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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251206T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251207T170000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064209
CREATED:20251202T172003Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251202T172359Z
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SUMMARY:2025 Read Quebec Book Fair
DESCRIPTION:December 6–7\, 2025Casa d’Italia (505 Jean-Talon St. E.\, Montreal)\n\n\n\nThe Read Quebec Book Fair turns 10! Celebrate this milestone year on December 6–7 at Casa d’Italia\, with special events\, author signings\, and the latest releases from Canadian writers and publishers.  \n\n\n\nProduced by the Association of English-language Publishers of Quebec (AELAQ)\, the Fair celebrates the vibrancy of English-language writing\, publishing\, and translation in Quebec. In honour of the tenth anniversary\, this year’s Fair will\, for the first time\, welcome publishers from across Canada.  \n\n\n\nTaking place in the historic Casa d’Italia\, the Fair will present a full weekend of programming\, including a discussion between Heather and Arizona O’Neill about their new collaborative book Valentine in Montreal. Comic fans and those looking to discover the city’s beloved bédéistes will enjoy Art and Life in Graphic Novels with Juli Delporte\, Pascal Girard and D. Boyd. Meanwhile\, find your next dinner table discussion topic at our non-fiction lightning round\, where authors such as Francine Pelletier will demystify their research and share the passion inspiring their work. For writers looking to pitch a book idea\, we’re hosting the fair’s first ever speed-dating event for writers and editors\, where up-and-coming and seasoned wordsmiths will have the opportunity to deliver their pitches directly to publishers. \n\n\n\nThe Fair will offer plenty of fun for young booklovers in a cozy\, book-filled Kids’ Nook both days\, and a special reading and guided yoga practice for children with author Marlee Kostiner on Saturday afternoon. Other programming highlights include a panel discussion hosted by Italian community archivist Nancy Marrelli\, and a showcase of publisher Guernica Editions’ latest Quebec authors and releases.  \n\n\n\nStick around for our 5 à 7 opening cocktail on Saturday for delicious hors d’oeuvres and a chance to connect with Montreal’s vibrant literary community\, with a special 10th Anniversary High Fidelity DJ set with local journalist and author Brendan Kelly. \n\n\n\nCasa d’Italia is located at 505 Jean-Talon East\, and is fully accessible to wheelchairs and strollers. The fair takes place on the second floor\, accessible via stairs or elevator. Take the entrance on Berri Street\, across the street from Jean-Talon metro (exit Jean-Talon Nord). \n\n\n\n\nSee events\n\n\n\n\n\nSee Author Signing Schedule
URL:https://qwf.org/event/read-quebec-books-fair/
LOCATION:Casa d’Italia\, 505 Rue Jean-Talon Est\, Montreal\, Quebec\, H2R 1T6\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Festival
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://qwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/RQBF_2025_Web_Banners_Facebook_Event.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251207T113000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251207T123000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064209
CREATED:20251112T200814Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251202T172735Z
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SUMMARY:Archives Out Loud: Italian-Canadian Literature
DESCRIPTION:December 7\, 2025\, 11:30 – 12:30 pmMain Stage\, Salle des célébrations\n\n\n\nLicia CantonLianne MoyesCarmine Starnino \n\n\n\nModerated by Nancy Marrelli \n\n\n\nThere is a significant body of excellent Italian-Canadian literature available from a variety of sources in English\, French\, and Italian. The panel will discuss some established works as well as new voices emerging from the next generation. This session is part of the Archives Out Loud series organized by the Italian-Canadian Archives of Quebec. The panel will be followed by a reception in the office of the Italian-Canadian Community Archives of Quebec\, in the basement level of Casa d’Italia. \n\n\n\nLicia Canton has published short stories\, nonfiction and poetry in English\, French\, Italian and a Venetian dialect. She has been translator-in-residence at the University of Hull\, UK\, and Writer-in-Residence at Università della Calabria\, Italy. She is co-founder of Accenti Magazine and co-director of the Queer Italian-Canadian Artists Research Project (U of Toronto). She is the director of the documentary film Creative Spaces: Queer and Italian Canadian (2021). She mentors emerging writers through the Quebec Writers’ Federation Hire-a-Writer directory. For her work in culture\, she was awarded the Italy in the World Prize (2018). She holds a Ph.D. from Université de Montréal and an M.A. from McGill University. \n\n\n\nNancy Marrelli is Director of the Italian-Canadian Archives of Quebec at the Casa d’Italia\, and Archivist Emerita\, Concordia University. She is also co-publisher of Véhicule Press. Her family left Italy and settled in Montreal in 1909. \n\n\n\nProfessor of English Studies at the Université de Montréal\, Lianne Moyes specializes in Canadian and Anglo-Quebec literatures. She is interested in the porous and contested borders between the literatures that emerge in Montreal and has worked on writers such as Antonio D’Alfonso\, Fanie Demeule\, Mary di Michele\, Mavis Gallant\, Natasha Kanapé Fontaine\, A. M. Klein\, Robert Majzels\, Erín Moure\, and Gail Scott. She has an ongoing commitment to women’s writing and to fostering spaces for reading across languages\, and was co-editor at the feminist magazine Tessera from 1993 to 2003. Since the late 1990s\, she has been a member of the Association of Italian Canadian Writers. \n\n\n\nCarmine Starnino is the Editor in Chief of The Walrus. He is the author of eight books\, including Dirty Words: Selected Poems 1997–2016.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2025 Read Quebec Book Fair
URL:https://qwf.org/event/archives-out-loud-italian-canadian-literature/
LOCATION:Casa d’Italia\, 505 Rue Jean-Talon Est\, Montreal\, Quebec\, H2R 1T6\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Community Events,Festival,Panel,Read Quebec Book Fair
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251207T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251207T140000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064209
CREATED:20251112T200953Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251202T172802Z
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SUMMARY:Acquiring Editors at Work
DESCRIPTION:December 7\, 2025\, 1 – 2 pmMain Stage\, Salle des célébrations\n\n\n\nLeila Marshy\, Baraka BooksCurtis John McRae\, Véhicule PressYashaswi Kesanakurthy\, Simon & Schuster Canada \n\n\n\nModerated by Tawhida Tanya Evanson \n\n\n\nWho gets to choose which books will be published – and how do they do it? Editors from three publishers will discuss how they decide what to publish\, and how writers can improve their chances. Simon & Schuster children’s book editor Yashaswi Kesanakurthy\, Baraka Books’ fiction and nonfiction editor Leila Marshy\, and Curtis McRae\, fiction editor at Véhicule Press\, will give us the inside scoop on what acquisitions editors really do. \n\n\n\nYashaswi Kesanakurthy [yush-us-we kay-sah-nah-koor-thi] is the Children’s Editor at Simon & Schuster Canada. She is a graduate of the University of British Columbia’s MA program in Children’s Literature and Toronto Metropolitan University’s publishing program. Her publishing career began as Publishing Assistant at Tundra Books\, PRHC. She then joined HarperCollins Canada as Associate Editor where she developed a vibrant list including The Garden of Lost Socks by Esi Edugyan and Amélie Dubois\, The Hockey Skates by Karl Subban and Maggie Zeng\, and Mortified by Kristy Jackson and Rhael McGregor. At Simon & Schuster Canada\, she remains focused on publishing marginalized\, Canadian voices that tell entertaining and transformative stories. Yash lives in Toronto with a magical\, if unruly\, library that just keeps growing. \n\n\n\nLeila Marshy is the author of The Philistine (LLP\, 2018) and My Thievery of the People (Baraka Books\, 2025)\, and is editor of the anthology Razing Palestine: Punishing Solidarity and Dissent in Canada (Baraka Books\, 2025). Daughter of a Palestinian refugee\, Marshy lived in Cairo during the First Intifada and worked for the Palestinian Red Crescent and the Palestinian Mental Health Association. She has been a community and political organizer\, including founding a dialogue group with the Hasidic community in her local neighbourhood\, helping elect the first Hasidic woman to public office in the world. Marshy is Editor at Baraka Books and lives in Montreal. \n\n\n\nCurtis John McRae is the fiction editor at Véhicule Press and the Co-Founder/Editor-in-Chief of yolk literary journal. He is the author of Quietly\, Loving Everyone (Vehicule Press\, 2025). His fiction has appeared in The New Quarterly\, Prairie Fire\, and others. He won the 2021/22 David McKeen Award\, was longlisted for the 2025 DISQUIET Literary Fiction Contest\, received an honourable mention in the 2024 Peter Hinchcliffe award\, and was a finalist in the 2019 Quebec Writers’ Federation contest for emerging young writers. Curtis teaches English literature at John Abbott College and formerly served as a board member for the Quebec Writers’ Federation. \n\n\n\nTawhida Tanya Evanson is a poet\, novelist\, artist and Ashiq. Her work blends poetry\, orality\, music\, movement and film around themes of African diasporic identity\, Sufi spirituality and resistance to Western values. Born and based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal\, she has roots in Antigua\, West Indies. Evanson’s novels include the French Livre des ailes (Marchand de feuilles 2023)\, and the award-winning Book of Wings (Véhicule 2021); her two poetry collections are Nouveau Griot (Frontenac 2018) and Bothism (Ekstasis 2017). She has an extensive history of spoken word performance\, audio recordings and films including the multi-award-winning Afrofuturist concert film CYANO SUN SUITE (2024). Evanson’s work has travelled to festivals across Africa\, Asia\, Australia\, Europe\, and North America. She is past director of the Banff Centre Spoken Word Program; past president of the Quebec Writers’ Federation; and 2025 Poet Ambassador in Residence at the League of Canadian Poets. She moonlights as a whirling dervish. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2025 Read Quebec Book Fair
URL:https://qwf.org/event/acquiring-editors-at-work/
LOCATION:Casa d’Italia\, 505 Rue Jean-Talon Est\, Montreal\, Quebec\, H2R 1T6\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Community Events,Festival,Panel,Read Quebec Book Fair
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://qwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Acquiring-Editors-at-Work.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251207T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251207T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064209
CREATED:20251112T201158Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251202T172757Z
UID:10004652-1765116000-1765119600@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Speed Dating for Writers and Publishers!
DESCRIPTION:December 7\, 2025\, 2 – 3 pmArchives room\, basement levelCasa d’Italia\n\n\n\nWriters\, bring your pitch and get ready to present it to a range of local publishers. Introduce yourselves\, and then you’ll have three minutes to tell your publisher “date” what your book is all about. Don’t forget to leave time for questions or a little discussion. When the bell dings\, move to the next available seat and do it again. Whether you find a home for your manuscript or not\, you’ll make contacts and gather information that may serve you now and in the future. \n\n\n\nHow to Participate\n\n\n\nThis event has limited capacity. Registration will be accepted on a first-come\, first-served basis at the book fair on the day of the event. Doors to the book fair open at 11 am\, so arrive early to ensure your spot. See details and tips for participating.  \n\n\n\nFeaturing:\n\n\n\n\nYashaswi Kesanakurthy\, Simon & Schuster Canada\n\n\n\nFiroze Manji\, Daraja Press\n\n\n\nLeila Marshy\, Baraka Books\n\n\n\nCurtis McRae\, Véhicule Press\n\n\n\nShannae Nitti\, Crackboom! Books\n\n\n\nDave Dufour\, Flame Arrow Publishing (new addition!)\n\n\n\nModerated by Lori Schubert\, Quebec Writers’ Federation\n\n\n\n\nYashaswi Kesanakurthy [yush-us-we kay-sah-nah-koor-thi] is the Children’s Editor at Simon & Schuster Canada. She is a graduate of the University of British Columbia’s MA program in Children’s Literature and Toronto Metropolitan University’s publishing program. Her publishing career began as Publishing Assistant at Tundra Books\, PRHC. She then joined HarperCollins Canada as Associate Editor where she developed a vibrant list including The Garden of Lost Socks by Esi Edugyan and Amélie Dubois\, The Hockey Skates by Karl Subban and Maggie Zeng\, and Mortified by Kristy Jackson and Rhael McGregor. At Simon & Schuster Canada\, she remains focused on publishing marginalized\, Canadian voices that tell entertaining and transformative stories. Yash lives in Toronto with a magical\, if unruly\, library that just keeps growing. \n\n\n\nFiroze Manji\, PhD\, is a Kenyan / Canadian\, resident in Québec. He has spent more than 50 years in international development\, health\, human rights and political activism. He is the publisher of Daraja Press and is an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of African Studies\, Carleton University\, Ottawa. He is the recipient of the 2021 Nicolás Cristóbal Guillén Batista Lifetime Achievement Award from the Caribbean Philosophical Association. \n\n\n\nLeila Marshy is the author of The Philistine (LLP\, 2018) and My Thievery of the People (Baraka Books\, 2025)\, and is editor of the anthology Razing Palestine: Punishing Solidarity and Dissent in Canada (Baraka Books\, 2025). Daughter of a Palestinian refugee\, Marshy lived in Cairo during the First Intifada and worked for the Palestinian Red Crescent and the Palestinian Mental Health Association. She has been a community and political organizer\, including founding a dialogue group with the Hasidic community in her local neighbourhood\, helping elect the first Hasidic woman to public office in the world. Marshy is editor at Baraka Books and lives in Montreal. \n\n\n\nCurtis John McRae is the fiction editor at Véhicule Press and the Co-Founder/Editor-in-Chief of yolk literary journal. He is the author of Quietly\, Loving Everyone (Vehicule Press\, 2025). His fiction has appeared in The New Quarterly\, Prairie Fire\, and others. He won the 2021/22 David McKeen Award\, was longlisted for the 2025 DISQUIET Literary Fiction Contest\, received an honourable mention in the 2024 Peter Hinchcliffe award\, and was a finalist in the 2019 Quebec Writers’ Federation contest for emerging young writers. Curtis teaches English literature at John Abbott College and formerly served as a board member for the Quebec Writers’ Federation. \n\n\n\nShannae Nitti is a marketing and sales professional with a background in communications\, business development\, and brand strategy. Drawn to the publishing industry for its blend of creativity and purpose\, she’s passionate about the business of books—from shaping ideas to understanding readers and trends. Shannae values the craft\, collaboration\, and evolution that make publishing such a dynamic and inspiring field. \n\n\n\nDave Dufour is the founder and publisher of Flame Arrow Publishing\, a bilingual speculative-fiction press based in British Columbia and Quebec. He leads a growing catalogue of hopepunk\, fantasy\, and science fiction in both English and French\, and is dedicated to championing bold\, imaginative voices across Canada. With a professional background as an educator and linguist\, Dave brings a deep understanding of language\, culture\, and storytelling to his editorial vision. He also oversees Brins d’éternité\, one of Québec’s longest-running speculative-fiction magazines. \n\n\n\nLori Schubert is the executive director of the Quebec Writers’ Federation\, where she has worked since 2003. From 1998 to 2017 she was also a member and general manager of VivaVoce\, a professional chamber choir. Prior to her work in arts management\, Lori was a singer and corporate communications trainer in the New York metropolitan area. She has taught written and oral communication at Columbia\, McGill and Concordia Universities. She was instrumental in the founding of Quebec’s English-language Arts Network (ELAN) and has served two terms on its board of directors. Through QWF\, Lori co-founded the National Juries and Awards Working Group in 2021. She has also served in an advisory capacity for YES Montreal\, the Blue Metropolis Foundation and the Atwater Writers’ Exhibition\, and currently chairs the Education and Skills Development Table for the Working Group on Arts and Culture.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2025 Read Quebec Book Fair
URL:https://qwf.org/event/speed-dating-for-writers-and-publishers/
LOCATION:Casa d’Italia\, 505 Rue Jean-Talon Est\, Montreal\, Quebec\, H2R 1T6\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Festival,Networking,Panel,Read Quebec Book Fair
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251207T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251207T160000
DTSTAMP:20260423T064209
CREATED:20251112T201352Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251202T172810Z
UID:10004653-1765119600-1765123200@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Art and Life in Graphic Novels
DESCRIPTION:December 7\, 2025\, 3 – 4 pmMain Stage\, Salle des célébrations\n\n\n\nD. BoydJuli DelportePascal Girard  \n\n\n\nModerated by François Vigneault \n\n\n\nThree of Quebec’s most distinctive voices in contemporary comics come together to explore the intimate connections between art and autobiography. Juli Delporte (Portrait of a Body)\, D. Boyd (Denniveniquity)\, and Pascal Girard (Pastimes) draw from personal experience to craft stories that are tender\, funny\, and deeply human. Join them for a conversation about turning life into art\, the creative risks of vulnerability\, and the evolving landscape of autobiographical graphic novels. Moderated by François Vigneault. \n\n\n\nMontreal-based cartoonist D. Boyd hails from Saint John\, New Brunswick – the setting for Denniveniquity and her first graphic memoir\, Chicken Rising. Her work has appeared in the New Brunswick Chapbook Series (Frog Hollow Press)\, the Montreal Review of Books\, and in unique collaborations with some exciting Canadian writers. \n\n\n\nJuli Delporte is an author and multidisciplinary artist born in France in 1983. She now lives in Tiohtiá:ke/Montréal. She is the author of several graphic novels published by Drawn & Quarterly\, including This Woman’s Work and Portrait of a Body. She has also published children’s albums\, including the recent Grands oreilles (Éditions de la Pastèque)\, and a book of poems illustrated with etchings\, Décroissance sexuelle (L’Oie de Cravan). She occasionally writes literary essays\, produces illustrations for various magazines and publishing houses\, and collaborates on collective publications. Alongside all this\, Juli explores different printing techniques (serigraphy\, risography\, and etching)\, creates zines\, gives creative workshops\, and makes ceramic pieces. \n\n\n\nPascal Girard was born in Jonquière\, QC\, in 1981. He is a part-time cartoonist and part-time social worker. He is the award-winning author of several graphic novels\, including Rebecca and Lucie in the Case of the Missing Neighbor\, Nicolas\, Petty Theft\, and most recently the collection Pastimes. He lives in Montreal with his family. \n\n\n\nFrançois Vigneault is an American-born cartoonist living in Québec. He is the creator of the sci-fi graphic novel TITAN (Oni Press\, 2020 / Éditions Pow Pow\, 2017)\, the illustrator of books including Le gâteau empoisonée (Éditions de la Pastèque\, 2025)\, Extraordinary Eyeglasses (Helvetiq\, 2024)\, and Orcs in Space (Oni Press 2021-22)\, and also works as a translator and designer. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2025 Read Quebec Book Fair
URL:https://qwf.org/event/art-and-life-in-graphic-novels/
LOCATION:Casa d’Italia\, 505 Rue Jean-Talon Est\, Montreal\, Quebec\, H2R 1T6\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Community Events,Festival,Panel,Read Quebec Book Fair
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://qwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Art-and-Life-in-Graphic-Novels.png
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