A winner has finally been declared for CBC Radio’s “Canada Reads” contest: “King Leary,” by Toronto author Paul Quarrington.

Quarrington’s book, a comical story about an aging hockey legend, emerged as the victor of the annual competition on Friday.

Launched in 2002, “Canada Reads” is a five-day literary contest that sees a panel of five famous Canadians championing five different books. One title is voted out each day during the week until there is a winner.

This year’s panelists included musician and author Dave Bidini, who successfully promoted the merits of the winning book.

“Finally, humour and wit have won the day, proving that Canadian writing is about more than just dark places and poetry,” Bidini said after “King Leary” was announced as the winner.

The other panelists were actor Zaib Shaikh (”Not Wanted on the Voyage” by Timothy Findley, which was the runner-up), astronaut Steve MacLean (”Icefields” by Thomas Wharton), hip-hop poet and broadcaster Jemeni (”Brown Girl in the Ring” by Nalo Hopkinson) and author Lisa Moore (”From the Fifteenth District” by Mavis Gallant).

Their on-air debates were refereed by Jian Ghomeshi of CBC Radio’s “Q.”

“King Leary,” first published in 1987, was brought back into print with a new cover after its initial selection for the contest.

Its author said he hoped the victory would help his novel find new readers.

“‘King Leary’ is a book I’ve always been very proud of, but it kind of got lost out there in the world,” Quarrington said in a release.

“Thanks to ‘Canada Reads,’ and the redoubtable Dave Bidini, it has found its way back, and I hope it finds some new friends as a result.”






Related Stories: