Jian Ghomeshi, Roland Pemberton and Douglas Coupland at the Canada Reads 2010 announcement. Photo by Stan Behal.
When Jian Ghomeshi announced the Canada Reads 2010 panelists and books on Tuesday morning at the CBC studio in downtown Toronto, a surprising duo emerged: Roland Pemberton, aka Cadence Weapon, a 23-year-old rapper currently serving as Edmonton’s poet laureate, and his Canada Reads choice, the iconic Canadian novel Generation X by Douglas Coupland. Pemberton was four years old when Generation X was published.
Cadence Weapon and Douglas Coupland sat down with Torontoist for a few minutes to discuss the Canada Reads experience thus far and what they’re most looking forward to as the competition continues.
Torontoist: When did you find out about your participation in this year’s Canada Reads?
Roland Pemberton: I was asked to be a panelist earlier this year, probably at the beginning of the summer. I had until August to make my selection.
Douglas Coupland: I found out about Canada Reads at 11 p.m. last night! It was alluded to, but I didn’t get the details and didn’t find out who selected by book until then.
TO: Considering that Generation X is already such an iconic book, why did you select it for this year’s Canada Reads competition?
RP: I’m really picky. I have specific tastes in the books I like. This book is the closest conceptually to what I do in my music. I wanted to select a book that represented me as a panelist and would be meaningful. It’s a book that everyone knows and that has helped defined Canadian literature, but a lot of young people haven’t read it. I looked at Canada Reads as an opportunity to introduce my peers to a author and a work they most definitely heard of, but wouldn’t necessarily pick up themselves. Even though this book is nearly 20 years old, I think it’s the freshest, most relevant and timeliest book on this list.
DC: Being selected for a competition like this by a young man who is participating first and foremost as a reader is such an honour. The fact that young people are reading it and responding to it demonstrates that there is something eternal about my book and that I’ve produced a work greater than myself. That’s wonderfully satisfying.
TO: What are you most looking forward to about the Canada Reads competition?
RP: This is the way I see it: I’m not going to argue. I don’t want to argue. I try not to, but I might be forced to defend myself, but that’s not what this is about. I’m talking about why I like this book, why I think others should read it, and why it’s an important book. I’m not going to go after other people’s throats. The other panelists seem to have their claws out, but that’s not going to be my style. Doug feels the same way. I think people will respond to this. In the long run, it will be better for me and Doug if I’m not cut throat about it.
DC: Canada Reads is a wonderful opportunity for Canadians to discover – or rediscover, as the case may be – fantastic Canadian books. I agree with Roland, we’re not fighting this one. But I look forward to hearing the discussions and knowing that Canadians are getting passionate about literature.
TO: You both seem to have great chemistry together already.
RP: It’s true. This is the first time I met him. It’s awesome. This is a book I’ve been thinking about for so long. It has all these feelings and emotions and things I relate to so strongly. It’s so cool to meet the guy who put that down on paper and to find out he’s a cool guy too! It always sucks when you have an idea about a person and you meet them and they’re not a cool person. It’s happened before. I’ve admired someone’s work or their music and then you meet them and you’re completely not impressed. Doug’s not like that and I’m looking forward to talking about his book.
DC: Roland is an amazing young man. He’s a poet, he’s a rapper, he’s intelligent, he’s unbelievably articulate and well read. He’s 24, and I look at what he’s accomplished and I just think “Wow.” I’m completely honoured that such a distinguished young Canadian would find my book worthy enough to defend in front of the entire country. As an author, it’s humbling and you cannot ask for a greater honour.
