Canada Reads winner named

Loghan Paylor’s *The Cure for Drowning*, championed by Tegan Quin, won CBC’s Canada Reads 2026 on April 16 after the contest’s fourth and final day. (cbc.ca) CBC said the novel beat Tyler Hellard’s *Searching for Terry Punchout* in the final vote of the 25th edition of the annual “battle of the books.” Host Ali Hassan moderated the debates, and one title was eliminated each day from April 13 to 16. (cbc.ca) Canada Reads works like a knockout tournament for books: five public figures each defend one Canadian title they think the whole country should read, then vote books off until one remains. CBC carried this year’s debates on Radio, TV, CBC Listen, CBC Gem, CBC Books and YouTube. (cbc.ca) This year’s theme was “One Book to Build Bridges,” and the shortlist mixed literary fiction, romance, sports writing and historical fiction. The five finalists came from a 15-book longlist announced earlier in 2026. (cbc.ca) (quillandquire.com) Paylor’s novel is a Second World War-set historical love story with a non-binary protagonist, Kit McNair, and queer central characters. Penguin Random House Canada published it on January 30, 2024, and the publisher says it was longlisted for the 2024 Giller Prize. (cbc.ca) (penguinrandomhouse.ca) In a CBC interview before the debates, Paylor said they wrote the book to place queer and transgender people back into Canadian history after finding those lives were often missing from public records and heritage storytelling. Quin said the novel’s themes reached beyond identity labels and into family, love and belonging. (cbc.ca) The other 2026 contenders were *A Minor Chorus* by Billy-Ray Belcourt, defended by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers; *Searching for Terry Punchout* by Tyler Hellard, defended by Steve “Dangle” Glynn; *Foe* by Iain Reid, defended by Josh Dela Cruz; and *It’s Different This Time* by Joss Richard, defended by Morgann Book. (cbc.ca) (quillandquire.com) CBC said the elimination order was *Foe*, then *A Minor Chorus*, then *It’s Different This Time*, leaving *Searching for Terry Punchout* as the runner-up. Paylor said after the win that the result felt especially meaningful in a year built around “building bridges.” (cbc.ca) The outcome gives Paylor’s debut novel the country’s biggest book-club platform just as Canada Reads marks its 25th year. In Canada Reads terms, that means *The Cure for Drowning* now moves from contender to the book CBC is calling Canada’s must-read title for 2026. (cbc.ca)