The longlist for the Canadian literary face-off otherwise known as Canada Reads 2016 has been revealed.

This year's selections revolve around the timely theme of immigrants, migrants, and other people who choose or are forced to face life-changing situations.

Among the authors with connections to B.C. is Ethel Wilson. After her death in 1980, the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize was created in 1985. In her 1954 novel Swamp Angel, a woman leaves her second husband in Vancouver for a new start running a fishing lodge in the B.C. Interior.

In Vancouver author Caroline Adderson's 2003 novel Sitting Practice, a couple contends with the aftermath of a car accident that leaves the wife paralyzed and the husband wracked with guilt.

Other authors with B.C. roots include Kate Pullinger (Landing Gear) and Emily St. John Mandel (Station Eleven).

Here's the full list of nominees:

All the Broken Things by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer

Birdie by Tracey Lindberg

Bone and Bread by Saleema Nawaz

Buying on Time by Antanas Sileika

Landing Gear by Kate Pullinger

Minister Without Portfolio by Michael Winter

Niko by Dimitri Nasrallah

Sitting Practice by Caroline Adderson

The Amazing Absorbing Boy by Rabindranath Maharaj

The Hero's Walk by Anita Rau Badami

The Outside Circle by Patti LaBoucane-Benson

Five finalists will be announced on January 20. The finalists will be debated by panelists from March 21 to 24, with returning host Wab (Wabanakwut) Kinew. Each of the panelists will champion one book to argue which book should be the one that all of Canada should read.

Last year's winner was Kim Thúy's Ru, championed by Toronto International Film Festival artistic director Cameron Bailey.