Esi Edugyan to deliver 2021 Massey Lectures on art and race

Bestselling and acclaimed Canadian author Esi Edugyan will deliver this year's CBC Massey Lectures, exploring the relationship between art and race.

Through the lens of visual art, literature, film, as well as Edugyan's own lived experience, her upcoming lecture series, which will also be published as a book, will examine the depiction of Black histories in works of the imagination, while challenging accepted versions of the Black experience with new perspectives.

Calling all poets! The CBC Poetry Prize is now open

The 2021 CBC Poetry Prize is now open.

The winner will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, have the opportunity to attend a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and have their work published on CBC Books.

You have until May 31 at 11:59 p.m. ET to enter!

Olympian Perdita Felicien's memoir is an homage to all the hurdles her mother faced

Perdita Felicien was a 10-time national champion, a two-time Olympian and became the first Canadian woman to win a gold medal at a world championships.

Felicien's athletic dreams came true, but her early life was tough. Her mother came to Canada from St. Lucia to work for a wealthy white family.

Felicien is finally sharing her story in the memoir My Mother's Daughter. She spoke to Carol Off on As It Happens about sharing her story.

Margaret Atwood's late partner loved birds. In the pandemic, she sees how they help people feel less alone

A new edition of The Bedside Book of Birds, by Margaret Atwood's late partner Graeme Gibson, was released this week.

The Bedside Book of Birds is a miscellany of writing about birds that combines fiction and poetry with scientific and historical writing, alongside lavish illustrations, and parts of Gibson's own memoir. 

Atwood spoke to Matt Galloway on The Current about Gibson's book.

What art has been your pandemic lifeline?

CBC Arts asked 12 writers to reflect on the pop culture that's helping them while in lockdown.

From Bridgerton and Batman to Twitch and TikTok, here are odes to the pop culture that has brought comfort and coziness.

Ashley Audrain explores the mother-daughter bond in the domestic thriller The Push

The Push is Canadian author Ashley Audrain's first book — and the domestic thriller is currently one of the bestselling books of the year. 

The Push is about a woman named Blythe Connor who is experiencing motherhood for the first time, but it's not like anything she expected — in fact, it's everything she was terrified it would be. 

Audrain spoke with Shelagh Rogers about why she wrote The Push on The Next Chapter.

Writing in isolation: How pandemics can lead to wonderful art

Some of the world's greatest literary works were created when their authors were enduring periods of forced isolation due to pandemics or other natural disasters.

William Shakespeare wrote King Lear, Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra in 1606, when a major plague outbreak shut London down for months.

CBC News looks at some of the greatest works of art that emerged from lockdowns throughout history.

Florian Zeller explores family, memory, love and loss in his Oscar-nominated drama, The Father

French novelist and playwright Florian Zeller has achieved remarkable success in his debut as a film director — the screen adaptation of his award-winning play The Father. With riveting performances by Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman, it's an unsettling family drama about a man struggling with dementia. 

Zeller has been described as "the most exciting playwright of our times" by the Times U.K. 

Zeller spoke to Eleanor Wachtel from his home in Paris for Writers & Company.

Louise Penny's mystery novel, All the Devils Are Here, looks at the impact of family secrets and lies

Louise Penny is an award-winning author who has sold more than four million books and has won armloads of prizes.

The latest in her Inspector Armand Gamache series is All the Devils Are Here. Gamache is in Paris, enjoying a family trip, when his elderly godfather is attacked on the street — and Gamache is convinced it's not a random attack. It turns out that his godfather knows many secrets and Gamache must figure out the web of deceit and lies before it's too late.

Penny spoke with Shelagh Rogers about All the Devils Are Here on The Next Chapter.

Vancouver poet makes teeny, tiny homage to local bookstore