Fall into CanLit: Join Our Book Chat About “The Sleeping Car Porter”

Every Autumn, we have the chance to celebrate the best in CanLit. It’s the season when many of the book award nominees and winners are announced; for instance, the Giller Prize Longlist has just recently been released. There are many intriguing options on the 2025 list and if you are like me, you will already be reading some of them or adding them to your hold list.

With that in mind, what better time to get together and talk about a great example of recent Canadian Literature? Please join me for a chat about one of my favourite novels from the past few years, The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr, winner of the 2022 Giller Prize. This book will transport you both on a trip across the country as well as back in time to a fascinating period in Canadian history. The main character, R.T. Baxter, is a black queer train porter working in the late 1920s. His job is to be at the ready 24/7, attending to every whim of the travelers in his car…an exhausting and anxiety ridden position to be in!

I invite you to read this book along with me and join in our discussion…or bring your favourite recent CanLit book to share with the group. I will also be suggesting some other wonderful contemporary examples of CanLit as we take the chance to explore this popular genre.

See more details about the program and find all the books on the Giller Prize Longlist below.