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15 Fascinating Facts About Canada

It’s big — the second-largest country in the world behind Russia — and it’s home to forests, mountains, beaches, rivers, streams and majestic wildlife. But there is much more to know about Canada than most people realize. For example, it has the largest coastline in the world, and it sits in six different time zones. Here are 15 more Canada facts about the country nicknamed the Great White North.

Canada does indeed have the largest coastline in the world. It would take the average person about four and a half years to walk all the way around the country, and that’s if they didn’t stop to eat or sleep. The entire country covers 3,855,103 square miles.

Donut Capital

If you’re a donut fan, you may want to head straight to Canada. The country is home to more donut shops than any other country in the world. That’s a lot of sugary goodness.

Polar Bears

If you’ve ever dreamed of seeing polar bears in the wild, you better head to Canada. Out of the 25,000 left in the world, approximately 15,500 live in the country. The town of Churchill is the best place to spot them, as you’re likely to see more bears than people.

Land of Lakes

If you like spending time at the lake, Canada may be your dream vacation spot. The country is home to over two million lakes of all sizes. The biggest are the ones it shares with the United States: Lake Superior and Lake Huron.

Most Famous Resident

Canada has produced many celebrities, including Drake, Justin Bieber, Celine Dion and Ryan Reynolds, but there’s one person who is more famous than any of those people combined. The Canadian government once declared Santa Claus a resident of the country, and kids can even send letters to him there and receive a response each Christmas.

Plenty of Forests

Despite the fact that Canada is the second-largest country in the world, nearly one third of it is covered by forestland. That’s 10 percent of the world’s forests in one country. Most Canadian residents live in urban areas.

Cold as Mars

It can get pretty cold in Canada. Anyone who has ever lived there or even visited knows that. But what you may not know is that, back in 1947, temperatures were recorded that were comparable to the surface temperature on Mars. That’s about – 81.4 degrees.

During the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, French and English settlers built walls around Quebec City to help keep it safe from potential invaders. Those walls remain standing today, making Quebec City the only city north of Mexico to have a walled enclosure.

National Parks

Canada is home to 47 National Parks. Some of them are so big that they make other countries look pretty small. For example, Alberta’s Wood Buffalo National Park is so large that it takes up more space than countries like Switzerland and Denmark.

Northernmost

If you’ve ever wondered how far north people live on the Earth, wonder no more. A little settlement called Alert, Nunavut, which is about 500 miles from the North Pole, is the northernmost place where people live permanently on the planet. July temps are around 38 degrees, while it gets down to around – 26 in January.

Mac and Cheese

Americans consume a lot of macaroni and cheese, but not as much as their northern neighbors. Kraft reports that Canadians consume more of the comfort food than any other country in the world.

Frozen Ocean

It gets cold on the Canadian island of Newfoundland, but you probably don’t realize just how cold. Sometimes the Atlantic Ocean surrounding the island freezes to a point that residents can actually skate on it and play hockey.

If Santa is an official Canadian resident, it only makes sense that he’d need to live in a place that has plenty of reindeer for him to choose from. The country is home to over two million caribou. No word on whether any of them have red noses.

Americans may be in love with basketball, be it the NBA, college hoops or even local high school teams. Many people don’t realize the beloved sport has Canadian roots. Dr. James Naismith of Ontario invented the game in 1891.

Snake Capital

Scared of snakes? You may want to avoid Manitoba. The Canadian province has more snakes than any other place in the world. Every spring, approximately 70,000 snakes come out of hibernation.

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Book News & Features

Romance writers of america was doing better with race — until a recent award choice.

Karen Grigsby Bates

There is a saying a friend with Louisiana roots has about people who keep doing the same thing, even while that keeps yielding less-than-felicitous results. Those people, my friend says, are " stuck on stupid ."

Romance Writers of America, the trade organization for writers specializing in the romance genre, must be feeling that way right about now. After a stretch of racial reckoning over the organization's lack of diversity in both leadership and awardees , RWA reconfigured its board and vowed to do better.

And it has, somewhat. The board is more diverse now than it was. More attention is being paid to writers of color. If the improvements didn't have a rocketlike trajectory, they were moving in the right direction.

And the Vivian Award goes to ...

And then came this year's inaugural Vivian awards. The Vivians (formerly known as the RITAs) are, according to RWA, "the highest award of distinction in romance fiction" in several categories. Past recipients include bestsellers Nora Roberts and Susan Elizabeth Phillips. And while no Black author won a RITA until Kennedy Ryan in 2019 (the last year the prize was awarded before the name was retired), two prominent Black authors — historical romance writer Beverly Jenkins and contemporary romance writer Brenda Jackson — have each received a coveted Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award (in 2017 and 2012, respectively).

Racism Scandal In The Romance Writing Industry

Book News & Features

Romance writers of america leadership resigns.

This year, the Vivian in the "Romance with Religious or Spiritual Elements" category was awarded to Karen Witemeyer for At Love's Command , and a number of its critics thought RWA was Stuck on Stupid again. Witemeyer's book, says Religion News Service , "opens with a depiction of the Wounded Knee Massacre that some readers and authors have criticized as romanticizing the killing of Native Americans." The love interest, an officer in the 7th Cavalry, commands the Lakota Sioux to put down their weapons, citing Scripture as his rationale . When a religious leader from the tribe begins chanting, a shot goes off (on purpose? by accident? from whose side?), the order to fire is issued and scores of men, women and children are slaughtered. Then the hero asks God's forgiveness and, eventually, claims his woman.

Critics say the choice glorifies genocide

The irony of the choice did not escape several who took to social media to protest: On Twitter, author Jenny Hartwell shared an email she sent to RWA board members : "Romances have flawed heroes and heroines who find redemption through the transformative power of love. However, aren't there some people who shouldn't be redeemed? Nazis. Slave owners. Soldiers who commit genocide." Hartwell continued: "Can this author write this story? Absolutely. Free speech is important. But should our organization give this story its highest award? Absolutely not."

Others resigned their membership in RWA . One member, Bronwyn Parry, served as a judge for the Vivians. "I had high hopes for the VIVIAN award and the strategies for cultural change that the RWA Board have put in place over the past two years," Parry said in a statement on her website . She expressed pleasure at the diversity of the offerings in the category she was judging — a stated goal of the awards — but was dismayed when all the finalists in that category were (including her) white women writing heterosexual characters. When At Love's Command was named a winner, she asked that her book be withdrawn from final consideration and her name removed from the finalists' list.

The Vivians were in fact named for RWA founder Vivian L. Stephens , an African American with publishing experience who founded romance lines for Dell in the late 1970s and Harlequin in the early 1980s that aimed to reflect all of America. That one of the current awards honoring Stephens' work should be bestowed on a romance that begins with the shedding of Indigenous blood (and in a year in which the revelations of hundreds of Indigenous deaths in Canada and some in the U.S. at so-called Indian boarding schools have shocked North America) — it's almost too much for some .

RWA rescinds the award ... but what's next?

After a few days of controversy, RWA rescinded the Vivian for At Love's Command . "RWA is in full support of First Amendment rights," said the organization in a statement; "however, as an organization that continually strives to improve our support of marginalized authors, we cannot in good conscience uphold the decision of the judges in voting to celebrate a book that depicts the inhumane treatment of indigenous people and romanticizes real world tragedies that still affect people to this day. RWA is rescinding the Vivian awarded to the book finalist 'At Love's Command.' "

As a number of tweets since this latest controversy exploded might indicate, RWA is still pretty stuck. Going forward, RWA's members and others will be watching to see if the organization can pull itself out of that rut.

Correction Aug. 6, 2021

An earlier version of this story misattributed a quote to The Washington Post . The quote is from Religion News Service.

Clarification: Author Bronwyn Parry's statement about all award finalists being white women referred specifically to books in the category she was judging.

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Courtney Milan, whose criticism of another writer’s book led to punishment from the Romance Writers of America, said that the group canceling this year’s awards program “is the first right decision I’ve seen RWA make in this whole debacle.”

By Concepción de León

Published Jan. 7, 2020 Updated Jan. 9, 2020

The Romance Writers of America ended 2019 reeling from the backlash to its handling of a racism accusation . It is beginning this year by canceling its 2020 awards for romance novels, known in the industry as the Ritas, after it said that several contestants and judges had already pulled out.

The awards, which recognize “excellence in published romance novels and novellas,” are typically given during the trade organization’s annual conference in the summer. But in a statement released on Monday, the R.W.A. said that many had “lost faith” in its ability to conduct a fair contest, leading participants to withdraw.

“The contest will not reflect the breadth and diversity of 2019 romance novels/novellas and thus will not be able to fulfill its purpose of recognizing excellence in the genre,” it said in the statement, adding that it planned to recognize 2019 and 2020 books next year. The organization declined to comment further.

Romance books are a lucrative part of the publishing industry, with a deeply engaged fan base, but the lack of diversity among the genre’s writers has been an ongoing topic of debate . Many readers, writers and others in the community followed the turmoil that engulfed the R.W.A. late last month, when the organization suspended Courtney Milan, a former board member and chair of its ethics committee, and banned her from leadership positions in response to an ethics complaint. Ms. Milan, a romance writer who is Chinese-American, had criticized the depiction of Chinese women in the novel “Somewhere Lies the Moon,” prompting its author, Kathryn Lynn Davis, an honorary R.W.A. member, and Suzan Tisdale, who employs Ms. Davis at a publishing imprint, to file ethics complaints against Ms. Milan.

The R.W.A.’s punishment was widely criticized on social media and by other writers, and the organization quickly reversed course on its decision. Still, eight board members resigned in protest, as did the former president Carolyn Jewel, and a petition calling for the resignation of the R.W.A.’s new president, Damon Suede, has been submitted to the organization.

Responding to the news that the R.W.A. canceled this year’s Ritas, Ms. Milan tweeted : “Well, I think canceling the RITAs this year is the first right decision I’ve seen RWA make in this whole debacle.”

It is not the first time an organization has canceled an awards program in response to controversy. In 2018, the Nobel Committee delayed its literature prize as a result of a wide-ranging sexual abuse and harassment scandal . The Ritas have drawn criticism before over the lack of diversity in nominations , resulting in an effort by the R.W.A’s president at the time, HelenKay Dimon, to emphasize the contributions of writers of color.

Nisha Sharma, whose young adult romance “My So-Called Bollywood Life” won a Rita award last year, was among three writers of color who won. The other two, M. Malone and Kennedy Ryan, were the first African-Americans to win in the organization’s history.

“I felt for the first time, in the 10 years that I’ve been a member of the organization, that I was heard, that I was represented, that I was appreciated,” Ms. Sharma said. “That ceremony gave me this sense of hope that things were getting better.”

But she said she has been disheartened by the recent turmoil in the R.W.A. and believes there should be an “overhaul of leadership” before the awards ceremony is put in place again.

Last week, the R.W.A. announced plans to hire a law firm that will audit the process of the ethics complaint against Ms. Milan “to provide a clear report of the facts.” On Monday, it said in its statement that by taking the year off from the contest, “we will be able to move away from making piecemeal changes.” It added that it plans to hire consultants who specialize in awards programs and in diversity, equity and inclusion to build a program “that celebrates and elevates the best in our genre.”

Our contests

RWA has a long and proud history of providing contest opportunities across multiple sub-genres for authors at all levels of their careers. Our first contests were run in 1992, and since then we have offered multiple contests each year for those wanting to display their talent and receive valuable feedback about their work.

Our contests are judged by a mixture of other writers, avid romance readers, acquiring editors and literary agents, giving you the chance to get your work seen by a range of industry professionals.

Contest winners are presented at our annual conference Gala Awards dinner in August each year.

With the exception of the Ruby Award our contests are open to RWA members only, with eligibility determined by your RWA membership category. Terms and conditions apply.

Looking for more contests?

Each Australian state has a Writers’ Centre. For more information about the contests they are running, please see their websites.

Writing NSW Writers Victoria Queensland Writers Centre Writing WA Writers SA ACT Writers Northern Territory Writers Centre TasWriters

Internationally, we also have several options for contests.

Romance Writers of New Zealand Romance Writers of America - Organisation and individual chapters Romantic Novelist Association (UK) Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada

2023 Contest Timeline

The sapphire award.

Closed: Monday 3 October 2022

The Emerald Award

Ripping start.

Closed: Friday 28 October 2022

Sweet Treats

Closed: Monday 14 November 2022

Spicy Bites

Closed: Monday 14 November 2022 5pm AEDT

The Ruby Award

Closed: Monday 23 January 2023

Closed: Monday 27 February 2023

Contest line-up

The First Kiss gives you the opportunity to showcase that romantic tension. Enter a 1500-word scene involving your protagonists’ first kiss, plus a half-page set-up.

Opens: TBA Closes: TBA

Eligibility: RWA Aspiring or Emerging members only.

Entry: O ne scene up to 1500 words (max) depicting the first kiss between your protagonists. A half page set up should also be included, which is also judged.

Entry fee: $39.00 inc GST

Final Judge: Lex Hirst, Publisher - Pantera Press

Terms and conditions Sample scoresheet Formatting sample

The Sapphire Award is an opportunity for published authors to have an unpublished manuscript judged by readers before the final three go to a publisher for final judging. The first round is for the first 10,000 words, second and final rounds are for the full manuscript.

Eligibility: RWA Emerging or Established members only, with works of fiction commercially available or contracted. The entry itself must be unpublished/uncontracted.

Entry: The first 10,000 words of your unpublished/uncontracted romance or romantic elements manuscript (10K+). Entrants who reach the second round will need to submit their full manuscript. Entries are to be uploaded to an online form.

Entry fee: $49.00 inc GST

Final Judge: Rachael Donovan, Commissioning Editor - Harlequin

The Emerald Award is our major contest for unpublished writers, offering a unique opportunity to have your full manuscript judged if you make the second round. Initial entry is the first 10,000 words of your manuscript.

Opens: TBA Closes: TBA

Eligibility: RWA Aspiring or Emerging members only, with no works 10K+ commercially available.

Entry fee: $49.00 incl GST per entry. (A maximum of two entries are permitted per entrant)

Final Judge: Beverley Cousins, Publisher - Penguin Random House

Ripping Start is for the first 1,500 words of your romance or romantic elements novel or novella. A great way to hone your hook.

Opens: TBA Closes: TBA

Eligibility: RWA Aspiring or Emerging members only, with no works 10K+ commercially available. Work (10K+) from which entry is taken must not be commercially available. Up to two entries per member are permitted.

Entry: The first 1,500 words (max) of your manuscript plus a mini synopsis ( 300 word (max) overview that should tell judges what your story is about, complete with the ending/resolution). Entries are to be uploaded via an online form.

Final Judge: Stacey Clair, Editor - Hachette

Spicy Bites is for erotic short stories t hat use the theme as an integral part of the story which have a high heat level with sexually explicit scenes. Finalists will have their story published in an RWA anthology.

Opens: Monday 17 October 2022 Closes: Monday 21 November 2022

Eligibility: All RWA members.

Entry: A short story to a maximum of 3000-5000 words. The story must be a romance (HEA/HFN) with a sexually explicit storyline. All subgenres. The 2023 theme is 'Silk'. We recommend entrants read previous Spicy Bites anthologies to get a feel for the variety of responses to the themes and story format which have been successful. Entries are to be uploaded via an online form.

Sweet Treats is for romantic short stories t hat use the theme as an integral part of the story that have a medium heat level with no sexually explicit scenes. Finalists will have their story published in an RWA anthology.

Opens: Monday 17 October 2022 Closes: Monday 14 November 2022

Entry: A short story to a maximum of 3000 words. The 2023 theme is 'Lollipops'. We recommend entrants read previous Sweet Treats anthologies to get a feel for the variety of responses to the themes and story format which have been successful. Entries are to be uploaded via an online form.

The Romantic Book of the Year (RUBY) is our contest for published novels and novellas by Australian or New Zealand authors. It includes sections for Contemporary, Historical, Suspense, Speculative Fiction, Romantic Elements and Novella.

Closed: Monday 23 January 2023 - 5pm AEST

Eligibility: Work published in Australia and New Zealand only.

Entry: Romantic novels (40K+) and novellas (10K–40K) which were first published (in digital or print) between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2022. Limit of 3 entries per entrant.

Entry fee: $69.00 inc GST (RWA members) $179 inc GST (Non members)

Terms and conditions Sample scoresheet

Why the implosion of the Romance Writers of America matters

This article was published more than 3 years ago. Some information may no longer be current.

The Romance Writers of America (RWA) – the world’s leading guild of romance writers – has effectively imploded, and the future of the organization and its values are at stake, along with its major role across the North American publishing industry.

Writer Courtney Milan has been at the centre of controversy among the members of the Romance Writers of America. The Canadian Press

A rapid number of events, starting with the censure of Asian-American bestselling author Courtney Milan, have occurred involving the international industry organization over the past three weeks, culminating in the resignations of both its president, Damon Suede, and its executive director, Carol Ritter, on Thursday. “It’s this ugly, raw, wound that’s surfacing, and on the whole, people are pretty upset,” Calgary RWA chapter president Emily Varga said.

Since it was founded in 1980, RWA has grown to more than 9,000 members, and holds a massive annual conference and its own annual awards, the RITAs. The first Canadian RWA chapter was founded in Ottawa in 1985, and there are now four more across the country. “I met my agent at RWA and I met my then-publisher at RWA,” said Ottawa chapter president Lucy Farago.

The growth of RWA is no surprise, considering that romance made up 13.5 per cent of Canadian fiction sales in 2017 and 23 per cent of the overall U.S. fiction market in 2016.

However, diversity, inclusion and the less-than-equal treatment of non-white authors have all been serious issues at RWA for many years, exemplified by how visible minorities continue to be stereotyped in titles by white authors. Toronto RWA chapter president Farah Heron, who made her novel debut with The Chai Factor last year, said she was tired of seeing Asian women portrayed as submissive in romance novels. “It chips away at you over time,” she said.

In late December of last year, this issue garnered a new level of attention after news broke the organization was disciplining Milan.

Last summer, Milan openly criticized depictions of half-Chinese characters in the book Somewhere Lies the Moon by Kathryn Lynn Davis on Twitter. Milan, who is half-Chinese, called the portrayal a "racist mess.” The RWA Ethics Committee found Milan to have “engaged in conduct injurious” to the organization. The ruling came with a punishment of a one-year suspension of membership and a lifetime ban on holding leadership positions within the organization.

There was massive, immediate backlash. Authors and RWA members flooded Twitter, especially after learning ethics complaints may have been filtered by RWA staff, leading to the possibility some did not reach the organization’s Ethics Committee.

In one example, a RWA member from Calgary who writes queer romance entered the RITAs last year. The author received feedback from the judges that the novel didn’t qualify because the story was between two male characters. Varga said the author reported that experience to the RWA but received no response. “There are systemic issues our members have had entering contests,” Varga said, pointing out that RWA has a significant number of members like her who are lawyers and had expressed concerns about the organization’s bylaws and protocols for ethics complaints.

Even though the RWA soon rescinded its ruling against Milan, there was still a cascade of negative consequences, including the resignation of authors who had previously signed up to judge the RITAs , authors pulling their books from RITA consideration, the resignations of members and directors-at-large, the withdrawal of at least 36 agents’ support from future events, significant global press coverage, as well as public support for Milan from superstar authors Nora Roberts , Neil Gaiman and N.K. Jemisin.

Dozens of RWA chapters across North America, including in Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa, issued public statements condemning the organization’s senior leadership and the actions against Milan. Several publishers also pulled their support from RWA and its national conference, including Avon , Berkley Romance , Entangled, HarperCollins Canada, Harlequin, Kensington, St. Martin’s, Gallery Books and Tule Publishing .

Last Tuesday, the 2020 RITAs were officially cancelled , citing the contest’s inability to “reflect the breadth and diversity of 2019 romance novels/novellas.” Two days later, RWA announced Suede and Ritter would step down from their positions, though Ritter would have a transition period of several months.

But the statement about the resignations did not include an apology to Milan nor go into detail about what happened. “Telling us that they’re going to be transparent and honest is not the same thing as showing us that they will be,” Heron said.

What has happened within RWA isn’t just about the future of a literary genre that has frequently been subject to misogyny and stereotyped as being frivolous or not as prestigious as other kinds of fiction, despite its massive sales. “This is about our livelihoods and our careers,” Heron said.

The situation has also highlighted how badly the romance genre and the publishing industry at large have treated non-white authors, even best-selling ones. Until 2019, there were no black winners at the RITA awards, despite several authors such as Beverly Jenkins and Alyssa Cole earning critical acclaim and appearing on several bestseller lists.

For many RWA members, most of their involvement and loyalty has been through their local chapter’s monthly meetings, training and writing seminars. Some chapters are considering no longer officially affiliating with the national organization. And even with the resignations at the senior level, Varga and Heron said many Canadian chapter members are not planning to attend the national conference in San Francisco this year due to the significant number of author, speaker and publisher withdrawals, and the cancellation of the RITA awards.

“You can get all these brand new or unreleased books signed by the author,” Heron said, calling the free giveaways one of the best and most fun parts of the conference, despite the long lines. “Those [major] publishers not coming means that won’t happen.”

Varga, Farago and Heron said the organization has a lot of work ahead of it to regain the trust of its members, including an actual apology to Milan and greater transparency about what happened. Varga said the choices RWA makes now, and which group it aims its changes toward, will determine its long-term future.

“Are you trying to make the people who say racist things happy?” she said. “Or are you trying to make people who call out racism happy?”

There’s also the possibility of starting an entirely new organization for romance writers with a new set of bylaws, board of directors and values. It’s an outcome many members aren’t thrilled about but understand might be necessary.

“I would be sad to see the organization go,” Farago said. "But if it needs to go to fix it then that’s what has to happen.”

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12 Canadian books about love and romance to read in summer 2021

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If you're looking to heat up your summer reading, check out one of these great Canadian tales of love and romance.

Our Darkest Night by Jennifer Robson

Our Darkest Night is a novel about a young Jewish woman who posed as a Christian farmer's wife during the Second World War in order to survive the Holocaust. Antonina leaves behind her family to live with Nico, a young man who was studying to become a priest but had to return home to run his family farm. But Antonina, who grew up in the city, struggles to adapt to farm life. When their neighbours become suspicious, they are not sure their lie will be enough to keep Antonina safe.

Jennifer Robson on the unsung heroes of WW I

Jennifer Robson is a historical fiction writer from Toronto. Her other books include Goodnight From London , Moonlight Over Paris , After the War is Over , Somewhere in France, Fall of Poppies and The Gown .

Soulstar by C. L. Polk

Soulstar is the third and final book in C.L. Polk's Kingston Cycle fantasy series, after Witchmark and Stormsong . Robin Thorpe has led a quiet life in Riverside, keeping her magical powers a secret so she can stay safe. But when freed witches come to town, wanting to rejoin the kingdom, Robin knows it's time to use her powers again — but will she have to sacrifice her personal happiness in the process?

C.L. Polk's fantasy novel The Midnight Bargain explores love and magic

Polk is a fantasy writer from Calgary. Their other books include Witchmark , Stormsong and The Midnight Bargain . Witchmark , their debut novel, won the 2019 World Fantasy Award for best novel. The Midnight Bargain was championed by Olympian and broadcaster Rosey Edeh on Canada Reads 2021.

Ann Shin's documentary gives a voice to the refugee experience

Accidentally engaged by farah heron.

Accidentally Engaged is the second romantic comedy from Farah Heron. In Accidentally Engaged , Reena Manji refuses to be attracted to the man her parents have set her up with — the charming and attractive Nadim. But when Reena gets the opportunity to enter a cooking competition, she will do anything to win — even pretend to be engaged to Nadim.

Farah Heron on why conflict is key when writing a romantic comedy

Heron is a writer from Toronto. She is also the author of the romantic comedy The Chai Factor . Her first YA novel, Tahira in Bloom , will also be published in November 2021.

Satellite Love by Genki Ferguson

The novel Satellite Love is set in a city in Japan in 1999. Anna is a lonely teenager who turns to stargazing for comfort and escape. But when the Low Earth Orbit satellite (aka LEO) returns Anna's gaze and comes down to earth as Leo, what follows is an unconventional story about love, loneliness and human connection.

Genki Ferguson explores feelings of young love and isolation with debut novel Satellite Love

Genki Ferguson is a writer from Calgary, and the son of acclaimed writer Will Ferguson. Satellite Love is his first book.

The Last Exiles by Ann Shin

The Last Exiles is a novel set in North Korea. It's about two young lovers, Jin and Suja. They meet in university, but their class differences become apparent when they return home — and may keep them apart. When Jin sees how much his family is struggling, he decides to escape. When Suja discovers this, she sets after him, and what unfolds is a dangerous and precarious journey for them both.

Ann Shin is a writer and filmmaker from Toronto. Her documentary films include My Enemy, My Brother and The Defector: Escape from North Korea. My Enemy, My Brother was nominated for an Academy Award in 2014. She has directed programs for several television networks, including CBC. She is also the author of three poetry collections. The Last Exiles is her first novel.

Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin

Hana Khan Carries On is a romantic comedy from Uzma Jalaluddin. In Hana Khan Carries On , Hana is an aspiring radio host who is working at her family's halal restaurant. When her aunt and a cousin come to town, and a rival restaurant opens in their neighbourhood, Hana's life is upended and family secrets are revealed. Fighting for her family is a big battle, one that will put all of Hana's skills to the test. It's a battle that gets more complicated by Hana's growing attraction to the rival restaurant's attractive owner, Aydin.

Uzma Jalaluddin's novel Hana Khan Carries On is a modern day meet-cute inspired by a love of rom-coms

Jalaluddin is a teacher, parenting columnist and author based in Ontario. She is also the author of the novel Ayesha At Last .

Letters Across the Sea by Genevieve Graham

Letters Across the Sea is the story of a Protestant girl and her Jewish neighbour in Toronto, against the backdrop of the Depression. Their lives are forever changed living through the rise of Adolf Hitler, the Nazis and a wave of hate that would ignite the Second World War.

Read excerpt from Letters Across the Sea by Genevieve Graham

Genevieve Graham is a historical fiction writer from Nova Scotia. Her other books include At the Mountain's Edge , Tides of Honour, Come From Away and The Forgotten Home Child .

The Lover, the Lake by Virginia Pésémapeo Bordeleau, translated by Susan Ouriou

The Lover, the Lake was a sensation when it was originally published in French. Now available in English, The Lover, the Lake is a celebration of Indigenous sexuality and sensuality. It is the story of a forbidden but fulfilling love affair between Wabougouni and Gabrie, set against the backdrop of Lake Abitibi.

Virginia Pésémapeo Bordeleau is a visual artist and published author of Cree origin. She has published three novels and four poetry collections, including Blue Bear Woman .

Susan Ouriou is a writer, editor and literary translator from Calgary. She has won the Governor General's Literary Award for translation for her work.

Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo

Ties That Tether is about a young woman who must decide between a promise she made her dying father and following her heart. Azere was 12 years old when she told her father she would marry a Nigerian man and honour her family's culture, even after moving to Canada. But when Azere has a one-night stand with a white man she meets in a bar, things surprisingly get serious. Can Azere make it work without betraying her family, or herself?

25 books by Black Canadian authors to read in 2021

Jane Igharo came to Canada from Nigeria when she was 12 years old. She currently lives in Toronto. Ties That Tether is her first book.

Love after the End edited by Joshua Whitehead

Love after the End is an anthology of speculative fiction that imagines a utopian future for LGBTQ and two-spirit people, curated and edited by poet and novelist Joshua Whitehead .

Contributors include Nathan Adler, Darcie Little Badger, Gabriel Castilloux Calderon, Adam Garnet Jones, Mari Kurisato, Kai Minosh Pyle, David Alexander Robertson, jaye simpson and Nazbah Tom.

Joshua Whitehead and Darcie Little Badger talk about the power of Indigenous speculative fiction

Whitehead is an Oji-nêhiyaw, two-spirit writer, poet and Indigiqueer scholar from Peguis First Nation. His book, full-metal indigiqueer , is a collection of experimental poems that aim to provoke discussion and debate. Jonny Appleseed , his debut novel, won Canada Reads 2021 when it was championed by actor Devery Jacobs.

You are Eating an Orange. You are Naked. by Sheung-King

You are Eating an Orange. You are Naked. is a surreal novel about a translator who travels the globe with his lover. Along the way, they tell each other stories, pose philosophical questions and share their ideas about the world. It's glamorous and stimulating, but the lover often disappears without explanation.

Sheung-King is a writer born in Vancouver, raised in Hong Kong and currently living in Toronto. You are Eating an Orange. You are Naked. is his first book.

The Forgotten Daughter by Joanna Goodman

The Forgotten Daughter is about a surprising love affair set against the backdrop of the Quebec separatist movement of the early 1990s. Veronique is the daughter of a prominent separatist activist, who was convicted of kidnapping and murdering a politician in the 1970s. Veronique has passionately taken up her father's cause. James is a journalist who opposed separation, and whose sister, Elodie, was one of the Duplessis Orphans, and was wrongly declared mentally ill as a child and sent to an institution. As Veronique grows closer to James and Elodie, all three must reckon with Quebec's past and their own role in shaping its future.

Joanna Goodman explores love, passion and politics in novel The Forgotten Daughter

Joanna Goodman is a novelist originally from Montreal and now living in Toronto. She is also the author of The Home for Unwanted Girls.

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RWA Retires RITA Awards, Debuts the 'Vivian' After a Winter of Controversy

The Romance Writers of America will permanently retire its annual RITA Awards, which it has presented annually since 1982, and introduce a new award, the Vivian, named after RWA founder Vivian Stephens.

The move to retire the RITAs follows a controversy related to issues of diversity at the organization this winter that saw the resignation of its newly-instated president and its entire board of directors , as well as the cancellation of this year's planned RITA Awards ceremony . In January, the RWA announced that it planned to hold the RITAs again "to celebrate 2019 and 2020 romances" in 2021.

“We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Rita Clay Estrada, RWA's first president, for honoring us the past 30 years as the award's namesake, and for her service to RWA and romance authors everywhere,” the RWA board of directors wrote in a letter to its membership .

The Vivian, the RWA said, "recognizes excellence in romance writing and showcases author talent and creativity. We celebrate the power of the romance genre with its central message of hope—because happily ever afters are for everyone.” Along with being RWA’s founder, Stephens created the Candlelight Ecstasy line at Dell Publishing, and published the first category romance novel by a black author that featured black characters, according to the RWA.

A proposed format "that aligns with the board's vision for RWA 2.0" will be presented at the organization's board meeting at the end of this month by a "contest task force," the organization said, "guided by the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access"; the proposed format will be posted on the RWA website following the meeting. The RWA said that, to date, the proposed format includes a "clear rubric to enhance and streamline scoring guidelines in addition to judge training that will allow for more standardized judging," a "sophisticated matching process so that entrants can be sure their books go to judges versed in their subgenre," and "a category devoted to recognizing unpublished authors."

“Our goal is to celebrate the very best of our diverse genre,” Alyssa Day, who was sworn in as RWA president following the controversy this year, said. “To do that, it’s imperative we develop rules and resources that ensure the Vivian is inclusive, equitable, and accessible."

IMAGES

Romance Writers of America Launches New Book Award
Controversy hits Romance Writers of America this holiday
Canadian Romance Writers, the Unsung Heroes of Canada
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