Omar El AkkadTag

"I am a Listener First" The 2022 Canada Reads Panelists on Keeping Open Minds & Hearts in the Big Book Battle

The clock is ticking: next week, CBC Canada Reads is back for 2022, with a superstar line up of books that makes it impossible to guess the eventual winner (just the way we like it!).The 2022 panelist ...

Why Canada Reads Needs Unhappy Narratives

Each year on Canada Reads, five books of fiction and nonfiction are chosen by Canadian celebrities who advocate for their book of choice as one that “all of Canada should read.” One book is voted ...

CBC Books Announces The 2022 Canada Reads Panellists & Books, Including Two Giller Winning Novels

This March, one Canadian writer will add the coveted CBC Canada Reads crown to their honours, and it looks like this year, a major literary honour won't be an unfamiliar experience for the eventual winner. ...

Omar El Akkad Wins $100,000 Scotiabank Giller Prize for Sophomore Novel

Last night, at one of the first in-person literary events since the beginning of the pandemic, novelist Omar El Akkad was announced as the winner of the $100,000 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize. El Akkad, ...

Zoom Class: Omar El Akkad and the Challenges of Writing Resistance

Sometimes there are Zoom meetings that can break you. Last week it took me five days to recover from the nausea, headaches, and light sensitivity caused by one single day of back-to-back virtual meetings. ...

CBC Canada Reads Crowns 2018 Champion

(The 2018 winner of CBC Canada Reads is revealed below!)Today in front of a studio audience in Toronto, CBC Canada Reads panelist Mozhdah Jamalzadah, host of The Mozhdah Show, hesitated before revealing ...