in the final selection.

>111 Familyhistorian: You'll be happy to know that Lawrence Hill is a very likely candidate at this point. I've seen his Book of Negroes suggested on so many "best of" and awards lists, that I'm keen to get to it myself. Not that I'll be making all the selections based on my personal preferences though!

>112 PaulCranswick: Paul, I haven't yet read anything by Farley Mowat either, but I grew up with him being always present in my consciousness, since he was such an influential voice here in Canada. So prolific and considered a classic too (maybe even by Suzanne's standard?!); it just seemed fitting to have him be part of the first edition of the CAC. You make very good points about Emily St. John Mandel. I don't know if she pays anything towards Canada Revenue or is still eligible for (free) Canadian health care, but I've added her to the list of possibilities in any case. ;-)

>113 vancouverdeb: Oh my Ilana, you do have a lot of opinions on your hands

You can say that again Deborah. Did I mention we have over 100 candidates? It does make me proud that we already have such a wealth of great authors to choose from, considering we're such a young country and our literary history is necessarily somewhat limited compared to... the UK or US for instance. Thanks so much for your support, believe me, it's very much appreciated. But just so you know, I really am enjoying this whole process a whole lot, even if it's somewhat daunting at times. In the end, I'm sure we'll all end up reading lots of great books, one way or another.

>114 PaulCranswick: Thanks mate. I know you know all too well that it's tough to please the crowds all the time, as I've witnessed from the BAC selections process so far. ;-)
Very much looking forward to the 2016 edition of the BAC by the way... seeing as the I have a disproportionate amount of British authors on the tbr!

I don't see Kim Echlin's name in the thread. She was on the Giller list for The disappeared: an unforgettable novel set against the backdrop of the Pol Pot era.

>115 jnwelch: Joe, I'm glad you enjoyed Farley Mowat in your youth. I feel badly that I somehow didn't make room for him then. I'll be making up for it in 2016, and Never Cry Wolf is at the top of the list.

>116 benitastrnad: Thanks for adding Josef Skvorecky as a suggestion. I hadn't heard of him before, and he sounds like an author well worth discovering. I see The Engineer of Human Souls got the Governor General's Literary Award and made the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die listings for the 2008, 2010 and 2012 editions. Definitely adding it to the wishlist!

>120 VivienneR: Another great suggestion Vivienne, adding Kim Echlin to the list!

I have some suggestions...

Audrey Schulman
Chevy Stevens
Donna Milner
Mary Lawson who wrote Crow Lake
Andrew Pyper

>123 Smiler69: That's the spirit Ilana! Mark's AAC will be starting it's 3rd year and Paul's BAC it's 2nd. Sooner or later everyone's choice has a great chance of making it.

>123 Smiler69: Now waiting with abated breath. I was going to say bated breath then I got to wondering what the heck does that mean and where does it come from - seemed to remember it was from the Bard of Avon and Lo! There it is in The Merchant of Venice. I thought it may have been a misspelling of "baited" which doesn't make sense (famously JK Rowling got this wrong in one of the Harry Potter books) but research found that it was a shortening of "abated" which does make sense. It is before 5.00 am and I am slightly cuckoo but waiting with bated breath.

>118 Smiler69: Let's leave the schedules as they are, then. If anyone wants to continue with Davies after January, then they are more than welcome to join us in the 2016 Category thread April-June. :)

Ok, I was going to take a couple of days to think if over, but I've come up with a list, have thought of it all day, and am finding it hard to fiddle with (though I did substitute Lawrence Hill instead of Rohinton Mistry at the last minute...). This list is far from perfect, but I think it's a good one and I think we'll get a good sampling of coast-to-coast Canadian literature, from both "Old Stock Canadians" (to borrow Stephen Harper's most unfortunate expression) as well as immigrant voices, with a near half and half break between men and women, and a majority of living authors. I might get criticized for a preference for literary fiction and for many other reasons besides, but I believe the following list would make for a solid first edition of the CAC, as I hope many of your will agree. I've tried to pair older established authors with emerging new voices (in some cases), and also to make sure at least one of the two authors is more easily accessible in libraries around the globe (or so I hope).

Here goes nothing!

January: Robertson Davies, Kim Thúy

February: Helen Humphreys, Stephen Leacock

March: Farley Mowat, Anita Rau Badami

April: Margaret Atwood, Michael Crummey

May: Michel Tremblay, Emily St. John Mandel

June: Timothy Findley, Joseph Boyden

July: LM Montgomery, Pierre Berton

August: Mordechai Richler, Gabrielle Roy

September: Miriam Toews, Dany Laferrière

October: Lawrence Hill, Jane Urquhart

November: Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Laurence

December: Alice Munro, Rawi Hage

>127 Smiler69: - Love the list! Lots of classical and popular authors here. Good mix!

>128 lkernagh: Hurray! We have one happy customer! Thanks Lori. :-)

>127 Smiler69: Well done and a few left for 2017 no doubt! Even with my 13,000 or so books there are 12 authors for me to buy to get a full house for the challenge! That will be down to 9 shortly as I have ordered 3 yesterday.

>130 PaulCranswick: Paul, have to admit the temptation was there for me to choose only those authors I already have on the tbr, but in the end I found that wouldn't really be playing fair, as most people will have to go well beyond their own tbrs in several instances I'm sure. That being said, most authors listed have their works well-stocked in our municipal or national library systems considering I live in Montreal, so unlike you I won't have too much out of pocket expenses. I'm honoured and a bit sorry that you have so many books to purchase though... surely you might just read one authors each month and consider you've done well with this challenge, considering all the other reading obligations you regularly saddle yourself with? xx

>127 Smiler69: Great list! I hope to read one of the two authors each month. That's the goal, anyway.

If I can fit 4 or 5 new authors from that list into my 2016 reading, I'll be pleased. I don't have a lot of choices on hand, but there are at least 3 books by the chosen authors on my wishlist that I will try to get my hands on. I'm looking forward to this!

Well done lady! I look forward to experiencing some new authors and how perfect to end the year with the lovely Munro!

Thank you, Ilana! This is a tremendous amount of work!

Great names and ideas being put forth here. I also like the idea of "regional" reads. I think some of our finest storytellers hail from our Maritime provinces. Alistair MacLeod, No Great Mischief, or Ami McKay, The Birth House, could be paired with lesser known, but fabulous writer, Beatrice MacNeil: Where White Horses Gallop and/or The Box of the Dead

Excellent work on this, Ilana! I certainly didn't expect that you would be able to put it together so quickly and happy that you did. Great choices! For me, it's a good mix of new and old favorites.

Stephen Leacock's name rang a bell with me and I realized I have his Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town.(I've only heard of him because of Stuart McLean.)

Sunshine Sketches is a free US kindle book if anyone's interested.

Great choices, Ilana! Great mix of newer and older and easy to find authors' and their works.

Great list, Ilana! I am pretty shocking at doing challenges in the right month but this thread has made me remember loads of Canadian authors I've forgotten about.

>131 Smiler69: No, Ilana I will aim for both writers in each month - I may fall short but I will aim for it. I have checked the other 9 writers that I don't have anything by and put them in my Book Depo shopping cart. Will press the go button when I cash my salary check!

Great list, Ilana and a great job! I have not heard of many of these authors. I guess that is the point, right? My goal will be to read one a month, but I am sure I might be able to squeeze in 2, here and there.

Nice list, Ilana! Including many with whom I'm unfamiliar. Should make for an interesting year. I'm going to have to pick and choose among the various Challenge authors each month, as there's no way I can do all three Challenges and still keep up with mood reading.

I love the list, too. I've been quietly lurking since my knowledge of Canadian authors is shockingly small. My plan is to commit to only one a quarter - but this list is so tempting, I'm sure I will squeeze in a few more.

Good work, Ilana. That looks like an eminently workable list. Thanks for your hard work and patience!

thank you, Ilana, for organizing this. I'm notoriously bad at completing these challenges but I love to try and to read the reviews of others who succeed. Surprisingly, I have books by several of the authors, and several others can be fulfilled by my library - only August comes up empty.

I've copied the list onto my own thread, where I can make notes of what I have and what is available from my library. Naturally, this has lead to a much longer "maybe" list than I had originally planned on...

>136 Copperskye: Thanks for the heads-up on the freebie. The only Leacock in my library system is his bio of Charles Dickens, and I don't think I'm up for that. We'll see.
EDIT: Just ordered both Sunshine Sketches and Literary Lapses fro my Kindle.

I'm so happy with the response so far, thank you everyone. I've certainly learned a lot in the process as there were many new-to-me authors that were named here, several of which ended up on the final list. Some names were familiar, but no more than that. I'll have to make many trips to the library to cover all 24 authors named, but I think it's worth it.

Here are the books I plan on reading from my tbr:

Robertson Davies: The Manticore, World of Wonders
Kim Thúy: Ru
Farley Mowat: The Dog Who Wouldn't Be, Never Cry Wolf
Margaret Atwood: The Year of the Flood, MaddAddam
Michael Crummey: Galore
Timothy Findley: The Piano Man's Daughter
Joseph Boyden: Through Black Spruce
Mordechai Richler: The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
Miriam Toews: A Complicated Kindness
Dany Laferrière: L'énigme du retour / The Return
Lawrence Hill: The Book of Negroes
Michael Ondaatje: In the Skin of a Lion
Alice Munro: The Love of a Good Woman

To get from the library or purchase:

Helen Humphreys: The Lost Garden, The Frozen Thames
Stephen Leacock: The Penguin Book of Stephen Leacock Selected and Introduced by Robertson Davies
(just purchased the only available second hand copy on the market!)
Anita Rau Badami: The Hero's Walk
Michel Tremblay: C't'à ton tour, Laura Cadieux, La grosse femme d'à côté est enceinte
Emily St. John Mandel: Last Night in Montreal
LM Montgomery: Anne of Green Gables
Pierre Berton: Klondike : the last great gold rush, 1896-1899,
or the shorter The golden trail : the story of the Klondike rush
Gabrielle Roy: Bonheur d'occasion
Jane Urquhart: The Underpainter or The Stone Carvers
Margaret Laurence: The Stone Angel
Rawi Hage: De Niro's Game

>146 Smiler69: The Frozen Thames is a beautiful little book. I suggest you buy a copy as a gift and give it to yourself.

^Ditto

Well done, Ilana, a great selection of Canadian authors and something there to please everyone, I think. I am now off to see how many of these reads I can squeeze in to my reading lists for next year.

While I would love to read both, I suspect that I'll only aim for one of the two authors each month. With the other author challenges, I just don't see how I can commit to more than one.

Fascinating lists for next year. I shall see what I can get hold of and try to read along. I have Carnival by Rawi Hage sitting in my TBR pile so very pleased that he made the cut.

I had a look in Kino yesterday (my KL book paradise) to see what I could add of the 9 CAC authors I neither own or have on order. Not a one, I am afraid!
Back to Book Depo who thankfully have something by all of them.

Great choices, Ilana! I look forward to getting to these authors next year.

BTW, I just saw that the Kindle version of Ru by Kim Thúy is on sale for $2.99 in the US, so I just purchased it.

Good job, well done and a big thank you!

Tentative Reading Plans

January: Robertson Davies : The Manticore, Kim Thúy (TBA)

February: Helen Humphreys (TBA) , Stephen Leacock (TBA)

March: Farley Mowat : The Boat that Wouldn't Float , Anita Rau Badami (TBA)

April: Margaret Atwood : The Blind Assassin , Michael Crummey (TBA)

May: Michel Tremblay : The Heart Laid Bare , Emily St. John Mandel : Station Eleven

June: Timothy Findley : Famous Last Words, Joseph Boyden (TBA)

July: LM Montgomery : Anne of Green Gables , Pierre Berton (TBA)

August: Mordechai Richler : Solomon Gursky Was Here, Gabrielle Roy (TBA)

September: Miriam Toews A Complicated Kindness, Dany Laferrière : The Return

October: Lawrence Hill (TBA), Jane Urquhart Sanctuary Line

November: Michael Ondaatje : The English Patient , Margaret Laurence (TBA)

December: Alice Munro : The View from Castle Rock , Rawi Hage : Cockroach

I'm in! No reading plans yet though, I'll have to start thinking. Thanks for organising things Ilana.

I've had a chance to dig through my library site, and am so pleased, books available for almost all of the authors.

January: Robertson Davies,
Library had loads, but What's bred in the Bone for starters.
Kim Thúy Maybe Ru or Man - library doesn't have then, but I'll ask.

February: Helen Humphreys, Stephen Leacock
I have The Reinvention of Love on the kindle, so I might use that. Library has The Penguin collected Stephen Leacock.

March: Farley Mowat I have five to choose from at the library!
Anita Rau Badami Library has Hero's Walk

April: Margaret Atwood I have some on the TBR pile...
Michael Crummey library has Sweetland

May: Michel Tremblay library has Making room
Emily St. John Mandel three to choose from at the library, plus the amazing Station Eleven

June: Timothy Findley The Butterfly Plague
Joseph Boyden The Orenda has a 5 star rating from my fellow library users, so I'll look at that.

July: LM Montgomery I'll probably reread Anne of the Island which is a favourite.
Pierre Berton The Dionne years

August: Mordechai Richler Solomon Gursky was here looks like fun.
Gabrielle Roy Where nests the water hen has a lovely title...

September: Miriam Toews, I have A boy of good breeding on the TBR pile.
Dany Laferrière the library has copies of The Enigma of the Return :-)

October: Lawrence Hill, Jane Urquhart
Someone knows my name by Hill and Sanctuary line by Urquhart are both available and sound good.

November: Michael Ondaatje, Coming through Slaughter sounds good, if I can get hold of it. I've read a fair bit by him, so not too worried by this month.
Margaret Laurence I'll start with The Stone Angel although the library again has several to choose from.

December: Alice Munro, There was an article in the paper about Lives of Girls and Women a while back, so I should probably aim to read that.
Rawi Hage - Carnival (on my TBR pile)

I have lots in my TBR pile too: several by Helen Humphreys, Margaret Atwood, Timothy Findley, Mordechai Richler, Miriam Toews, Alice Munro and one each of Anita Rau Badami, Michael Crummey, Pierre Burton, Lawrence Hill, Margaret Laurence, Michael Ondaatje and Rawi Hage. Only a couple of these authors are new to me.

I think I've read everything by Jane Urquhart (unless she has a new book out).

These authors I've read and have no interest in reading more: Robertson Davies, Kim Thuy, Farley Mowat, Michel Tremblay, Joseph Boyden, LM Montgomery, and Gabrielle Roy, but I can certainly join in the conversation those months.

I know Guy Vanderhaeghe didn't make the cut for the 2016 CAC but I figure this is a good place to mention that he has just won the 2015 Governor General award (his third GG award), as he was one of the authors mentioned for the 2016 CAC. A good candidate for a 2017 CAC. ;-)

This is a fascinating list. Like many others I won't be able to read all of them or even get them read in the month in which they should be read But I will follow the monthly chatter and read what I can and join in when I can do so.

I love the fact that there are readers out there who want to read and talk about what they read and that somebody is willing to put together lists like this. You can count on me being around for some of the talk on the CAC threads.

I only have one Robertson Davies and one Michael Ondaatje, so am going to have settle down to a major exploration of available books at my library. Looking forward to that.

Is it my imagination or does Alice Munro write pretty much nothing but short stories?

>161 Fourpawz2: Yes, Alice Munro is a short story writer. A couple of her books are linked stories that sometimes get classified as novels if you have imagination and stand on one leg while whistling a cheerful tune.

>162 Nickelini: I just chuckled out loud! Well said.

I'll probably read these books from my library for this challenge:

January:
Robertson Davies, Fifth Business (I own The Deptford Trilogy)
Kim Thúy, Ru

February:
Stephen Leacock, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town

March:

April:
Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin (I also own The Handmaid's Tale)
Michael Crummey, Galore

May:
Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven

June:

July:

August:

September:
Miriam Toews, All My Puny Sorrows (if I don't read it in December)

October:
Lawrence Hill, Someone Knows My Name

November:
Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion

December:
Alice Munro, The View from Castle Rock (I also own Lives of Girls and Women)
Rawi Hage, De Niro's Game (I also own Cockroach)

>162 Nickelini: - Thanks for the info *chuckle*. Helps me know what to do about December.

Well, I took a look which authors would be available for me here in Zürich and I came up with eleven. So I'll participate at this challenge when possible.

>127 Smiler69: Excellent list, Ilana. I don't yet know which ones I'll read but I'll definitely be participating some in the first-ever Canadian Author Challenge!

I can't tell you all how pleased I am with all the positive feedback we've gotten about the CAC. I've been lurking on this thread, just need to make time to respond to individual messages.

For now just wanted to say:

>147 Nickelini: >148 jnwelch: Thanks for the encouragement; I ordered The Frozen Thames as soon as I saw your posts—it's on it's way to me now!

Oh dear, I just found this thread, not being in the 75 group. What a lot of work and what a lot of responses. The list certainly represents well known Canadian authors, many of whom started the whole "CanLit" movement, but with the exception of Emily St John Mandel, whom I would consider American, not Canadian, there aren't really any of the younger authors mentioned above in the final list, which is a pity if you are looking for a certain development in the literature of a young country.

When it comes to Acadian literature, I would highly recommend Antonine Maillet's Pélagie. Maillet was the first person ever outside France to win the country's Prix Goncourt, in 1979, and she won it for this book. She has also written La Sagouine. Both these books are available in English translation.

Going back the Davies/Laurence/Richler era, there is also Adele Wiseman and Marion Engel.

Then there is Kenneth J Harvey, the only author I have ever seen receive an apology from a book critic for not including him in his best of list for a particular year. The critic hadn't read Harvey's Blackstrap Hawco until after the year was over, discounting him as an unknown.

Did Esi Edugyan appear on the list?

For anyone making their list and not sure whether or not they can read all twenty-four authors, don't miss Michael Crummey!

>168 Smiler69: The Frozen Thames is a lovely book. Enjoy! You deserve a present to yourself after all this!

This looks like a great challenge! There's a lot of authors there that I'm not familiar with at all

>161 Fourpawz2:, >163 luvamystery65:, >165 Fourpawz2: To clarify my comment on #162 about Alice Munro . . . Lives of Girls and Women is a series of linked stories with one main character, set in a small town. Who Do You Think You Are (also known as The Beggar Maid: Stories of Flo & Rose) is a series of short stories over the lives of these women with a variety of locations.

I recently had a conversation on another thread about the difficulty of reading short story collections where every story is completely different from the others, making the reader construct and reconstruct worlds (time, place, character) with each story. So if you're looking for less world building, the two books I mentioned are the ones sometimes considered as novels. If you don't mind the repeated world building, I recommend Love of a Good Woman, which contains one of the creepiest most disturbing stories I've ever read -- "Fear the Reaper."