Today, Jian Ghomeshi, host of CBC Radio One and CBC- TV’s national arts and culture program Q, announced the theme for CANADA READS 2014: One Novel to Change Our Nation. CANADA READS, CBC’s annual battle of the books, is looking for the one novel that has the power to inspire social change in Canada. This year’s war of the words is about stories that can change your heart, change your mind, change your life and, ultimately, change our country.

From today until October 20th, CBC BOOKS is asking readers to recommend novels they think have what it takes to change our nation. Recommendations can be submitted online at CBC BOOKS. A Top 40 list will be compiled from the public nominations, which will then be narrowed to a Top 10 through public voting. The celebrity panellists will each choose a novel from that list. The five panellists and the books they’ll be defending will be revealed on November 27th on Q and at a public event held at the Canadian Broadcast Centre in Toronto.

“Reading inspires us and novels have the capacity to bring about real and lasting change,” says Ghomeshi, host of Q and CANADA READS. “That’s why we’re asking Canadians to tell us about the novels they feel will inspire a change. We are looking for stories of compassion, tolerance, humour, political engagement, diversity, reconciliation…the stories you feel our nation needs now.

The CANADA READS debates will take place in front of live audiences in March and will be broadcast on radio, TV and online at CBC BOOKS. Each day, one book is eliminated by the panellists until the winning novel is chosen as the must-read book for Canadians in 2014.

To be eligible for CANADA READS, books must be novels by Canadian authors, in English, in print and readily available, and published by a traditional publisher. Books that were finalists in previous CANADA READS campaigns are not eligible for this year’s lists or competition. For more information, please visit CBC BOOKS, and follow the campaign on Twitter @CBCBooks #CanadaReads2014.

ABOUT CBC BOOKS

CBC Books features all of CBC’s rich literary content and major events and programs such as Canada Reads, the Massey Lectures and Canada Writes. This one-stop destination for book lovers and writers includes in-depth information on books, exclusive interviews with authors, the latest news stories from the publishing world, book reviews, best-seller lists, writing workshops and challenges, plus discussions and blogs on the written word. This online meeting place brings together literary enthusiasts to find books they want to read and to connect with other Canadians who love to read and write.

About CBC/Radio-Canada

CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. The Corporation is a leader in reaching Canadians on new platforms and delivers a comprehensive range of radio, television, internet, and satellite-based services. Deeply rooted in the regions, CBC/Radio-Canada is the only domestic broadcaster to offer diverse regional and cultural perspectives in English, French and eight Aboriginal languages.

For more information including series synopses, press releases, hi-res images, video clips and bios, please visit the CBC Media Centre at cbc.ca/mediacentre. Follow CBC’s publicity team on Twitter @CBC_Publicity.

For further information please contact:

Dayna Shiskos, publicist, CBC

Dayna.Shiskos@cbc.ca

(o) (416) 205-7973

(c) (416) 420-5241