Look Who it Was Random video

Shyam Selvadurai (author of The Hungry Ghosts) reveals the secret to writing diverse characters

4,374 views · Published 2 October 2018 · 2:34 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: CBC · 2018 · Entertainment

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Shyam Selvadurai is a Toronto-based novelist. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, Time Magazine, The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. He won the 1995 Books in Canada First Novel Award, now known as the Amazon.ca First Novel Award for Funny Boy. The Hungry Ghosts is his most recent novel.

In this special CBC Books' video series, he explains why Canadian writers should write stories that reflect their diverse reality in Canada. 

➤ Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/books/shyam-selvadurai-on-writing-diverse-fiction-that-s-true-to-life-1.4850015

➤ Watch full episodes, for free, on Canada's National Broadcaster: 
https://watch.cbc.ca/

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CBC Books' Why I Write series features Canadian authors speaking on what literature means to them. Shot on location at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre during the 2018 Canadian Writers' Summit, the series asks authors what motivated them to write their latest work, what themes readers should take away from the work and what excites them about the current national literature scene in general.

Stay up to date with what’s happening in the Canadian literature scene by following CBC Books on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @cbcbooks.


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