PROFESSIONAL SPACE
In collaboration with
The book industry is an important sector. With cultural as well as economic impacts, it’s also an ever-evolving one.
The Blue Metropolis Professional Space: a place to meet, compare notes, network and find common ground for the industry leaders.
Interviews, discussions, discoveries: learn more the upcoming events and relive our previous ones.
FRIDAY APRIL 24TH
WRITING, EDITING, TRANSLATING: WHAT CAN STAND UP TO AI?
Friday, April 24, 2026, 10:00 AM
HOTEL10 – Salle Saint-Laurent
At a time when AI is on everyone’s mind, in electronic devices and workplaces, are there professions and areas of activity in the world of books where a human presence will remain essential?
A discussion between Luigi Farrauto (Italy), author (Géographie d’un voyageur craintif) and travel writer for Lonely Planet; Andreas Kessaris (Canada), bookseller (Paragraphe Bookstore) and author (The Grand Tour of Park Ex); Daniel Hahn (UK), translator and author (If This be Magic. The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation).
Participants: Luigi Farrauto, Andreas Kessaris, Daniel Hahn
Host: Jennifer Varkony
Language(s): French, English
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $8
DES MOTS À LA VOLÉE – TRADUIRE POUR LE THÉÂTRE
Vendredi 24 avril 2026, 10 h 00
HOTEL10 – Salle Jardin
La traduction n’est jamais aussi ciblée que pour le théâtre, où l’on sait souvent quel sera le cadre, le public, l’époque, l’esprit de la mise en scène. Cet ancrage dans le présent pose son lot de défis ; permet-il des choix plus audacieux ? Discussion entre des traductrices professionnelles dans ce domaine et portant sur trois aspects : Catherine Joncas, cofondatrice d’Ondinnok, sur la traduction à travers la longue histoire de sa compagnie de théâtre des Premières Nations ; Amélie Lafortune Lauzon sur les défis de traduire de l’espagnol un texte destiné à être joué par des interprètes dont le français est la langue seconde ; Fanny Britt sur sa longue expérience de la traduction depuis l’anglais pour la scène. La discussion sera animée par le dramaturge et traducteur de théâtre Olivier Sylvestre, aussi président du conseil d’administration du Centre des auteurs dramatiques (CEAD).
En partenariat avec l’Association des traducteurs et traductrices littéraires du Canada (ATTLC)
Participants : Amélie Lafortune-Lauzon, Fanny Britt, Catherine Joncas
Modérateur : Olivier Sylvestre
Langue(s) : Français
Durée : 60 minutes
Prix : 8$
THE ROLE OF MONTREAL’S ENGLISH MAGAZINES IN SHAPING CANADIAN STORYTELLING
Friday, April 24, 2026, 11:30 AM
HOTEL10 – Salle Jardin
What makes Montreal’s literary scene so inspiring and enticing to writers, and why does Montreal consistently produce influential, heavy-weight artists? Editors from three of Montreal’s top literary magazines – Curtis McRae (yolk), Rosie Long Decter (Maisonneuve), Greg Santos (carte blanche) discuss how their publications reflect and help shape the city’s vibrant English-language literary scene. They’ll explore their role in amplifying emerging voices, reflecting contemporary life, and bolstering Montreal’s place in Can lit.
Participants: Curtis McRae, Rosie Long Decter, Greg Santos
Moderator: Gina Leola Woolsey
Language(s): English
Duration: 60 mins
Price: $8
IS NICHE LITERATURE THE FUTURE OF LITERATURE AND PUBLISHING?
Friday, April 24, 2026, 11:30 AM
HOTEL10 – Salle Saint-Laurent
Feminist, queer, Indigenous, specific languages and cultures: publishing catalogues are becoming increasingly specialised. Should this be seen as a response to commercial publishing and its inevitably global successes? Is niche publishing the future of publishing? What do the professionals say? A discussion between literary agent Patrick Leimgruber (Canada); Nuria Sublet (Switzerland), co-head of Programming and Communications of Les Journées littéraires de Soleure; Bel Olid (Catalonia/Spain), Coordinator of the Catalan Studies Program and an Assistant Instructional Professor at the Romance Languages and Literatures Department, as well as Affiliated Faculty at the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality at the University of Chicago; Alberto Garlini (Italy), novelist and Programming Director of the Pordenonellege Festival in Pordenone (Friuli Venezia Giulia Region); and author and editor Djamila Ribeiro (Brazil).
Participants: Patrick Leimgruber, Nuria Sublet, Bel Olid, Alberto Garlini, Djamila Ribeiro
Host: Julien Lefort-Favreau
Language(s): French, English
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: $8
PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING LUNCH
Friday, April 24, 2026, 12:30 AM
HOTEL10 – Espace Godin
As part of the Blue Metropolis Professional Day, professionals from Quebec, Canada and abroad get together for lunchtime discussions.
Language(s) : French, English
Duration: 120 minutes
Price: $15
HOW TO WRITE HISTORICAL FICTION
Friday, April 24, 2026, 2:00 PM
HOTEL10 – Salle Exécutive
This event is sold out.
Do you long to write historical fiction? This workshop will help you find your way from the elevator pitch to the research stage to your first draft. Learn to map your narrative arc, to research like a journalist, to create compelling characters and reanimate scenes, and to write that first draft, despite the research gaps. Leading the workshop will be journalist and editor Barbara Sibbald, the author of Almost English (Bayeux Arts). Limited number of participants.
Host: Barbara Sibbald
Language(s): English
Duration: 120 minutes
Price: Free
SATURDAY APRIL 25TH
MORNING MEET-UP – HEADING FOR CATALONIA
Saturday, April 25, 2026, 9:00 AM
HOTEL10 – Salle Exécutive
A private professional meeting between ten authors from Quebec and Bel Olid, translator and Coordinator of the Catalan Studies Program and Assistant Instructional Professor at the Romance Languages and Literatures Department, as well as Affiliated Faculty at the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality at the University of Chicago.
Participant: Bel Olid
Host: Ingrid Bejerman
Language(s): French, English
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: on invitation
MORNING MEET-UP – TO BRAZIL
Saturday, April 25, 2026, 10:00 AM
HOTEL10 – Salle Exécutive
A private professional meeting between ten authors from Quebec and author and editor Djamila Ribeiro.
Participant: Djamila Ribeiro
Host: Ingrid Bejerman
Language(s): French, English
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: on invitation
SUNDAY APRIL 26TH
MORNING MEET-UP – TO SWITZERLAND
Sunday, April 26, 2026, 9:00 PM
HOTEL10 – Salle Exécutive
A private professional meeting between ten authors from Quebec and Nuria Sublet, co-head of Programming and Communications of Les Journées littéraires de Soleure.
Participant: Nuria Sublet
Host: Marie-Andrée Lamontagne
Language(s): French, English
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: on invitation
CAFÉ RENCONTRE – CAP SUR L’ITALIE
Dimanche 26 avril 2026, 10 h 00
HOTEL10 – Salle Exécutive
Rencontre professionnelle privée entre dix auteurs du Québec et Alberto Garlini (Italie), romancier et directeur de la programmation du Festival Pordenonellege, à Pordenone (région Friuli Venezia Giulia). Rencontre en italien avec service d’interprète en français.
Participant : Alberto Garlini (avec Dominique Garand, interprète)
Animation : Marie-Andrée Lamontagne
Langue(s) : Français, Italien
Durée : 60 minutes
Prix : sur invitation
LE TRAVEL WRITING À LA PORTÉE DE TOUS
Sunday, April 26, 2026, 11:30 AM
HOTEL10 – Salle Exécutive
This event is sold out.
Do you enjoy travelling, exploring new places and discovering other cultures? Would you like to try your hand at travel writing and maybe make earn some money from it? This skill cannot be improvised. Learn the tricks of the trade with Italian author Luigi Farrauto (Géographie d’un voyageur craintif), editor for Lonely Planet travel guides. Bring your own paper, pen or tablet.
Participant: Luigi Farrauto
Language(s): Français, Anglais
Duration: 90 minutes
Price: Free
To Watch
Around the World of Publishing with Blue Metropolis — Fifteen Minutes in the Office of…
A book is a book. And yet, not all books are alike. Neither are publishing houses. To take stock of the spectrum of the diversity, often unsuspected, of this planet’s publishing world, Blue Metropolis opens a space for exploration and discovery. The objective: to make known the catalogues, the publishing houses, the important figures in publishing, and the common editorial practices abroad, with an attention to those who are evolving outside of the usual or major circles. Expanded over the weeks and months, the series “Fifteen minutes in the office of…” offers a tour of the publishing world.
LE TOUR DU MONDE DE L’ÉDITION : 15 MINUTES DANS LE BUREAU DE SANDRA TAMELE (Mozambique)
Lundi 24 avril 2023 – 10h00
Sandra Tamele, éditrice-fondatrice des éditions Trinta Zero Nove, au Mozambique, fait le portrait de sa maison d’édition et évoque quelques figures de son catalogue.
Participante: Sandra Tamele
Host/Animatrice: Ingrid Bejerman
ENGLISH / SPANISH
Quinze minutes dans le bureau de Layla Chaouni, fondatrice et directrice des éditions Le Fennec, à Casablanca (Maroc)
Participante : Layla Chaouni
Intervieweuse : Marie-Andrée Lamontagne
FRANCAIS
Fifteen minutes in the office of Deborah Holtz, Managing Editor of Ediciones Trilce, in México (México)
Participant: Deborah Holtz
Interviewer: Ingrid Bejerman
ENGLISH
Quinze minutes dans le bureau de Sofiane Hadjadj, co-fondateur-directeur des éditions Barzakh, à Alger (Algérie)
Participant : Sofiane Hadjadj
Intervieweuse : Marie-Andrée Lamontagne
FRANÇAIS
Fifteen minutes in the office of Carolina Orloff, Director & Publishing Editor of Charco Press, in Edinburg, Scotland (United Kingdom)
Participant: Caroline Orloff
Interviewer: Ingrid Bejerman
ENGLISH
Quinze minutes en compagnie de Frédéric Maget (France)
Participant: Frédéric Maget
Interviewer: Marie-Andrée Lamontagne
FRANÇAIS
Around the World of Literary Festivals — Fifteen Minutes with…
Literary festivals are places of buzz and excitement. But not all festivals are alike. To take stock of the diverse forms that they take on our planet, Blue Metropolis opens a space for exploration and discovery. The objective: to make known festivals, expressions and literary encounters from all over the world, and to showcase the variety in their approaches. “Fifteen Minutes with…” offers a tour of the world of literary festivals.
Quinze minutes en compagnie de Frédéric Maget, directeur du Festival international des écrits des femmes, à Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye (France)
Participant : Frédéric Maget
Intervieweuse : Marie-Andrée Lamontagne
FRANÇAIS
LA LITTÉRATURE EST-ELLE SOLUBLE DANS LE CAPITALISME?
Tout en s’inscrivant dans un cadre capitaliste, le commerce du livre n’est pas un commerce comme les autres. Le temps long de la littérature s’est souvent révélé peu compatible avec le rythme du capitalisme, sa course aux nouveautés, sa surproduction, sa recherche du profit à court terme, son hyper-concentration éditoriale. Jusqu’où l’édition littéraire peut-elle garder ses distances avec la logique capitaliste? Dans leur essai, Le fétiche et la plume, La littérature nouveau produit du capitalisme (Rivages), Hélène Ling et Inès Sol Salas analysent ces phénomènes et s’inquiètent de ce que peuvent devenir les écrivains, les livres, la littérature – de ce qu’ils sont déjà, peut-être.
ENTREVUE_30 minutes
Participantes : Inès Sol Solas, Hélène Ling
Interview : Marie-Andrée Lamontagne
GRATUIT / FRANÇAIS
LA TRADUCTION HORS DES SENTIERS BATTUS
La traduction littéraire est un art, celui-ci d’autant plus subtil et périlleux lorsqu’il se pratique en dehors des clous, par exemple dans des œuvres appartenant aux littératures de l’imaginaire, à traduire des œuvres écrites en langage non-binaire, ou dans des langues en train de renaître, comme certaines langues autochtones. Quelles en sont alors les difficultés ? les pièges ? les joies ?
En partenariat avec l’ATTLC.
PANEL _ 90 minutes
Participants : Émilie Laramée, Benjamin Hedley, Arianne Des Rochers, David Unger
Animatrice : Catherine Ego
FRANÇAIS, ANGLAIS
