Organizers of York University’s acclaimed Canadian Writers in Person Lecture Series – humanities Professor Gail Vanstone and Department of English contract faculty member Dana Patrascu-Kingsley – share their list of best books to read over the holiday break and beyond.
Vanstone and Patrascu-Kingsley organize the annual series that brings new and established Canadian authors to the York community, either in person or via Zoom, to deliver readings from their books. Canadian Writers in Person is a for-credit course in the Department of Humanities, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.
The associated lecture series, however, is free and open to members of the York community and the public who are not enrolled in the course. The series continues Jan. 13, 2026, with a reading from Myriam Lacroix’s first novel, How It Works Out.
This year, Vanstone and Patrascu-Kingsley turn the spotlight on a community of emerging – and some more seasoned – Canadian authors.
"What fascinates and delights me with these authors is their skill in storytelling, their courage to invent with form, exploring the complicated world we live in and showing us ways to see it in fresh light," says Vanstone.
As Patrascu-Kingsley notes in her lectures, this is fiction that entertains and beckons readers to consider the world around us more deeply.
“The stories will transport you elsewhere and bring you back with a changed perspective," she says. "You’ll laugh and shake your head, recognizing our shared follies, and – best of all – you’ll deepen your understanding of the world and the people in it.”
Recommended reading
Madeleine Thien – The Book of Records
Canisia Lubrin – Code Noir
Deepa Rajagopalan – Peacocks of Instagram
Corinna Chong – Bad Land
Conor Kerr – Prairie Edge
Amy Ching-Yan Lam – Baby Book
Valérie Bah – Subterrane
Myriam Lacroix – How It Works Out
Kim Thúy – Ru
David Chariandy – Brother
David Huebert – Oil People
Jack Wang – The Riveter
Katherina Vermette – Real Ones
Richard Wagamese – Indian Horse
Eden Robinson – Son of a Trickster
Rice Waubgeshig – Moon of the Crusted Snow
Joshua Whitehead – Jonny Appleseed
Tanya Tagaq – Split Tooth
Kyle Edwards – Small Ceremonies
Uzma Jalaluddin – Ayesha at Last
Vanstone and Patrascu-Kingsley also offer a special shout-out for Maria Reva’s Endling, set in the Ukraine and winner of the 2025 Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Prize for fiction.
For more information about the lecture series email Vanstone at gailv@yorku.ca.
With files from Gail Vanstone and Dana Patrascu-Kingsley