Romance gets short shrift on CBC’s books panel

CBC’s Canada Reads list for 2025 is filled with literary fiction titles.

But one Halifax author is wondering whether the national broadcaster has any taste for romance, and a Halifax bookseller thinks other genres should also be represented.

CBC Canada Reads started in 2002, a budding literary competition pitting Canadian authors against one another for the title of best book of the year.  

Michael Hamm has been manager of bookseller Bookmark on Spring Garden Road in Halifax since 2001 and said he saw Canada Reads emerge into the literary space.  

“To have this national gathering around books is something to be proud of,” Hamm said in an interview on Jan. 30. “We’re proud that Canada does this.”   

Avid CBC radio listeners tune into Canada Reads yearly between January and March. 

Titles chosen for the list are usually literary fiction or non-fiction, leaving behind romance, fantasy, science fiction, and many other genres. This year’s short list includes a thriller, two memoirs and two literary fiction novels. 

Meet the Canada Reads 2025 shortlist  

“If you were to do a cross-section of what people read, there would be a non-fiction book, there would be a graphic novel; it would really represent all the different kinds of writing,” said Oona Craig, owner of Agricola Street Books in Halifax. 

So, are these titles Canada’s best?  

Michelle Helliwell, Halifax-based author of the Scandalous Spinsters series, said CBC is pretending that the romance genre does not exist, and is not worthy of competing against other pieces of fiction.  

Helliwell said the age of romance is now, as more and more readers are picking up this genre. 

 “One of the things that made romance really explode is the age of eBooks, was that you could read a book with a certain cover and not have anyone sneer at you,” said Helliwell. 

But CBC Canada Reads continues to snub the genre. Canadian literature is a continually growing space, but why does CBC often exclude romance from their short list? Helliwell suggests it’s their bias at fault. 

Last year CBC featured their first ever romance book on the Canada Reads short list: Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune.  

“We have to talk about good books and not be so fixed,” said Helliwell. “I’d love for someone to walk into the CBC and shake things up there and get them to understand their literary bias.”  

“The list is certainly getting more diverse, we have authors of colour and LGBTQ, and that’s super important, but it’s no less important than any of the genres either.”  

Some titles featured on the list are historical fiction or memoirs telling the story of important events throughout Canadian history. 

“These are important Canadian writers who write about, important, important things, but I’m not sure that’s what everyone is reading right now,” said Craig. 

Readers across Canada are gravitating towards romance, with marginally higher sales compared to other genres.  

“The literary fiction perspective, or that establishment’s perspective, feels like condescension, and that doesn’t feel good,” said Helliwell.