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Canada ReadsMy Life in Books

The books and authors that inspired Canada Reads author Esi Edugyan

Olympian and LGBTQ2+ advocate Mark Tewksbury champions Washington Black on Canada Reads 2022. This year's great book debate will take place March 28-31.

Washington Black is being championed by Olympian Mark Tewksbury on Canada Reads 2022

A Black woman with dark, curly hair wearing a blue sweater. She is holding a copy of the novel
Esi Edugyan is the author of Washington Black (CBC)

Esi Edugyan is curious by nature. Her examination of life through a historical and racial lens has resulted in novels about the Black experience throughout history. She is a two-time winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize and her novel Half-Blood Blues was defended by Olympian Donovan Bailey on Canada Reads in 2014.

Her third novel, Washington Black, tells the story of 11-year-old Washington "Wash" Black, a slave on a Barbados sugar plantation in the 19th century. His master is Englishman Christopher "Titch" Wilde, someoneobsessed with developing a machine that can fly.

When a man is killed, Titch must choose between his family and saving Black's life and the choice results in an epic adventure around the world for Wash.

Edugyan won the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize for Washington Black and it was also on the 2018 shortlist for the Man Booker Prize and the 2018 shortlist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.

Washington Black is being championed by Olympian Mark Tewksbury on Canada Reads 2022.

Canada Reads will take place March 28-31. The debates will be hosted by Ali Hassan and will be broadcast on CBC Radio One, CBC TV, CBC Gem and on CBC Books.

Here are some of the books and authors Edugyan has loved reading over the years.

L.M. Montgomery, R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike

L.M. Montgomery, R.L. Stein and Christopher Pike were some of Esi Edugyan's favourite authors growing up. (Tundra Books, Simon Pulse, Simon Pulse)

"I was one of those kids who read so many different things. I remember reading Anne of Green Gables I think every Canadian child at some point picks up that book.

I think every Canadian child's at some point picks up that book.

"So reading a lot of L.M. Montgomery, but also reading a lot of horror novels like R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike and all of those writers."

Just as Long as We're Together by Judy Blume

Just as Long as We're Together is a novel by Judy Blume. (Elena Seibert, Yearling)

"I was a big fan of Judy Blume as well. I had a copy of Just as Long as We're Together that I would read over and over again until it literally fell apart and I had to get a new one.

That one just really spoke to me with the female friendships and all of that.

"That one just really spoke to me with the female friendships and all of that."

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

A film adaptation of Harriet the Spy starring Michelle Trachtenberg came out in 1996. (Paramount Pictures, Puffin Modern Classics)

"Harriet the Spy was another book that I really found delicious because she seemed to be somebody who was on the margins, kind of looking and trying to see the details of others' lives.

That one just really spoke to me with the female friendships and all of that.

"I thought that was great, and I wanted to be just like that."

Crimeand Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Crime and Punishment is a classic novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky. (Hulton Archive, Getty Images, Vintage Books)

"I decided by the end of high school that I wanted to be a writer, and my sister had a friend who had just bought an antiquarian bookshop. I asked her, 'What is your absolute favourite novel?' And she said, 'You have to read Crime and Punishment.' And she said, 'I know it feels like it's very daunting and a very heavy, heavy thing. But you know, there's a lot of humour in it.'

I remember buying this Dover Thrift Edition of Crime and punishment and reading it and just being just blown away. I hadn't read anything like this.

"I remember buying this Dover Thrift Edition of Crime and Punishment,reading it and just being just blown away. I hadn't read anything like this."

So Long, See You Tomorrow byWilliam Maxwell

So Long, See You Tomorrow is a novel by William Maxwell. (Brookie Maxwell)

"William Maxwell's novel So Long, See You Tomorrow is very slim and slender, but contains a whole world. You read it and you don't know how he's done this."

The Neapolitan Novels byElena Ferrante

A light-blue book with the text
The Neapolitan Novels are a four-part series by Elena Ferrante that include the books My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay and The Story of the Lost Child. (Europa Editions)

"During lockdown, I just couldn't put down Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan quartet. I read The Days of Abandonment a few years ago and really admired it, but somehow hadn't made my way to the magnum opus. I couldn't even write all I could do was read these books night and day.

I think a lot of women recognize that kind of friendship, which is filled withcompetition, but also with some great love.

"I loved the richness, the aliveness and the complexity of the relationship. I think a lot of women recognize that kind of friendship, which is filled with competition, but also with some great love."

Esi Edugyan's comments have been edited for length and clarity.

The Canada Reads 2022 contenders

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