Blue Skies Ahead
Montreal may not go far in the National Hockey League playoffs, but it is going the distance with the 2008 Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival. The Blue Met runs from April 30 to May 4. With some 200 different events conducted in eight languages bringing together talent from around the world, Blue Met reflects the cosmopolitan nature of the city itself.
Some of the highlights, spicing up the usual mix of readings, book launches, panel discussions and award ceremonies:
- Writers in Peril will feature more than a dozen writers, reporters and cartoonists, many controversial, several in exile, to discuss freedom of expression under despotic regimes that seek to silence the messengers.
- Festival participants will include dozens of top writers of world-renown, including Scottish literary star Andrew O’Hagan, Northern Irish novelist Glenn Patterson, and Alaa El Aswanty, the Egyptian dentist who has become the publishing sensation of the Arab world. This year’s Literary Grand Prix winner is Daniel Pennac, born in Casblanca and resident in Paris. Pennac is one of the best-loved contemporary French authors; his books have been translated into more than 30 languages.
- Writers’ Workshops: The five hour sessions cover a wide range of writing issues. Listen Who’s Talking will look at both voice (modes of narration) and voices (dialogue) in prose fiction. Beyond Exotics: Travel Writing that Humanizes will provide insight into how the best travel writers get outside themselves and into the hearts and minds of those living far away. Successful screenwriter Gerald Wexler will be session leader for The Art of Pitching a Feature Film.
- Among the numerous lectures, Daniel Levitin will discuss This Is Your Brain on Music, his best-selling book on the science behind why we like music.
- A new addition this year is the Blue Metropolis Children’s Festival which gets close to its audience in venues around the city. It will feature a host of talented children’s writers and even a marionette story-telling session.
The Blue Met is certainly not the only literary festival around, but in its 10th iteration, it will almost certainly prove itself among the best. It is expected that there will be well over 15,000 attendees. As a member of the Blue Metropolis Foundation, I plan on being one of them.
For more information, check out the Blue Metropolis website.
