4 books that Canada Reads author Clayton Thomas-Mller loved reading

Clayton Thomas-Mller is a member of the Treaty #6 based Mathias Colomb Cree Nation located in Northern Manitoba. He hascampaigned on behalf of Indigenous peoples around the world for more than 20 years, working with numerous organizations for social and environmental justice.Life in the City of Dirty Wateris his first book.

Life in the City of Dirty Watercovers Thomas-Mller's entire life: from playing with toy planes as a way to escape from domestic and sexual abuse and enduring intergenerational trauma to becoming a committed environmentalactivist. Along the way, Thomas-Mller remained tied to his Cree heritage and spirituality and the memoir is a vision of healing and responsibility.

Suzanne Simardis defendingLife in the City of Dirty WateronCanada Reads2022.

Canada Readswill take place March 28-31. The debates will be hosted byAli Hassanand will be broadcast onCBC Radio One,CBC TV,CBC Gemand onCBC Books.

• Meet theCanada Reads2022 contenders

Here are some of the books and authors Thomas-Mller has loved reading over the years.

The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King

"I read the Dark Tower series when I was like 12 years old and it really impacted me in a very big way deep into my core, right into the marrow of my bones. I revisit the whole seven-volume series almost every year and I read them from cover to cover. It's a very powerful fantasy story about love, loss, tragedy, triumph and deep, deep spirituality.

It's a very powerfulfantasy story about love, loss,tragedy, triumph and deep, deep spirituality.

"The book series itself was just incredible because as I went through my life, I felt aspects and elements of the characters' personalities the way they dealt with tragedy andtriumph, the way they dealt with death and with birth and the cyclical nature of life and creation. It was a very profound book for me."

18:49Clayton Thomas-Mller on Life in the City of Dirty Water

Clayton Thomas-Mller talks to Shelagh Rogers about his debut book, Life in the City of Dirty Water.

Imajica by Clive Barker

"Imajica was this book of doorways to other dimensions and very complex characters. That book explored the deep themes of sexuality and just the blurred lines between the gender spectrum. And it's not just gender like in a human context, but because the story takes place in multiple universes and there are characters that pass between those universes, there's inter-dimensional gender-bending kind of stuff.

It's hard to explain, but that book really opened my eyes up to just how big the universe is and how limitless possibilities are in this very beautiful life that I've been given.

"I read Imajicawhen I was a teenager and it justblew me away. It's this beautiful epic story about saving the universe and this day of reckoning that comes every couple ofcenturies. It's hard to explain, but that book really opened my eyes up tojusthow big the universe isand howlimitless possibilities are in this very beautiful life that I've been given."

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The Autobiography of Malcolm X byAlex Haley and Malcolm X

"Another really important book to me was The Autobiography of Malcolm X. My mother gave me that book when I was just a teenager getting into trouble, and I read itback to front inlike three hours. I couldn't put it down. Growing up,my mother always referred to three civil rights leaders and would tell me their quotes Dr. Martin Luther King and of course, Malcolm X and Chief Dan George.

The Autobiography of Malcolm Xreally got methrough that whole experience and I really appreciated it.

"I had gotten in trouble and went to a juvenile detention centre and I turned 17when I was in there.There is a copy of this book in the library. And I must have read that 80 times while Iwas locked up. The Autobiography of Malcolm Xreally got methrough that whole experience and I really appreciated it."

The Nanabush series byDaphne Odjig

"Daphne Odjig illustrated a series of children's books that were a collection of their original stories of Nanabush, which is the Ojibwe version of Wisakedjak the trickster. And I bought those stories for my sons all the books and every night before bed, I would read those books to my sons.

Some of them are harsh because Nanabushgets burnedto death and he drowns in some of the stories.They're quite deep archetypal stories that when you read them to children, especially, it implants lifelong teachings around morality and that sort of thing."

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Clayton Thomas-Mller's comments have been edited for length and clarity.

The Canada Reads 2022 contenders

• Christian Allaire championsFive Little Indiansby Michelle Good
• Malia Baker championsScarboroughby Catherine Hernandez
• Tareq Hadhad championsWhat Strange Paradiseby Omar El Akkad
• Suzanne Simard championsLife In the City of Dirty Waterby Clayton Thomas-Mller
• Mark Tewksbury championsWashington Blackby Esi Edugyan