Christa Couture

Christa Couture
Born
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Occupations
  • Broadcaster
  • musician
  • writer
Notable workHow to Lose Everything (2021)

Christa Couture is a Canadian broadcaster, musician, and writer based in Toronto. As a touring singer-songwriter for over 10 years, Couture released a variety of music surrounding the themes of grief and loss. Her 2021 memoir How to Lose Everything chronicles the profound losses in her life including childhood cancer, subsequent leg amputation, and the loss of her two infant sons. Couture is the host of the AMI television series Postcards From..., and previously hosted a summer season of CBC's Now or Never.

Early life

Christa Couture was born in Peterborough, Ontario. Her family moved to Florida after she was born, and then to Edmonton, Alberta when she was four years old.[1] Couture was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a form of bone cancer, at the age of 11,[2] and her left leg was amputated above the knee at the age of 13 to stop the cancer.[1] Growing up in Edmonton, she studied musical theatre in high school and sang in choirs.[1]

After graduating from high school, Couture attended the Vancouver Film School for one year. She worked as a production coordinator for 10 years before her music career began to gain momentum.[1]

Music career

Couture was a touring singer-songwriter for over 10 years.[3] Her first three albums recounted her battle with cancer, the amputation of her leg, and the death of her two children.[4] Her 2008 album The Wedding Singer and the Undertaker won a Canadian Aboriginal Music Award.[5]

Her next album, The Living Record, was released in 2012. Produced by Steve Dawson, Couture performed the album live on tour with Vancouver-based duo Redgy Blackout, travelling across Canada to a variety of music festivals.[6] In 2017, The Living Record was included on The Georgia Straight's list of "50 albums that shaped Vancouver".[7]

In 2016, she released her album Long Time Leaving, examining the "ordinary heartache" of a breakup.[4] The album was produced by Steve Dawson and recorded at his Henhouse studio in Nashville.[8]

In 2020, Couture released Safe Harbour in preparation for the release of her memoir. Comprising six songs and lasting about 17 minutes in total, Couture described her music as "woven through [her] book", with her most significant life experiences each inspiring a song. She described Safe Harbour as "not so much a companion as the next step" to her book.[9]

Memoir

Couture's debut memoir, How to Lose Everything, was published by Douglas & McIntyre in 2021.[10] The book recounts profound losses in her life such as the amputation of her leg as a child, the consecutive deaths of her two infant sons, a divorce, and thyroid cancer. Couture navigates these traumas across 12 non-linear chapters, blending a light, humorous tone with raw depictions of grief, pain, and complex topics like abortion and sexuality.[11] 188 pages in total, the book is adorned with floral endpapers and a cover designed by Dianne Robertson.[10] The Canadian musician Grant Lawrence included How to Lose Everything on his list of "best B.C. books of 2020" in the North Shore News.[12]

How to Lose Everything inspired a 5-part series on CBC Gem featuring animated short films by Indigenous artists.[13] The series features the work of Terril Calder, who animated the second episode; Chief Lady Bird, who created an animation for the poet Tara Williamson's Heart Like a Pow Wow for the third episode; Meky Ottawa, who directed and animated the fourth episode; and Megan Kyak-Monteith, who directed and animated the fifth episode.[14]

Television, radio, and performance

Couture is the host of the AMI television series Postcards From..., an accessible travel show.[15] In 2024, she hosted the summer season of The Next Chapter for CBC Radio.[16] She has contributed to CBC's Now or Never, and hosted a program on 106.5 Elmnt FM in Toronto.[10]

In July 2025, Couture co-hosted Little Deaths Salon, a performance event in Toronto, with the Canadian writer Kaleigh Trace.[17] The event returned on 17 October 2025 at the Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.[18]

Discography

Albums

  • Fell Out of Oz (2005)[19]
  • The Wedding Singer and the Undertaker (2008)[20]
  • The Living Record (2012)[21]
  • Long Time Leaving (2016)[22]
  • Safe Harbour (2020)[9]

EPs

Singles

Publications

Books

  • Couture, Christa (2021). How to Lose Everything. Vancouver, B.C.: Douglas & McIntyre. ISBN 978-1-7716-2290-5.[25]

Essays and articles

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d Bordoff (2024).
  2. ^ CBC Radio (2020a); CBC Radio (2020b).
  3. ^ Couture (2025).
  4. ^ a b CBC Radio (2016).
  5. ^ Smith (2024).
  6. ^ Shiplack (2012).
  7. ^ Lucas et al. (2017).
  8. ^ Harrison (2016).
  9. ^ a b Corby (2020).
  10. ^ a b c Sandborn (2021).
  11. ^ Broatch (2020).
  12. ^ Lawrence (2020).
  13. ^ Mojica (2023).
  14. ^ Couture (2023).
  15. ^ Couture (2025); Esrock (2025).
  16. ^ Kliot (2024).
  17. ^ Smith (2025).
  18. ^ NOW Toronto (2025).
  19. ^ Harrison (2005); Wheeler (2006).
  20. ^ Bell (2008); Kelly (2008); Smith (2024).
  21. ^ Lucas et al. (2017); Newland (2012); Varty (2012).
  22. ^ CBC Radio (2016); Harrison (2016).
  23. ^ a b c Couture (2021).
  24. ^ Kitching (2021).
  25. ^ Broatch (2020); Kitching (2020); Lawrence (2020); Squires (2020); Sandborn (2021).
  26. ^ Smusiak (2014); Kruk (2016).
  27. ^ Kitching (2018).

Sources

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.