A New KIRBC project: Civilians Read

Most regulars to this blog are familiar with Canada Reads, CBC Radio’s annual literary smackdown, in which five Canadian celebrities champion titles of their choice as books all of Canada should read. At the KIRBC, we’re big fans of Canada Reads — it exposes us to new books, lively discussion, and enough reality-show theatrics to make sure it’s never predictable (plus, let’s face it, it’s pretty much a nationally broadcast KIRBC meeting).

The Keepin’ It Real Book Club has offered enthusiastic coverage of CR over the past two years, but we wanted to take it a little further. This year there’s been a lot of experimentation  with Canada Reads (see Canada Reads Independently and Canada Also Reads), though all of these spin-offs have changed the books. So we thought, what happens if you change the panelists? What if average (if ridiculously good looking) people got in the hot seat and took a stab at defending a title? So we’ve assembled five book-obsessed publishing types who have no shortage of opinions and are willing to venture away from the safe anonymity of civilian territory and into the combat zone.

It’s time to get down and dirty, to throw ourselves into the literary debate as well as the alliances and subterfuge. We don’t have any training on the radio. We don’t have professional equipment. It’s going to be a little rough and tumble — it’ll likely lack finesse, basic courtesy, and a catchy theme song. But hopefully we’ll also say some smart things, spark some interesting discussion, and determine how weighty the panelist-X factor is.

We’ll be releasing one podcast every day the week before Canada Reads. So tune in for the first one on March 1, and feel free to join in the debates right here.

Important Note: This project is not affiliated with CBC Canada Reads, but all the participants are obviously fans of the show, and listening to our podcasts are a great warm up for the main event, which runs March 8-12 on CBC Radio 1.  All the usual Canada Reads coverage will still happen here — it’s just two weeks of book battles instead of one!

And introducing our civilians . . .

Jen Knoch (@jen_knoch) adores books and CBC Radio, so for her, Canada Reads is pretty much the stuff of an eHarmony ad. She’s the principal blogger here at the KIRBC online, and is also the founder of the Keepin’ It Real Book Club, which, like this competition, allows her to thrust her reading tastes upon unsuspecting friends.  By day, Jen is an Associate Editor at ECW Press. For the Civilians Read competition, she’ll be your host with the most, trying to live up to the example set by her radio crush, Jian Ghomeshi.

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Erin Balser is an entertainment writer and literary critic in Toronto, Ontario. A displaced Maritimer, she drinks way too much coffee, spends all her time on the internet, pretends she’s a vegan and writes things. You can find her writing things at Books@Torontoist, where she’s the senior editor, Bookclub-in-a-Box, where she’s the associate executive director, and @booksin140, where she reviews books in 140 characters on Twitter. ECW Press is brave enough to publish her first book, Don’t Stop Believin’: An Unofficial Guide to Glee, which will hit shelves in September 2010. For Civilians Read, she will be championing The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy.

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Nic Boshart (@NicBoshart) is the D igital Projects Coordinator for the Association of Canadian Publishers. He’s also co-founder a nd coordinating editor of the indie firm Invisible Publishing and president of the Young Pu blishers of Canada, a monthly social group in Toronto. In his spare time he works on www.FTPubW.com, a blog about publishing. For Civilians Read, he will be championing Nikolski by Nicolas Dickner.

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Sarah Labrie (@SarahLabrie) is the Project Coordinator at the Association of Canadian Publishers, a KIRBC veteran and conspirator at the Keepin’ it Real Book Club blog. In her other life, she enjoys a daily yoga practice, baking Martha Stewart cookies, guitar hero and yelling at TV. She really, really loves books.  Sarah will be championing Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott.

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Ashleigh Gardner (@AshleighGardner) is the Manager of Digital Development for Dundurn Press and the co-author of the blog http://www.ftpubw.com with Nic Boshart. For Civilians Read, Ashleigh will be championing Generation X by Douglas Coupland.

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Natalie St. Pierre is a freelance editor, and the assistant to a literary agent, among other things. For Civilians Read, she will be championing Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald.