Session Description
Head directly to our roundtable space after the event to chat with this year’s Canada Reads authors. This event is live only and will not be available on-demand.
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.