Ecology and Literature

Staunchly literary and socially engaged for nearly 30 years now, the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival, under the banner of “Ecology & Literature”, brings together a wide variety of initiatives, editorial contents and projects that address, with literature’s help, subjects with strong links to ecology, sustainable development and, more generally, our relationships with the living world.

Sustainable development starts with the principle that the current development model, predicated as it is on economic growth, has shown its limits, and that we must rethink society’s organizational modes for the long-term while ensuring the renewal of resources.

Literature itself is built to last. It’s no stranger to any subject touching human beings. Mobilizing the themes of sustainable development, science, and literature is therefore likely to lay the groundwork to connect scientific disciplines, literary genres, aesthetic sensibilities, and even convictions, perspectives that complement or oppose each other, and debates most nourishing to the mind and sometimes most likely to move the goalposts. Writers, artists, philosophers, historians, researchers, scientists—their words, their work, their interrogations take the stage at Blue Metropolis. This was also a way to enjoy the city’s culinary creativity as well as the riches and cultural vitality of its many neighborhoods.

PLANET, MY LOVE

Planet, My Love…” is an English-language writing contest that gives aspiring writers in Montreal and Greater Montreal the opportunity to write a work of literary fiction inspired by today’s climate issues.

This contest, returning in 2026 for its second edition, showcased emerging, socially engaged literary talents in 2025.

Find out more here!

THE MARITIME SERIES

The St. Lawrence River holds a special place in Quebec. Since 2018, with the support of the Port of Montreal, the Blue Metropolis Foundation has been organizing workshops designed for young people in the Contrecœur region to help them learn more about this river, its shores, and its flora and its fauna.
Over the years, these activities have taken various forms: storytime sessions, poetry workshops, meetings with biologists from the Port of Montreal, and presentations of the writings, drawings, and crafts made by program participants, primarily at the Contrecoeur library.
These activities were originally intended for elementary school students. However, in an effort to reach new audiences, the program was offered in summer 2026 to forty girls from the Colonie Sainte-Jeanne d’Arc.

Find out more here!

FRUITS & VEGETABLES QUIZ

Fruits and vegetables have been a central part of the human diet for centuries. Their importance is such that numerous children’s authors propose engaging and appetizing picture books, not to mention dozens of cookbooks, on these foods. To test your knowledge of oranges, peas and nature’s various other delights, here’s a quiz game for the whole family.

(Only available in French)

WATER, RIVER, SEA QUIZ

Do you and your kids really know this river? What about the oceans? Know a thing or two about maritime trades? About types of boats? Do you know what lives in the river’s waters? Put your knowledge to the test with a little literary and educational quiz. You’ll be amazed at the discoveries that await you!

(Only available in French)

READING IN THE GARDEN – MEET & GREET AMONG THE TREES

Slowness, interiority, mystery, and discovery: Nature and literature share common ground. In 2022, two writers, one from Quebec, one from Wales, have read excerpts from their novels, in tandem with scientific commentary from a Montreal Botanical Garden botanist—an enchanted interlude amid the Garden’s greenery.

Presented in partership with Llenyddiaeth Ar Draws Ffiniau / Literature Across Frontiers and the Montreal Botanical Garden.

WRITING FOR THE OUTDOORS

Initiated in spring 2020 in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Blue Metropolis’ Writing for the Outdoors online platform will take us right through to the next edition of the Festival, in spring 2022, when we will present a series of outdoors literary events so as to take advantage of Greater Montreal’s beautiful parks and natural settings. This will also be a way to enjoy the city’s culinary creativity as well as the riches and cultural vitality of its many neighbourhoods.