Some of the writers we've talked to have shared thoughts about books and characters that reached out and grabbed them by the throat. We'll keep updating these as we get them.

Jen Sookfong Lee, author of The End of East, discovered a shock of recognition when she read The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence.

Shyam Selvadurai whose last novel “Swimming In The Monsoon Sea” was a departure from adult to young adult fiction, talks about finding an early resonance with his new Canadian home in Margaret Atwood's 'Cat's Eye'.

Nalo Hopkinson's most recent novel is The New Moon's Arms. She discusses her attraction to Canada's first black speculative fiction author Charles Saunders with his Imaro series, and to the heroine of Quebec writer Elisabeth Vondarberg's The Maerlande Chronicles.