About the Host

Shelagh Rogers believes in the power of stories. Her own story has been enlarged and enriched by the stories of others. So hosting a program about Canadian books and writing is like winning the lottery. Canada consistently "punches above its weight" as far as its literature goes. And these are great days for stories by Canadian writers.

Her own CBC story began in Ottawa. Nervously reading her first newscast, she had to present a report about the decline in the number of passenger trains in Canada. There were many "r"s and "w"s in the copy (railway, journalist Rick Wellburn reporting). She mixed them up so that "Wick Wellbuwn weported on the wailray". And that was her auspicious beginning, channeling Elmer Fudd.

Since then, she has worked alongside broadcast legends Max Ferguson and Peter Gzowski. Peter taught her how to listen. Max taught her to be herself because everyone else was already taken. She worked on Morningside, she hosted This Morning and Sounds Like Canada and now is the host and a producer (with treasured colleagues Jacqueline Kirk and Erin Noel) on The Next Chapter.

Outside of CBC, Shelagh criss-crosses the country, in an effort to topple the stigma of mental illness (she has won a number of awards for talking publicly and candidly about her own depression). She is also an activist for reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people from coast to coast to coast and serves as an Honourary Witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. In September 2011, Shelagh was admitted into the Order of Canada as an Officer, the country's highest civilian honour, in recognition of her work in adult literacy, mental health, promoting Canadian culture and reconciliation.

She is the first ever Ambassador at Large for the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough because she believes we are all in the same boat. For more about Shelagh, check out www.kickasscanadians.ca