Writers and readers are on the same page at Montréal’s Blue Metropolis Literary Festival
This article was published on April 24, 2023.
Plan your summer reading early at the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival, this year celebrating 25 years of inspirational and diverse programming. A place to share a love for the written word and the spoken word too, Blue Met brings together writers and readers from Quebec, Canada and around the world.
One of the largest multilingual literary events in North America, the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival returns this spring with a full schedule of on-stage interviews with authors, public readings, lively writing workshops and round-table discussions and more from April 27 to 30, including a program of online virtual events. With over 140 events, many of them free, the festival celebrates literature not only in French and English but in several other languages, as well as events dedicated to Indigenous literature and a dynamic children’s and youth program.
Adding even more food for thought to the program, this year’s festival theme addresses the future: the future of the planet, of democracy and identities, of languages and people, and of our imaginations. A festival where local writers mingle with international authors and an enthusiastic literary audience, Blue Metropolis is always consistent in programming content you’ll be talking about for years.
Among the many authors in the 2023 program, the festival welcomes Duncan Mercredi, the 2023 laureate of the Blue Metropolis First Peoples Prize; 2023 Azul Prize laureate Lina Meruane; British author Philippe Sands; Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Paul Harding; internationally acclaimed Canadian author Michael Ondaatje; American-Canadian novelist Rivka Galchen; Israeli writer Yaël Neeman; French travel writer Sylvain Tesson; 2022 Governor General-winning Anishinaabe author Eli Baxter, award-winning novelist and playwright Anne-Marie McDonald, and local authors including Dimitri Nasrallah, Christopher DiRaddo, Daniel Allen Cox, Tawhida Tanya Evanson and many more.
With Indigenous writers Duncan Mercredi, Eli Baxter and Joséphine Bacon featuring prominently in the program, Blue Metropolis reflects further on the lives, culture and traditions of Indigenous peoples in Tio’tia:ke/Montréal with a literary walking tour focused on writing a decolonial Montréal, a free discussion on the Future of Linguistic Diversity also featuring Eli Baxter, a presentation by Mohawk multimedia artist Skawennati of The Peacemaker Return, a sci-fi retelling of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) confederation story, and Indigenous (autochtone in French) storytelling as part of the youth program.
Almost all Blue Met events are held at Hotel 10, where the downtown core meets the Plateau neighbourhood on the corner of Sherbrooke W. and Saint-Laurent Boulevard. Discover nearby restaurants, shopping and other attractions, like murals painted in spring colours on building facades on and near Saint-Laurent Boulevard. Stroll around the area and visit nearby neighbourhoods – you might just recognize them from the pages of books based in Montréal! And pick up those books and so many others at Montréal’s best bookstores.
The Festival Pass is back with a twist. For $25, festivalgoers have access to the Festival’s bountiful program, along with a special $25 rebate on books at Paragraphe Bookstore, the Festival’s official bookseller, which will be setting up shop at Hotel 10 from April 27 to 30 inclusively.
Robyn Fadden
Robyn Fadden was a Montréal-based writer and editor known for her curiosity, creativity and love for uncovering the hidden gems of the city. For over a decade, Robyn collaborated with Tourisme Montréal, bringing her vibrant voice and rich knowledge to stories about art, music, and local culture. Robyn had also covered major events for HOUR, MUTEK, ARTINFO, CKUT 90.3FM, and more. She passed away in September 2024, and while she will be deeply missed, her work will continue to inspire.