When the book ends, the conversation begins. Mattea Roach speaks with writers who have something to say about their work, the world and our place in it. You’ll ...
Emma Donoghue boards a train destined for disaster
There’s a famous black-and-white photograph of a train bursting through the side of a building and falling onto the pavement below. It was taken in 1895 — and Emma Donoghue’s latest novel, The Paris Express, reimagines the story behind that moment. In her retelling, the Irish Canadian writer fills the train with her own vibrant characters. From wealthy politicians to young anarchists, she dives into the complexities of the time as the train races toward its demise.If you enjoyed this conversation, check out these episodes:Jack Wang: Reimagining the lost stories of Chinese Canadians during WWII Paula Hawkins: Exploring the dark side of the art world in new thriller The Blue Hour
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Why Heather O’Neill believes in magic
The great Canadian book debate is underway, so we're revisiting our 2024 conversation with Canadian writer and former Canada Reads winner, Heather O'Neill.Heather’s latest novel, The Capital of Dreams, follows a young girl hunting for her mother’s lost manuscript during a war. She spoke with Mattea Roach about taking inspiration from her own daughter, her love of imperfect art and how famous philosophers inspired a talking goose.Find everything you need to know about Canada Reads at cbcbooks.ca.
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Getting to know Canada’s king of suspense
Linwood Barclay’s literary journey started with writing fanfiction on a typewriter. Over 20 books and millions of copies later, he’s one of Canada’s most successful living writers. His intricate thrillers have captivated audiences around the world — and his newest book, Whistle, comes out in May. Linwood joins Mattea Roach to talk about how he dreams up big thrillers, being mentored by the greats and why he loves model trains. You can also catch Linwood this week as a panellist on Canada Reads 2025. He’s championing the book Jennie’s Boy by Wayne Johnston. Canada Reads airs from March 17th to 20th. Find out more at cbcbooks.ca.
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How Frida Kahlo and Sylvia Plath inspired a novel about chronic pain
Have you ever met someone who felt like a mirror of you? In Katherine Brabon’s new novel, Body Friend, the protagonist meets two women named Frida and Sylvia. All three are living with chronic illness and they’re in profound pain. But when it comes to dealing with that pain, Frida and Sylvia are polar opposites — and our protagonist is caught in the middle. Katherine knows these difficulties firsthand. She joins Mattea Roach to talk about living with and writing about chronic pain. If you enjoyed this conversation, check out these episodes:Kate Gies: Reclaiming her body after years of medical traumaSarah Leavitt: Illustrating grief too wide for words
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We can still avoid a tech dystopia — here’s how
Years before he coined the term “enshittification,” Cory Doctorow was just a kid who was fascinated by computers — until he saw how profit and monopoly tainted the industry. Now, Cory is a leading policy advocate and writer who uses fiction to explore how things could be different. His latest novel, Picks & Shovels, is the third in his series about forensic accountant Martin Hench, who investigates financial crime in Silicon Valley. Cory joins Mattea to talk about the dawn of the PC, how the promise of computing got so off track and why jail-breaking your Tesla might be the best response to U.S. tariffs. If you enjoyed this conversation, check out these episodes:Helen Phillips: In a world run by AI, what makes us human? Rachel Kushner: In Booker Prize finalist Creation Lake, an agent provocateur faces deep questions about how to live
When the book ends, the conversation begins. Mattea Roach speaks with writers who have something to say about their work, the world and our place in it. You’ll always walk away with big questions to ponder and new books to read.
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