Session Description
In this virtual panel discussion, Executive Director and Canada Reads superfan Jael Richardson returns to moderate our annual Canada Reads conversation with 2026 finalists. Join us for a lively, thoughtful discussion about craft, competition, and the stories that captured the nation’s attention on this year’s Canada Reads.
Watch on YouTube Live or join us in the virtual platform where passholders can join an intimate virtual meet-and-greet and connect directly with the authors immediately following the discussion.
Sponsored by Penguin Random House Canada.
Featured Speaker(s)
Billy-Ray Belcourt
Billy-Ray Belcourt (he/him) is from the Driftpile Cree Nation in northwest Alberta, Treaty 8 territory. He holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Alberta. He is the author of This Wound is a World, NDN Coping Mechanisms, A History of My Brief Body, A Minor Chorus, Coexistence, and, most recently, The Idea of an Entire Life. He is an Associate Professor in the School of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. He lives in Vancouver.
Tyler Hellard
Tyler Hellard (he/him) lives in Calgary with his wife and kids. His writing has appeared in Avenue Magazine, Canadian Geographic, Create Calgary, THIS Magazine, The Walrus, and on CBC Radio. His debut novel, “Searching For Terry Punchout,” was shortlisted for the 2019 Amazon First Novel Award, the 2019 Kobo Emerging Writers’ Prize and Canada Reads 2026.
Loghan Paylor
Loghan Paylor (they/them) is a queer, trans writer whose first novel, The Cure for Drowning, was shortlisted for Canada Reads 2026, longlisted for the Giller Prize, named a Globe and Mail Best Book, and a finalist for the Jim Deva Prize for Writing That Provokes. Their work has also appeared in Room, Prairiefire, and on the longlist for the CBC Nonfiction Prize. A graduate of The Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University, they have an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and divide their time between teaching, writing, and co-owning a game company.
Joss Richard
Joss Richard (she/her), international bestselling author of It’s Different This Time, is an editorial & social director who’s worked at companies such as Hello Sunshine and Reese’s Book Club, The Walt Disney Company, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Netflix, and Paramount. She’s also the creator and host of Three’s Company, Too: A Rewatch Podcast and has been formally recognized with a Daytime Emmy Award. Born in Toronto, Ontario, to Filipino immigrant parents, Richard currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California.
Jael Richardson
Jael Richardson (she/her) is the founder and Executive Director of FOLD and the co-host of Into the FOLD: A Book and Lit Fest podcast. She has written a memoir, a novel and three children’s picture books. Her debut novel, Gutter Child, was a finalist for the Amazon First Novel Award and the White Pine Award, and her middle grade anthology Today I Am: 10 Stories of Belonging was a finalist for the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award. Richardson holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and lives in Brampton, Ontario.