Valentine in December! with Heather O’Neill and Arizona O’Neill

December 6, 2025, 2–3 pm
Main Stage, Salle des célébrations

The duo will take to the stage to discuss their collaboration Valentine in Montreal. The novel, written by Heather with illustrations by Arizona, is a sweet Montreal adventure in which our famous metro plays a starring role. The O’Neills will sign copies after their onstage appearance.

Heather O’Neill is a novelist, short-story writer and essayist. Her most recent novel is Valentine in Montreal. Her previous works include Capital of Dreams and When We Lost Our Heads, a #1 national bestseller and finalist for the Grand Prix du Livre de Montréal. The Lonely Hearts Hotel, won the Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction and was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and CBC’s Canada Reads. Lullabies for Little Criminals, The Girl Who Was Saturday Night, and Daydreams of Angels were shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Scotiabank Giller Prize two years in a row. O’Neill has also won CBC’s Canada Reads and the Danuta Gleed Award. Born and raised in Montreal, she lives there today.

Arizona O’Neill is a Montreal-based author and illustrator. Her illustrations appear in Valentine in Montreal. She is the author of Est-ce qu’un artiste peut être heureux ?, a collection of graphic interviews, and illustrated Nelly Arcan’s L’enfant dans le miroir. Her comics have appeared in Hazlitt, Exclaim!, the Montreal Gazette and mRb. She has created animated videos for many outlets, including CBC. She is a regular contributor to Radio-Canada’s Il restera toujours la culture, and is one half of the bookstagram page @ONeillReads. She is currently working on a graphic memoir.