Nikolski

• The great Canadian reading list: 150 books to read for Canada 150

In Nikolski, author Nicolas Dickner playfully explores the invisible connections that tie us to people who might seem to be strangers, and the ways in which fate intervenes to shape our paths through the world. The novel follows a trio of young Canadians living in Montreal in the late 1980s: Joyce, a 20-something Acadian steeped in her family's pirate legacy; nomadic Noah, who grew up criss-crossing western Canada in a trailer and is fascinated with the anthropology of trash; and a mysterious unnamed narrator, whose lodestar is an off-kilter compass.

• Why Nicolas Dickner tries to never give advice to other writers

Nikolski won the Governor General's Literary Award for translation in 2008. The novel, championed byMichel Vzina, wonCanada Reads 2010.

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From the book

Author interviews

"Nikolski" author Nicolas Dickner goes dumpster diving with CBC Books

15 years ago

Duration 3:04

Author Nicolas Dickner talks about why the characters in his novel "Nikolski" are obsessed with garbage.

Book Club: Nicolas Dickner in Montreal

15 years ago

Duration 2:27

Nicolas Dickner, author of the Canada Reads 2010 winner Nikolski, talks to Hannah Sung about the city of Montreal.

More about this book