A post-pandemic wind is blowing over the Montreal Book Fair this year, particularly with a host of new releases and the arrival of foreign authors for the first time since 2019. From November 11, a large number of activities are planned in various locations in the metropolis as well as online, while the Palais des Congrès will host this 45e edition from November 23 to 27, in a larger and just as airy space as last year.
Posted yesterday at 10:00 a.m.
“How to make the Book Fair experience richer?” “, wonders every year the director general of the Salon du livre de Montréal, Olivier Gougeon, since he took office in 2018.
With “little pockets of innovation” which come to energize the experience, in his opinion, a program rich in contrasts or even surprise readings – new this year.
“The majority of visitors come to the Show to live an experience, attend an event and meet their authors. We thought that this element of surprise was important and it is present in several activities at the Show this year, says Olivier Gougeon. And one of the ways to surprise is to have, at the bend of an aisle, a reading that would be made by an author that we know or that we do not know, and that would not be announced. [d’avance]. »
This element of surprise is found even in the thirty or so round tables which are planned during the five days of the Show, adds the general manager.
It’s more subtle, but the idea was to bring together authors who have different interests, who come from different writing fields and backgrounds.
Olivier Gougeon, general manager of the Salon du livre de Montréal
Thus, Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Ariane Gélinas, Benoît Côté and Christian Quesnel will be brought together for the round table “And if History had not happened like that…”, while Marina Orsini, Simon Boulerice and Bernard Lavallée invite readers to “Read between the food lines”, among others.
When books take shape
The theme of the Salon this year is “taking shape”, because reading — like writing —, explains Olivier Gougeon, is above all a physical act that passes through the body. “A book that we like very much is manifested by an emotional reaction, by a physical sensation that marks us, lives in us. Books take shape in us. »
“Hearing the voice of the authors through their text is something that is also important,” he adds. This is why the cabarets formula returns this year for four evenings, from 7 p.m., from Wednesday to Saturday at the Agora (where you can even have a drink while attending the event).
The first cabaret will also have Living Memory as its theme, a sort of tribute show to Quebec literary voices who have left us recently — Marie-Claire Blais, François Blais, Serge Bouchard and Simon Roy.
Among the authors from here who will be at the Salon, note the presence of Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, Chrystine Brouillet, Dany Laferrière, Heather O’Neill, Michel Jean, Patrick Senécal and Rodney St-Éloi. Cœur de Pirate, Daniel Bélanger, Farah Alibay, Mariana Mazza and Martha Wainwright will also be there for the publication of their most recent book.
A few foreign authors will also be visiting the metropolis for the event, including two of the finalists for the Goncourt prize which will be awarded on Thursday, Makenzy Orcel and Giuliano da Empoli.
Activities for all
This year, the Show will occupy the entire second level of the Palais des Congrès in order to welcome a greater number of exhibitors, underlines Olivier Gougeon, who suggests to visitors not to hesitate to go out for a walk in the district between meetings.
Another novelty this year, a space will be specially set up to welcome readers around the book club that will be set up through the Braindate platform. The little ones will be entitled to storytelling hours as well as workshops planned in the Youth Space.
Those who cannot get to the city center at the end of November will be entitled to more than 70 activities, starting November 11, in different areas of the city, including Montreal-North, the borough which will be highlighted this year with its own stand at the convention center.
And for those who prefer to avoid the “weekend crowd” at the Show, the general manager insists that the afternoons are generally quieter, especially on Wednesdays and Thursdays. “It’s a good time to walk the aisles more calmly; and the programming is no less rich”, he concludes.