Salon du livre making space for English content
English publishers will be able to shop their wares for the first time in more than a decade at the Salon du livre de Montréal, the biggest book fair in Quebec.
Not only is the Salon a place for publishing houses to sell books, it's also a showcase for French-language authors in all genres of literature.
There was a small offering of English-language books back in 2005 as part of a joint effort by the Association of English-language Publishers of Quebec (AELAQ) and the Association of Canadian Publishers.
"We were kind of a small drop of English-language books in a sea of French literature so the effort wasn't repeated until this year," said Anna Leventhal, AELAQ's executive director.
The new executive director of the Salon, Olivier Gougeon, reached out to Leventhal, who said Gougeon made them feel supported and welcome.
The theme of the stand representing English books from Quebec is called "Get Lit" (stand 753 in the Salon).
One of the founders at the Blue Metropolis Festival, Linda Leith, will be represented at the stand through Linda Leith Publishing along with newer publishers such as Metonymy Press, who focus on LGBTQ writers and Metatron, who publish poetry and experimental fiction.
The Quebec Writers' Federation (QWF) and the English Language Arts Network (ELAN) are set to host readings and special events during the salon, including one called "Grand Slam!"
The event features two poets and four translators who compare their different approaches and get audience feedback.
Poets Kelly Norah Drukker and Pierre Nepveu will be churning out lines for the four translators to convert into English and French.
'Like a sample platter'
In another event, "Rapid-Fire Readings, Ricochet Writing," 25 authors from all over the province will read for two minutes each. As soon as they finish reading they will work together on a collective text that will be read to the audience.
The QWF hopes for a great turnout from the English-language community to support the industry and to explore the diversity of Quebec writers at the Salon.
There is another opportunity this month to discover Quebec's English-language books and authors. The Holiday Pop-up Book Fair is on November 24th and 25th in the atrium of Concordia University's McConnell building.
"The Salon du livre is like a sample platter. So you'll see a little bit from a bunch of different publishers. But the Holiday Book Fair is like a feast," Leventhal said.
Award-winning author Ann-Marie MacDonald will be at the fair for a book signing on Nov. 24. MacDonald will also share her insights on being a writer in Montreal and about the literary community here.
In another event, children's book authors will be talking about how they managed to get their stories published and poetry readings are happening on both days of the event.
The Salon du livre de Montreal takes place Nov. 14-19 at Place Bonaventure.
