Novelist Sharon Bala shares what sparked her to write about the recent experiences of Tamil refugees. For students working on their entries for CBC Books' Shakespeare Selfie youth writing challenge, Sharon's advice will inspire them to search for real-life details when depicting current events through fiction.
Kristin Kreuk (The Burden of Truth, Smallville) talks about what makes a monologue powerful from her perspective as an actor. Learning how she prepares for a performance and what makes the material easy to work with may help students prepare for CBC Books' Shakespeare Selfie student writing challenge.
Actress Bahareh Yaraghi performs the winning entry from the 2017 Shakespeare Selfie student writing challenge, Grades 7 to 9 category. "That Something Wicked" was written by Ali Nelson, who attends Abbey Park High School in Oakville, Ont. She wrote about the Syrian Civil War from the perspective of Macbeth's First Weird Sister.
Why does the work of Shakespeare continue to be relevant? Kenneth Oppel, author and judge for CBC Books' Shakespeare Selfie 2018 student writing challenge, and Philippa Sheppard, English professor at the University of Toronto, discuss the Bard's continuing popularity in the 21st century, his craft in writing the soliloquy, his ease with both humour and tougher topics like political power ...
Former UN ambassador Stephen Lewis stresses the importance of being well-organized, but also maintaining the ability to enjoy a great argument from another debater (like Wab Kinew). Stephen defended The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood in Canada Reads 2014.
Actress Kristin Kreuk emphasizes the importance of being prepared for difficult conversations, plus other debating advice. She defended Kamal Al-Solaylee's memoir Intolerable in Canada Reads 2015.
Writer and rapper Humble The Poet talks about the importance of letting the other person know that you hear what they have to say, along with other debating tips. He championed the André Alexis novel Fifteen Dogs and emerged the winner on Canada Reads 2017.
Elaine "Lainey" Lui is proud of her competitive spirit and argues for the importance of women showing their competitive side, along with other aspects of her debating strategy. She defended Raziel Reid's debut novel When Everything Feels like the Movies in Canada Reads 2015.
Artistic director of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), past panellist and winner of Canada Reads 2015, Cameron Bailey shares what he should have paid more attention to from the beginning when defending the book Ru by Kim Thúy, plus other debating tips.
Actor, stand-up comedian, host of CBC Radio's Laugh Out Loud, and host of Canada Reads 2018, Ali Hassan shares what he's learned about the tricky job of moderating a debate.