Canada Reads — CBC’s great Canadian book debate — is coming to Hamilton.
CBC Books and the Hamilton Public Library (HPL) are teaming up for a special Canada Reads event in the lead-up to this year’s show, a spokesperson for the library told CBC News.
The event will be held at HPL’s Central branch from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 14, according to the event page posted by CBC Reads on ticket site eventbrite. It will feature Canada Reads contender Morgann Book and author Joss Richard in conversation with Mattea Roach, host of CBC’s Bookends.
Book, who is from Hamilton and “Canada’s biggest book-fluencer,” is one of five celebrity contenders on Canada Reads 2026, the post reads.
“She’s defending the hit debut novel It’s Different This Time by Filipino Canadian writer Joss Richard,” it says.
In conversation with Roach, Joss and Morgann will talk about “the second-chance romance at the heart of the novel … and why Morgann chose to champion it for this year’s Canada Reads.”
In an email to CBC Hamilton, HPL spokesperson Shelley McKay said the library is “thrilled to co-host this literary event.”
McKay said audience members can meet the moderator and panelists and listen “as they discuss this romance genre debut novel.”
The event will be recorded and filmed for broadcast on CBC, and McKay said: “We’re excited Hamilton literary fans will be part of this filming and later broadcast April 13-16.”
Now in its 25th year, the Canada Reads program is hosted by Ali Hassan and airs on CBC Television, Radio, CBC.ca and YouTube.
You can meet this year’s contenders and learn more about the books they’re championing by clicking here.
