The Blue Metropolis Literary Festival, for the love of lit

The Blue Metropolis Literary Festival has returned in 2021 with an impressive online edition featuring over 50 events — free, multilingual panels, debates and interviews in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic, featuring 200 artists from the literary realm.

There will be eight headline events featuring internationally renowned authors in conversation, including Souleymane Bachir Diagne speaking about post-colonial memories; David Grossman, on the added threat posed to democracies by racism and fundamentalism during the pandemic; Kim Scott, Gregory Scofield and Devon A. Mihesuah on the intersection of art and activism; and queer authors Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore and Randa Jarrar exploring each other’s work.

Blue Metropolis 2021 also promises the awarding of seven literary prizes, including interviews with the recipients. Some of these prizes were meant to be awarded last year, but the 2020 edition of the festival was, of course, cancelled.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, the festival (which usually occupies multiple spaces within a Montreal hotel) is happening online, specifically on the Blue Metropolis website, via their Facebook events and their YouTube channel. From April 24 through May 2, new events will be added daily and remain online for the duration of the festival.

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For the complete Blue Metropolis 2021 program, please visit the official website.

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