Le Combat des livres

Le Combat des livres
Running time30 min.
Country of originCanada
Language(s)French
Home stationIci Radio-Canada Première
Hosted byMarie-France Bazzo
Christiane Charette
Marie-Louise Arsenault
Original release2004 –
present
No. of series16

Le Combat des livres is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Ici Radio-Canada Première in Canada. A French edition of the Canada Reads competition, the program was launched in 2004. It aired annually from 2004 to 2014,[1] and was then discontinued until being revived in 2018.[2]

Both the English and French programs sometimes, but not always, include one personality more commonly associated with the other language community, who champions a translated work.[3] One advocate, Maureen McTeer, appeared on both programs in the same year, championing the same novel in both its original English and translated French editions. Several other novels have also been chosen for both programs, although their English and French versions were not chosen by the same advocate or in the same year; one novel to date, Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes (French title Aminata) has won both competitions.

In 2021, for the first time in the history of the series the network produced two separate editions, one devoted to adult literature and one devoted to youth literature. The adult literature debates remain between celebrity personalities, while the youth literature debates take place between francophone teenagers selected through a school competition, with the winner of the debates settled by a judges' panel instead of through voting by the participants.

2004

[edit]

Radio-Canada, the French-language service of CBC, aired a French version of Canada Reads, entitled Le combat des livres ("Battle of the Books"), from March 29 to April 2, 2004. It was moderated by Marie-France Bazzo.

Author Title Advocate
Gil Courtemanche Un dimanche à la piscine à Kigali Laure Waridel
Margaret Atwood La servante écarlate Julius Grey
Jacques Godbout Une histoire américaine Gérald Larose
Yann Martel L'histoire de Pi Louise Forestier
Gaétan Soucy La petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes Micheline Lanctôt

2005

[edit]

The 2005 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from March 14 to March 18, 2005. It was moderated by Marie-France Bazzo.

Author Title Advocate
Réjean Ducharme L'Avalée des avalés Sophie Cadieux
Nancy Huston Dolce agonia Réjean Thomas
Jean-Jacques Pelletier La Chair disparue Alain Lefèvre
Elizabeth Smart À la hauteur de Grand Central Station, je me suis assise et j'ai pleuré Dennis Trudeau
Michel Tremblay Thérèse et Pierrette à l'école des Saints-Anges Monique Simard

2006

[edit]

The 2006 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from January 30 to February 3. It was moderated by Marie-France Bazzo.

Author Title Advocate
Francine Noël La Femme de ma vie Françoise Guénette
Hubert Aquin Prochain épisode Pierre Lebeau
Jean Barbe Comment devenir un monstre Lucie Laurier
Stéphane Dompierre Un petit pas pour l'homme Louis-José Houde
Frances Itani Une coquille de silence Maureen McTeer

2007

[edit]

The 2007 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from February 26 to March 2 and was moderated by Christiane Charette.

Author Title Advocate
Denis Thériault L'Iguane Dominique Lévesque
Marie Laberge Le poids des ombres Pauline Marois
Mathyas Lefebure D'où viens-tu berger? Robert Frosi
Yann Martel Self Sheila Copps
Christian Mistral Vamp Biz

2008

[edit]

The 2008 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from February 25 to February 29 and was once again chaired by Christiane Charette.

Author Title Advocate
Éric Dupont La Logeuse Nicolas Langelier
Marie-Claire Blais Une saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel Serge Denoncourt
Jacques Godbout La concierge du Panthéon Bernard Landry
Mordecai Richler Le Monde de Barney Anne Lagacé Dowson
Gabrielle Roy La Détresse et l'enchantement Sophie Faucher

2009

[edit]

The 2009 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from March 23 to 27, and was once again chaired by Christiane Charette.

Author Title Advocate
Rawi Hage Parfum de poussière Brendan Kelly
Gérard Bouchard Mistouk Raymond Gravel
Jean-François Beauchemin La fabrication de l'aube Emmanuel Bilodeau
D. Y. Béchard Vandal Love Esther Bégin
Marie-Sissi Labrèche Borderline Janette Bertrand

2010

[edit]

The 2010 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from March 22 to 26. Christiane Charette moderated.

Author Title Advocate
Dany Laferrière L'énigme du retour Françoise David
Jean Barbe Comment devenir un ange Marie-Soleil Michon
Patrice Desbiens L'Homme invisible Thomas Hellman
Germaine Guèvremont Le survenant Christian Dufour
Nancy Huston Cantique des plaines Christopher Hall

2011

[edit]

The 2011 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from March 14 to 18. Christiane Charette moderated.

Author Title Advocate
Perrine Leblanc L'homme blanc Geneviève Guérard
David Gilmour L'École des films Anne-France Goldwater
Dany Laferrière Comment faire l'amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer Patrick Lagacé
Émile Ollivier Mère-Solitude JiCi Lauzon
Danielle Trussart Le train pour Samarcande Djemila Benhabib

2012

[edit]

Beginning in 2012, the production and broadcast of Le Combat des livres was transferred from Charette's program to the network's new literature show Plus on est de fous, plus on lit!, hosted by Marie-Louise Arsenault.[4]

Author Title Advocate
Marie-Renée Lavoie La petite et le vieux Yves Lamontagne
Margaret Atwood La voleuse d'hommes Tasha Kheiriddin
Guy Delisle Chroniques de Jérusalem Gildor Roy
Abla Farhoud Le sourire de la petite juive Nabila Ben Youssef

2013

[edit]

The 2013 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from March 18 to 22. Marie-Louise Arsenault moderated. It was an all star season featuring previous winners.[5]

Author Title Advocate
Lawrence Hill Aminata Thomas Hellman
Jocelyne Saucier Il pleuvait des oiseaux Geneviève Guérard
Heather O'Neill La Ballade de Baby Brendan Kelly
Samuel Archibald Arvida Bernard Landry
Éric Dupont La fiancée américaine Dominique Levesque

2014

[edit]

The 2014 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from March 31 to April 3. Marie-Louise Arsenault moderated.

Author Title Advocate
Marie-Claire Blais La Belle Bête Paul Cargnello
François Gravel Adieu, Betty Crocker Pauline Martin
Rohinton Mistry L'Équilibre du monde Azeb Wolde-Giorghis
Kim Thúy Ru Jean-François Chicoine

2018

[edit]

The 2018 edition of Le Combat des livres, the first time the show has aired since 2014, ran from May 7 to 11, 2018.[2] Marie-Louise Arsenault moderated. The books were selected to represent the regions of Canada, with one book representing each of Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, Western Canada and the Indigenous peoples of Canada.[2]

Author Title Advocate
Katherena Vermette Ligne brisée Naomi Fontaine
Margaret Atwood C'est le coeur qui lâche en dernier Russell Smith
Stéfanie Clermont Le jeu de la musique Philippe-Audrey Larrue-St-Jacques
Nancy Huston Le club des miracles relatifs Ibrahima Diallo
Sara Tilley Écorchée Antonine Maillet

2019

[edit]

The 2019 edition of Le Combat des livres aired from May 6 to 10, 2019, with Marie-Louise Arsenault moderating. The books were selected on the same theme of regional representation as the 2018 edition, with one book selected to represent each of Canada's four major geographic regions and one book selected to represent indigenous literature.

Author Title Advocate
Blaise Ndala Sans capote ni kalachnikov Marie-Maude Denis
France Daigle Pour sûr Édith Butler
Naomi Fontaine Manikanetish Stanley Vollant
Karoline Georges De synthèse Manal Drissi
Miriam Toews Pauvres petits chagrins Deni Ellis Béchard

2020

[edit]
Author Title Advocate
Nadine Bismuth Un lien familial France D'Amour
Marguerite Andersen La mauvaise mère Dominique Demers
Gérald Leblanc Moncton mantra Julie Aubé
J. R. Léveillé Le soleil du lac qui se couche Alpha Toshineza
Richard Wagamese Cheval Indien Romeo Saganash

2021

[edit]

In 2021, Ici Radio-Canada Première planned two separate editions of Le Combat des livres, one devoted to young adult literature, with the five selected books advocated by francophone teenagers, and another for adult literature. The teen competition was staged in March 2021, while the adult competition took place May 3 to 7.[6]

Writer Simon Boulerice and actress Catherine Trudeau also participated in the youth debates as assistant moderators.[7]

Combat national des livres

[edit]

The adult literature competition was staged from May 3 to 7, 2021.[8]

Author Title Advocate
Michel Jean Kukum Michèle Audette
Jean Babineau Infini Brian Gallant
Simone Chaput Que serions-nous sans le secours de ce qui n’existe pas? Corey Loranger
Caroline Dawson Là où je me terre Michel Marc Bouchard
Melchior Mbonimpa Le totem des Baranda Tanya Lapointe

Combat des livres jeunesse

[edit]
Author Title Advocate
Patrick Isabelle Camille Amélie
Sarah-Maude Beauchesne Cœur de slush Anaïs
Dominique Demers L'albatros et la mésange Daphnée
Michel Noël Hush! Hush! Pierre
Andrée Poulin J'avais tout prévu sauf les bélugas Élie

2022

[edit]

Combat national des livres

[edit]

The adult literature competition was staged from May 2 to 6, 2022.[9]

Author Title Advocate
Vanessa Léger L’averti : La naissance d’une dynastie Serge Brideau
Dawn Dumont La course de Rose (Rose's Run) Isabelle Picard
Paul Serge Forest Tout est ori Charlotte Aubin
Daniel Poliquin Le vol de l'ange Blaise Ndala
Ying Chen Rayonnements Jean Grand-Maître

Combat des livres jeunesse

[edit]
Author Title Advocate
Edith Kabuya Victoire-Divine Léonie
Elizabeth Baril-Lessard Ma vie de gâteau sec Maya
Samuel Champagne Adam William
Amélie Panneton Comme une chaleur de feu de camp Mila
Marc-André Pilon Infectés Léon

2023

[edit]

Combat national des livres

[edit]

The adult literature competition was staged from May 15 to 18, 2023.[10]

Author Title Advocate
Sébastien Bérubé Rivières-aux-Cartouches Gabriel Robichaud
Roxanne Bouchard Nous étions le sel de la mer Gilles Renaud
Jean-Pierre Dubé Le Radeau Patricia Bitu Tshikudi
Chloé LaDuchesse L'Incendiare de Sudbury Brigitte Noël
Drew Hayden Taylor (tr. Eva Lavergne) Le baiser de Nanabush (Motorcycles & Sweetgrass) Xavier Watson

Combat des livres jeunesse

[edit]
Author Title Advocate
Andrée Poulin La plus grosse poutine du monde Nico
Laurence Beaudoin-Masse Rentrer son ventre et sourire Evie
Pierre-Alexandre Bonin Chasseurs de légendes tome 1 : la colère de la Dame blanche Ella
Luc Gélinas C'est la faute à Ovechkin Alexis
Magali Laurent L’ogre et l’enfant Adam

2024

[edit]

Combat national des livres

[edit]

The 2024 edition was staged from May 17 to 20.[11]

Author Title Advocate
Emmanuelle Pierrot La version qui n’intéresse personne David Thibodeau
Tomson Highway (tr. Robert Dickson) Le baiser de la Reine blanche (Kiss of the Fur Queen) Jocelyn Sioui
Didier Leclair Le prince africain, le traducteur et le nazi Alison Vicrobeck
Francis Ouellette Mélasse de fantaisie Chantal Lamarre
Annie-Claude Thériault Les Foley Diane Losier

Combat des livres jeunesse

[edit]
Author Title Advocate
Isabelle Picard Nish, tome 1 : le Nord et le Sud Adriene
Roxane Jérôme Délivrée Rose
Martine Latulippe Le Cri Gabrielle
Pascale Quiviger Le royaume de Pierre d’Angle T. 1 : l’art du naufrage Matys
Louis-Pierre Sicard Les orphelins du roi : intégrale 1 Simon

References

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