The best Canadian nonfiction of 2020

Here are the CBC Bookspicks forthe top Canadian nonfiction of the year.

This Is Not the End of Me by Dakshana Bascaramurty

This Is Not the End of Meis the story of Layton Reid, a young man who lived a lifefull of adventure and risks until he was diagnosed with cancer. He changed his life, got married and started a family. And when the cancer returned, Layton did everything he could to find a cure, including risky alternativetherapies. Eventually, he comes to terms with the fact that his life is going to end sooner than he'd like and focuses on making sure his young son is ready for life without his father.

• Dakshana Bascaramurty on what she learned about living from a dying man

Dakshana Bascaramurtyis a reporter for the Globe and Mail. Her work has also appeared in theNational Post, theOttawa Citizenand on CBC.This Is Not the End of Meis her first book.

Ask an Expert: Tackling misinformation with Timothy Caulfield

4 years ago

Duration 42:27

Timothy Caulfield is a health law and science policy expert. He joins Edmonton News at 6 host Nancy Carlson to take your questions about misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A History of My Brief Bodyby Billy-Ray Belcourt

Billy-Ray Belcourtwas the youngest-everwinner of the Griffin Poetry Prize. He was also the first First NationsRhodes scholar from Canada. But he was once a young boy, growing up inDriftpileCree Nation in Alberta.A History of My Brief Bodytells his story: how his family was impacted by colonialism and intergenerational trauma and yet still hold joy and love in their hearts and lives, how he came into his queer identity and how writing became both a place of comfort and solace and a weapon for a young man trying to figure out his place in the world.

• Why Billy-Ray Belcourtfelt more empowered after winning the Griffin Prize

Belcourtis a poet, writer and academic from DriftpileCree Nation in northern Alberta. He is a Rhodes Scholar andearned his PhD in English at the University of Alberta. His debut collection of poetry,This Wound is a World,won the 2018 Griffin Poetry Prize. He is also the author of the poetry collectionNDN Coping Mechanisms.

The Next Chapter19:15Desmond Cole on The Skin We're In

Toronto journalist Desmond Cole talks about his bestselling debut nonfiction book, The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power.

Like a Boy but Not a Boy by andrea bennett

Like a Boy but Not a Boyis a collection of essays by non-binary poet and writer andrea bennett as they explore parenthood, gender, mental illness, creativity, mortality and identity and how it all interconnects.Like a Boy but Not a Boyis about forging your own path and accepting yourself, and finding family, love and faith on your own terms.

bennettis an editor, journalist and poet from Montreal. Their work has appeared in the Globe and Mail, the Walrus and Reader's Digest.Like a Boy but Not a Boyis their first book.

Relax, Dammit! by Timothy Caulfield

InRelax, Dammit!, healthexpert Timothy Caulfield looks at a regular day inmodern life and the habits and decisions we make. He digs into the science behind many of our mindless day-to-day tasks and argues that many of the things we think makeour lives easier, more convenient and more manageable, actuallydon't. He also argues that there is a way for us to become more relaxed, more at easeand less busy.

• Caulfield brothers fight COVID-19 misinformation with art and science

Caulfield is a professor at the University of Alberta, the host of the TV seriesA User's Guide to Cheating Deathand the author ofIsGwynethPaltrowWrong About Everything?

Day 67:07How to Lose Everything: Christa Couture's memoir about loss, strength, music, hope and more loss

Christa Couture lost her leg to cancer when she was a child and her two sons died as babies. In her new memoir she shares her stories of grief, but also shares how she expressed herself through music and writing and how that helped her heal.

The Skin We're Inby Desmond Cole

InThe Skin We're In, journalist and activist Desmond Cole looks at what it's like to live in Canada as a Black person.In The Skin We're Inlooks at one year, 2017, and chronicles Coles's personal journalism, activism and experiences alongside stories that made the headlines across the country, including refugees crossing the Canada-U.S. border in the middle of winter and the death of Somali-CanadianAbdirahman Abdiat the hands of the Ottawa police.

The Skin We're Inwon the 2020 Toronto Book Award.

• How Desmond Cole wrote a bestselling book about being Black in Canada

Cole is ajournalist, radio hostand activist based inToronto.His writing has appeared in the Toronto Star, Toronto Life, Now Magazineandthe Walrus.The Skin We're Inis his first book.

Quirks and Quarks17:16Your brain on terror - a writer faces the science behind her fears

Bob McDonald speaks with Eva Holland, author of the new book 'Nerve: A personal journey through the science of fear".

The Fight for Historyby Tim Cook

The Fight for Historyis a book by renowned historian and professor Tim Cook about the Second World War. But it's also about ourrelationship with the war after it ended: how the stories we told about the war have changed over time and how the war has shaped Canada's sense of identity and nationhood.

Cook is a professor at Carleton University and theGreat War historian at the Canadian War Museum. He has written several books about military history, includingNo Place to Run,Shock TroopsandFight to the Finish. In 2014, he was named to the Order of Canada.

How to Lose Everythingby Christa Couture

Christa Couture has lost a lot over the course of her life: her leg was amputated, her first child died when he was one-day old, her second child died as a baby after a heart transplant, her marriage ended in divorce and athyroidectomythreatened her music career. But through it all, she has found hope, joy and love and maintains a perspective filled with compassion and understanding. She shares her journey, and what she's learned along the way, in her memoir,How to Lose Everything.

• Christa Couture: 'I don't just accept my disability I can celebrate it.'

Couture is a writer, musician and broadcaster who is currently based in Toronto. Her work has appeared inCBC ArtsandCBC Parentsand she has been a columnist on CBC Radio'sThe Next Chapter.How to Lose Everythingis her first book.

The Next Chapter12:32Julie S. Lalonde on Resilience Is Futile

Women's rights activist Julie S. Lalonde on her memoir Resilience Is Futile, about her 10-year ordeal of being stalked by an abusive former partner.

Through the Gardenby Lorna Crozier

Lorna Crozier is one of Canada's most beloved and accomplished poets, as was her long-time partner, Patrick Lane. They met in 1976 and built a life together, publishing more than 40 books between them along the way. But in 2017, Lane became ill and their life changed forever, and eventually Lane died in 2019. Crozier writes about their relationship, their personal and creative partnership, and comes to terms with her grief, in the memoirThrough the Garden.

Through the Gardenwas on the shortlist forthe Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.

• How writing a memoir helped celebrated poet Lorna Crozier cope with the loss of a beloved partner

Crozier is a Governor General's Literary Award-winning poet who has written more than 15 books. Her poetry collections includeThe House the Spirit Builds,God of ShadowsandWhat the SoulDoesn't Want.

Reaching Mithymnaby Steven Heighton

In 2015, writerSteven Heightonmade a sudden decision: he would travel to Greece and volunteer at the frontlines of the Syrian refugee crisis. Once there, he found himself working in a transit camp offering support to refugees who recently made the harrowing journey across the sea from Turkey, and alongside the refugees and the aid workers stationed there, finds himself overwhelmed.Heightonshares this story in the memoirReaching Mithymna.

Reaching Mithymnawas on the shortlist forthe Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.

• Steven Heighton reflects on working on the frontlines of the Syrian refugee crisis

Heightonis a novelist, short story writer and poet from Toronto. His other books include the poetry collectionTheWaking Comes Late,which won the 2016 Governor General's Literary Award for poetry, and the novelTheNightingale Won't Let You Sleep.

The Next Chapter15:11Amanda Leduc on Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability and Making Space

Essayist and fiction writer Amanda Leduc on exploring the portrayal of disability in fairy tales in her book Disfigured.

Nerveby Eva Holland

Eva Holland explores fear in her first bookNerve.After losing her mother suddenly, Holland decides it's time to face her fears and dives headfirst into tackling them. Along the way, she explores the science of fear and tries to get answers to questions like: Can you really smell fear? What causes fear? Is it possible to be truly fearless?

Nervewas one of four Canadian titles named to Time's 100 must-read books of the year list.

• Yukon writer to face her fears in new book

Holland is a writer and editor based on Whitehorse.Her work has appeared in Outside, Wired, the Walrus and Canadian Geographic.Nerveis her first book.

The Sunday Magazine27:16Jessica J. Lee shares her family's turbulent history in Taiwan's lush landscape

In her memoir Two Trees Make a Forest, Canadian writer and environmental historian Jessica J. Lee returns to her mother's homeland of Taiwan to understand the landscape that shaped her family - and in turn, shapes her. The book intertwines her grandparents' histories, the political history of Taiwan and the island's geological history. She speaks with Chattopadhyay about home, multiplicity and belonging.For more, visit: www.cbc.ca/1.5729728

Cry Wolfby Harold R. Johnson

In 2005, 22-year-old University of Waterloo student Kenton Carnegie was killed in a wolf attack near his work camp in northern Saskatchewan. Harold R. Johnson, an experienced hunter and trapper, hadbeen told to stay away from wolves. Johnson takes on wolves and the mythology around them inCry Wolf.He explores Carnegie's death and other wolf attacks and suggests that we should take wolves more seriously.

• Harold R. Johnson on why endings are harder to write than beginnings

Johnson is a formerCrown prosecutor who has written several works of both fiction and nonfiction. His bookFirewater: How Alcohol Is Killing My People (and Yours)was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for nonfiction. His other books include the novelCorvus, the genre-bending memoirCliffordand the nonfiction workPeace and Good Order.

I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorderby Sarah Kurchak

SarahKurchakwas diagnosed with autism at 27 years old. While she was growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, she realized she was different from her peers and did everything to overcome it.I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorderis a memoir about howKurchakbecame "an autistic 'success' story," how it almost ruined her lifeand what she did to reclaim her identity and her health.

• Why I'm not hiding my autism any longer

Kurchak is a writer whose work has appeared in the Guardian, CBC, Vox and Electric Literature.I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorderis her first book.

Day 610:18New book Missing from The Village chronicles Toronto's LGBTQ Community, a serial killer, and failed policing

Journalist Justin Ling has spent more than five years investigating the murders of eight men by Bruce McArthur, as well as cold cases from the 1970s that were reopened as a result of the McArthur investigation. The result is Ling's new book, Missing from the Village. In it, he says that police failure, homophobia and racism as well as failings in the LGBTQ community itself kept this case from being solved sooner.

Resilience is Futileby Julie S. Lalonde

For more than 10 years, Julie S. Lalonde kept a terrifying secret: she was being stalked by her ex. At 20 years old, Lalonde left an abusive relationship, and he would go on to stalk her for the following decade. While Lalonde rose to national prominence as a women's rights advocate, writer and speaker, she would ask herself the same question at every event, rally orconference:Was he here?Resilience is Futileis about this terrifying experience, and also about how we handle trauma and find the strength to not only survive, but thrive.

• 'What it does to your life': women's rights advocate releases video highlighting stalking

Lalonde is a women's rights advocateand public educator. Her writing has appeared on CBC, Wired and Flare.Resilience is Futileis her first book.

The Next Chapter21:03Tessa McWatt on Shame on Me

The novelist Tessa McWatt on her award-winning memoir Shame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging

Disfiguredby Amanda Leduc

In most fairy tales, characters who have disabilities or look different are often mocked or are the villain. InDisfigured,Amanda Leduc looks at fairy classics, from the classic Brothers Grimm to the modern Disney films, and explores how the representation of disabilityhas informed how we see the world around us from a very young age and makes a case for a new set of tales, ones that celebrate difference and inclusivity.

• Amanda Leduc reimagines the power of people with disabilities in fairy tales with Disfigured

Leduc is the communications and development coordinator for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) in Brampton, Ont. She is also the author of the novelThe Miracles of Ordinary Men.She waslonglisted for the 2019 CBC Short Story Prize.

The Next Chapter2:20Bahar Orang on Where Things Touch

Physician Bahar Orang talks about writing her debut essay collection Where Things Touch while in medical school.

Two Trees Make a Forest by Jessica J. Lee

Two Trees Make a Forestis an exploration of how geographical forces are interlaced with our family stories. A chance discovery of letters written by her immigrant grandfather leads Jessica J. Lee to her ancestral homeland, Taiwan. There, she traces his story while growing closer to the land he knew. Throughout her adventures, Lee uncovers surprising parallels between nature and human stories that shaped her family and their beloved island. In the memoir, she also turns a critical eye onto colonialist explorers who mapped the land and named plants, and both relied on and often erased the labour and knowledge of local communities.

Two Trees Make a Forestwon the 2020 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.

• In Taiwan's lush landscape, Jessica J. Lee found a deeper understanding of her family's turbulent history

Lee is a British Canadian Taiwanese author, environmental historian, and winner of the RBC Taylor Prize Emerging Author Award. Her first book,Turning, was longlisted for the Frank Hegyi Award for Emerging Authors.

Willie ORee, the NHLs first Black player, on racism in hockey

4 years ago

Duration 9:19

Willie ORee, the NHLs first Black player, reflects on his legacy and the fight against anti-Black racism in hockey.

Missing from the Villageby Justin Ling

Missing from the Villageis the story of serial killer Bruce MacArthur, and the eight men he killed over nearly a decade inToronto's gay village. When the cases of threemen who went missing in 2013 Skandaraj Navaratnam, Abdulbasir Faizi and Majeed Kayhan were left unsolved,journalistJustin Ling decided to investigate, believing the cases could be linked. What unfolded was a tragic story about a serial killer going undetected, a police investigationthat failed, and about a community on edge and left to grieve when Bruce MacArthur was finally arrested in 2018, and his horrendous crimes became public.

• Listen to Uncover: The Village

Ling is an investigative journalist from Toronto. He hosted the CBC podcastUncover: The Village, which is also about his work on the Bruce MacArthur case.Missing from the Villageis his first book.

The Next Chapter53:52Dane Swan & Charles C. Smith, Catherine Hernandez -- The Full Episode

Editor Dane Swan and poet Charles C. Smith talk about the anthology Changing the Face of Canadian Literature, comedian Mark Critch recommends three books by Newfoundland writers, Catherine Hernandez shares what inspired her new novel Crosshairs and musician Leanne Dunic discusses what she's been reading.

Field Notes from a Pandemicby Ethan Lou

When Canadian journalist Ethan Lou left Toronto in January 2020, the novel coronavirus had barely registered in the minds of North Americans and others in the West. Everything was fine and then it wasn't.InField Notes from a Pandemic,Lou details witnessing the earliest stages of the COVID-19 crisis when visiting China to see his ailing grandfather and then unexpectedly travelling to other hot zones around the world, where he repeatedly relives the lockdown he left behind and sees the raw effects of the crisis.

• Journalist Ethan Lou on living through lockdown around the world

Lou has written for the Guardian, the South China Morning Post, the Washington Post, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, Maclean's and The Walrus.He is also the author of another forthcoming book,Once a Bitcoin Miner.

The Broadcast19:05Fish harvester Hedley Richards remembered; Laura Trethewey and her book, "The Imperilled Ocean."

Friend Bill Broderick remembers fish harvester, Hedley Richards; ocean journalist Laura Trethewey on her book, "The Imperilled Ocean."

They Said This Would Be Fun by Eternity Martis

Eternity Martiswas smart, bookish and excited to go to university. But once she got to campus, life wasn't what she imagined. She was often the only student of colour in classes, at parties and in dorms, and had to face racial slurs, students in blackface at parties and more on a regular basis.They Said This Would Be Funis a memoir about the difficulty of navigating through white spaces as a student of colour and asks us to confront the systemic issues that define the college experience for racialized and marginalized students.

• Eternity Martis reflects on the challenges of being a Black university student in her first book

Martis is a Toronto-based journalist, author and senior editor atXtra.Her work focuses onissues ofrace and gender andhas been featured in Vice, Salon, Hazlitt, TVO.org, The Walrus, Huffington Post and CBC.They Said This Would Be Funis her first book.

War: How Conflict Shaped Usby Margaret MacMillan

Historian Margaret MacMillan looks at how conflict has shaped human society and culture over the centuries in her new book,War: How Conflict Shaped Us.Tracing conflict from ancient Greece to modern times, MacMillanlooks at how war was often a catalyst for political upheaval, scientific developments and more showing readers that war's long shadow over history is darker, bigger and murkier than we can even imagine.

War: How Conflict Shaped Uswas the only Canadian book on the New York Times' list of notable books of 2020.

• Margaret MacMillan on the paradoxes of war

MacMillan is a historian, and an emeritus professor of international history at Oxford University and professor of history at the University of Toronto. She isthe author of several books, includingParis 1919andThe War that Ended Peace.Paris 1919won the Governor General's Literary Award for nonfiction in 2003. She gave the 2015 Massey Lectures, which were titledHistory's People.

Shame on Meby Tessa McWatt

Tessa McWatt was born in Guyana and came to Canada when she was three years old. She grew up in Torontoand spent years living in Montreal, Paris, Ottawa and London. Her heritage isScottish, English, French, Portuguese, Indian, Amerindian, African and Chinese.Shame on Meis a memoir about identity, race and belonging by someone who spent a lot of time trying to find an answer to the question, "Who are you?" and who has endured decades of racism and bigotry while trying to figure out who she is and where she belongs.

Shame on Mewas on the shortlist for the 2020 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.

• How life in a Trumpian, post-Brexit world prompted Tessa McWatt to explore race and identity in her new memoir

McWatt is the author of several works of fiction. Her novels includeDragons Cry,Vital SignsandHigher Ed. She is also the co-editor of the anthologyLuminous Ink: Writers on Writing in Canada.Shame on Meis her first work of nonfiction.

The Way Homeby David A. Neel

David A. Neel is from a family of traditional Kwakwaka'wakwartists. But his father died when he was a baby and he was separated from his family, and grew up away from his culture and traditions. Twenty-fiveyears later, when he saw a mask made by hisgreat-great-grandfather in a museum, he decided it was time to reconnect with his culture and follow in his father's footsteps and become an artist himself. He also worked on coming to terms with the trauma and abuse he suffered in his childhood. Neelshares his story in the memoirThe Way Home.

The Way Homewas on the shortlist for the 2020 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.

• David A. Neel reflects on reconnecting with his Kwakwaka'wakw heritage in his memoir The Way Home

Neel is acarver, jeweller, painter, printmaker, writerand photographer who is a member of the Kwakwaka'wakw First Nation inBritish Columbia.The Way Homeis his third book, he is also the author ofOur Chiefs and EldersandThe Great Canoes.

Where Things Touchby BaharOrang

Bahar Orang is a physician-in-training. She's also a poet. InWhere Things Touch,Orang tries to find the beauty in her clinical encounters andredefines and reimagines what beauty is and how it's defined. She explores intimacy, queerness, love, memory and asks what makes beautyfrom physical attributes to human connection.

• Bahar Orang's Where Things Touch is a thoughtful exploration of beauty in a fast-paced world

Orang is a writer and physician-in-training. Her writing has appeared in Arts Medica, Hamilton Arts & Letters and Guts.Where Things Touchis her first book.

Willieby Willie O'Ree, with Michael McKinley

In 1958, Willie O'Ree stepped on the ice for the Boston Bruins, becoming the first Black player to play in the NHL. For the next 20 years, he would continue to play, facing racist taunts from fans and fellow players. After he retired from playing, he would buildan even bigger legacy as an advocate for diversity in sport, helping more than 40,000 kids discover the game he loved.Willie,a memoir written with journalistMichael McKinley, looks back on O'Ree's life, legacy and career.

• Willie O'Ree, NHL's first Black player, on breaking barriers and challenging racism in hockey

O'Ree was the first Black player in the NHL. He is also the subject of the documentaryWillie.Willieis his first book.

McKinley is a journalist, documentary filmmaker and screenwriter from Vancouver. He is also the author of the nonfiction bookHockey: APeople's Historyand the novelThe Penalty Killing.

Black Waterby David A. Robertson

David A. Robertsonis a member ofNorway House Cree Nation, but grew up not knowing much about his Indigenous heritage. His father, Don, grew up on the trapline in northeast Manitoba, but lost his connection to his Indigenous roots, language and culture after his family was moved to a reserve, and Don wasn't allowed to speak Cree at school.David decides to go traplining with his father as an adult, as a way to connect to his own Cree heritage and the land, but to also better understand his father.Black Wateris the story of these journeys: a father and son heading into thewilderness, and of a son connecting with his father, but also with heritage and, ultimately, himself.

• How David A. Robertson manages to write as much as he does

Robertsonis a writer based in Winnipeg. He has published more than 25 books across a variety of genres, including the graphic novelsWill I See?andSugar Falls, aGovernor General's Literary Award-winning picture book calledWhen We Were Alone,illustrated by Julie Flett, and the YA bookStrangers.He is also releasing amiddle-gradenovel,The Barren Grounds, in fall 2020. Hehosts the CBCManitobapodcastKiwew.

Changing the Face of Canadian Literature, edited by Dane Swan

Changing the Face of Canadian Literatureis an anthology compiled and edited by writer, spoken word poet and editor Dane Swan. It's a book that highlights and celebrates the work of BIPOC Canadian writers, includingDoretta Lau, Ayelet Tsabari, Jael Richardson,Kaie Kellough,Doyali IslamandCharles C. Smith.

• This anthology of diverse Canadian literary voices is an important read in 2020

Swanis a Bermuda-born, Toronto-based spoken word artist, former slam poet, musician, author and editor. Swan'ssecond poetry collection,A Mingus Lullaby, wasshortlisted for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry in 2017.

The Imperilled Ocean by Laura Trethewey

Imperilled Oceanby Laura Tretheweyfollows several different people and their remarkable stories, but they all have one thing in common: the ocean.Imperilled Oceancombines remarkable stories such as a community living on the water battling eviction to a Ghanian teenager trying to make it to Europe on a life raft with deep research to paint a portrait of a place that takes up most of the space on this planet, yet we know so little about, in a time when climate change is rapidly changing the ocean and humanity's relationship to it.

Trethewey is a science journalist who specializes in oceans. She is a writer and editor for Vancouver Aquarium's website Ocean.org.Imperilled Oceanis her first book.

The Age of Creativityby Emily Urquhart

Emily Urquhart is the daughter of writerJane Urquhartand artist Tony Urquhart. When the family was celebrating her father's 80th birthday, Emily was struck by how her father has continued his daily artisticpractice into his old age, and was even trying new forms and styles.The Age of Creativityis Urquhart's exploration into later-in-life creativity, blending the story of her father with research and the stories of other seniors finding new and dynamic creative outlets later in life.

• Creativity doesn't fade with age and Emily Urquhart says her father's career proves it

Urquhart is a writer and folklorist currently living in Kitchener, Ont. She is also the author of the memoirBeyond the Pale.

From My Mother's Back by Njoki Wane

Njoki Wane'sFrom My Mother's Backtakes a look at her childhood living in Kenya where her parents owned a small coffee farm. It explores her African identity and how her upbringing and close relationship with her mother ensured her sense of self as a Black woman.

• 7 works of Canadian nonfiction to read for Black History Month 2020

Wane is a professor at the University of Toronto and a recognized scholar in the areas of Black feminism and African spirituality.

Field Notes from an Unintentional Birderby Julia Zarankin

When she was 35, Julia Zarankinwas divorced and changing careers. She decided she needed a hobby, and unexpectedly turnedto birdwatching. Her memoir,Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder,blends together ablossoming love affair with birding with her own biography she was born in the Soviet Union, grew up in Canada and spent time living in Paris.

• How birdwatching inspired CBC Short Story Prize finalist Julia Zarankin's first book

Zarankinis a writer and lecturer based in Toronto. She made the2020 CBC Short Story Prize shortlistforBlack-legged Kittiwake.Field Notes from an Unintentional Birderis her first book.