Canada Reads duo Roger Mooking and francesca ekwuyasi team up for a new collaborative book

Roger Mooking championed francesca ekwuyasi's novel Butter Honey Pig Breadon Canada Reads 2021 and now the pair have teamed up to publish a book together.

The collaborative title, Curious Sounds: A Dialogue in Three Movements,will be published by Arsenal Pulp Press.

Curious Sounds is a multimedia work that will examine how time shapes and defines the world, especially from a Black perspective.

Comprising three parts, which mirror the arc of a life the Learning, the Livingand the Leaving the book features visual art and microstories created by Mooking and essays penned by ekwuyasi inspired by the fact that the average attention span lasts 8.25 seconds.

The book is designed to "illuminate the journey to find solace and perspective in an increasingly hyperactive and distracting world," according to the publisher.

The Trinidadian-born, Canadian-raised Mooking is a chef, restaurateur, television host, author andrecording artist. He has earned an international reputation as a chef and entertainer by showcasing his globally inspired vision. Mooking is best known as the host of the long-running and successful grilling and barbecue show Man Fire Food on Food Network Canada and Cooking Channel.

• Roger Mooking thinks Canada Reads will be like 'Reading Rainbow Gladiator'

ekwuyasi is a writer, artist and filmmaker. She was born in Lagos and currently is based in Halifax. Her work explores themes of faith, family, queerness, consumption, loneliness and belonging. Butter Honey Pig Bread, her debut novel, was longlisted for the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize, was a Canadian finalist for the 2021 Lambda Literary Awards and was shortlisted for the 2021 Amazon Canada First Novel Award.

• francesca ekwuyasi says having her novel Butter Honey Pig Bread on Canada Reads is 'a dream come true'

ekwuyasi was also awarded the $10,000Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers in 2022.

Curious Sounds is scheduled for an October 2023 release.