PROFESSIONAL SPACE
In collaboration with
The book industry is an important sector. With cultural as well as economic impacts, it’s also an ever-evolving one.
The Blue Metropolis Professional Space: a place to meet, compare notes, network and find common ground for the industry leaders.
Interviews, discussions, discoveries: watch.
2025 Guest Professionals from abroad
The professional day is made possible thanks to the financial support of the Quebec Government.
Younès Ajarraï
Director, African Book Festival of Marrakech
Morocco
Gloriah Amondi
Writer and Journalist
Kenya
Liliana Ancalao
Translator and Poet
Patagonia / Argentina
Éryck de Rubercy
Writer, Tanslator, Literary Critic
France
Silène Edgar,
Vice President of the Hypermondes Festival
France
Victoria Helena GarcÍa Toloza
Director of Programming’ Epico Children’s Festival
Colombia
Peter Godwin
Writer
United States
Elianna Kan
Literary Agent, Writer, Translator
United States
Juana Libedinsky
Writer, Lecturer, Journalist
Argentina / United States
FRIDAY, APRIL 25
OTHER CITIES, OTHER CULTURES, OTHER VOICES : BOOK INDUSTRY AND LITERARY SCENE OUT OF THE MAINSTREAM
Friday, April 25th, 2025 – 10:00 am
Hôtel 10 – Salle Jardin
For a long time, and seen from the West, the book world was structured around a certain number of dominant languages in major Western urban centres. In recent years, however, other literary scenes around the world have sprung up around publishing houses and publications in various languages, reaching out to other audiences. We explore these literary riches in Kenya, with writer Mikhail Iossel; in Patagonia, with mapuche poet and cultural activist Liliana Ancalao (with interpreter Cynthia Rodriguez); in Marroco, with Younès Ajarraï, délégué général du Festival du livre africain de Marrakech; and in Zimbabwe with author and former foreign correspondant Peter Godwin. Kenyan cultural journalist Gloriah Amondi will moderate this panel.
Participants: Mikhail Iossel, Liliana Ancalao, Cynthia Rodriguez (interpreter), Younès Ajarraï, Peter Godwin
Moderator: Gloriah Amondi
Language(s): English
TRANSLATION: STAYING CLOSE OR STRAYING?
Friday, April 25th, 2025, 10:00 am
Hôtel 10 – Salle Saint-Laurent
The rule is that a good translation makes you forget that it is a translation. How far can the target language open itself up to the strangeness of the source language? Translators discuss the peculiarities of their instrument, language, and of their art, translation, when it makes you forget the ‘translated from’.
In partnership with The Litterary Translators’ Association of Canada (LTAC)
Participants: Éryck de Rubercy, Marie Frankland, Elisabet Ràfols-Sagués
Moderator: Jeannot Clair
Language(s) : Français, English
BOOK PROMOTION: NEW PRACTICES, NEW AUDIENCES
Friday, April 25th, 2025, 11:30 am
Hôtel 10 – Salle Saint-Laurent
When it comes to marketing books and promoting authors, who are the influencers these days? What are the codes for talking about books on social networks? Who has influence? Are certain categories of books (romance, fantasy, memoirs) more compatible with social networks than general literature? Discussion between Pierre Bourdon, editor and commercial director of Hugo Publishings in Québec, Juana Libedinsky, Argentinian journalist and author, and the american literary agent, writer and translator Elianna Kan, who represents an international list of authors at Regal Hoffmann & Associates in New York City. Her interviews with writers and artists have appeared in The Paris Review Daily, BOMB Magazine, The Believer, and other publications.
Participants: Pierre Bourdon, Juana Libedinsky, Elianna Kan
Moderator: Jennifer Varkony
Language(s): Français, English
LITERATURE AND MARKETING: HOW TO SELL THE UNCLASSIFIABLE?
Friday, April 25th, 2025, 11:30 am
Hôtel 10 – Salle Jardin
In literature, each writer is unique, with his or her own universe that resists general categories. The book trade, on the other hand, operates within clearly defined frameworks. How do you make a work known and disseminate its cultural and aesthetic specificity? How is a writer’s image constructed? Four book professionals discuss: editor and non-fiction author Étienne Beaulieu (Québec), Brigitte Bouchard, artistic director of the Festival Un Week-end à l’Est in Paris and general manager of the literary agency the Monte-Charge culturel, Ian Thomas Shaw, writer, former diplomat, editor and founder of Deux Voiliers Publishing, and Younès Ajarraï, délégué général of the Festival du livre africain de Marrakech.
Participants: Étienne Beaulieu, Younès Ajarraï, Brigitte Bouchard, Ian Thomas Shaw
Moderator: Julien Lefort-Favreau
Language(s) : Français, English
PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING LUNCH
Friday, April 25th, 2025, 12:30 pm
Hôtel 10 – Espace Godin
As part of the Blue Metropolis Professional Day, professionals from Quebec, Canada and abroad get together for lunchtime discussions. By invitation only.
Language(s) : Français, English
SATURDAY, APRIL 26
CAFÉ RENCONTRE – CAP SUR LE MAROC
Saturday, April 26, 2025, 9:00 am
Hôtel 10 – Salle Exécutive
A private professional meeting between ten authors from Quebec and Younès Arrajaï, délégué général du Festival du livre africain de Marrakech.
Participant: Younès Arrajaï
Host: Marie-Andrée Lamontagne
Language(s): Français, English
CAFÉ RENCONTRE – CAP SUR LA FRANCE
Saturday, April 26, 2025, 10:00 am
Hôtel 10 – Salle Exécutive
Rencontre professionnelle privée entre dix auteurs des littératures de l’imaginaire en provenance du Québec et Silène Edgar, vice-présidente du Festival Hypermondes, en France.
Participant: Silène Edgar
Host: Mathieu Lauzon-Dicsö
Language(s) : Français
HOW TO APPROACH A PUBLISHING HOUSE?
Saturday, April 26th, 2025, 3:00 pm
Hôtel 10 – Salle Exécutive
Do you write fiction? Romance, fantasy, romantasy: with your manuscript under your arm, how do you approach a publisher? How do you rework your manuscript for publication? Three specific steps will help you. Bring along a printed extract of the text to be reworked, as well as coloured pens. Practical workshop with author Emily Ormond (Mauvaise foi, Hugo Roman ed.) and Pierre Bourdon, general literature publisher and commercial director of Hugo Publishings.
Places are limited. Registration required.
Participants: Emily Ormond, Pierre Bourdon
Animation: Jennifer Varkonyi
Language(s) : Français, English
SUNDAY, ARIL 27
CAFÉ RENCONTRE – CAP SUR LA COLOMBIE
Sunday, April 27th, 2025, 9:00 am
Hôtel 10 – Salle Exécutive
Dans un cadre intime, rencontre avec l’éditrice et animatrice de balados Victoria Helena GarcÍa Toloza, directrice du Festival de littérature pour enfants Épico, à Baranquilla, Colombie, et qui en est à sa 9e édition. L’occasion pour les auteurs jeunesse du Québec de faire connaître leur travail à l’étranger. Sur invitation.
Participant: Victoria Helena GarcÍa Toloza
Host: Cynthia Rodriguez
Language(s) : Français, Espagnol
COFFEE MEETING WITH ELIANNA KAN
Sunday, April 27th, 2025, 10:00 am
Hôtel 10 – Salle Exécutive
A private professional meeting with american literary agent, writer, and translator Elianna Kan and a selection of Quebec authors for an informal discussion on books, literature the state of the book industry.
Participant: Elianna Kan
Host: Ingrid Bejerman
Language(s) : English
To Watch
Around the World of Publishing with Blue Metropolis — Fifteen Minutes in the Office of…
A book is a book. And yet, not all books are alike. Neither are publishing houses. To take stock of the spectrum of the diversity, often unsuspected, of this planet’s publishing world, Blue Metropolis opens a space for exploration and discovery. The objective: to make known the catalogues, the publishing houses, the important figures in publishing, and the common editorial practices abroad, with an attention to those who are evolving outside of the usual or major circles. Expanded over the weeks and months, the series “Fifteen minutes in the office of…” offers a tour of the publishing world.
A WORLD TOUR OF PUBLISHING – FIFTEEN MINUTES IN THE OFFICE OF SANDRA TAMELE (Mozambique)
Sandra Tamele, founding editor of Trinta Zero Nove publishing house in Mozambique, talks about her publishing house and some of the authors in its catalogue.
Participante: Sandra Tamele
Host/Animatrice: Ingrid Bejerman
ENGLISH / SPANISH
Quinze minutes dans le bureau de Layla Chaouni, fondatrice et directrice des éditions Le Fennec, à Casablanca (Maroc)
Participante : Layla Chaouni
Intervieweuse : Marie-Andrée Lamontagne
FRANCAIS
Fifteen minutes in the office of Deborah Holtz, Managing Editor of Ediciones Trilce, in México (México)
Participant: Deborah Holtz
Interviewer: Ingrid Bejerman
ENGLISH
Quinze minutes dans le bureau de Sofiane Hadjadj, co-fondateur-directeur des éditions Barzakh, à Alger (Algérie)
Participant : Sofiane Hadjadj
Intervieweuse : Marie-Andrée Lamontagne
FRANÇAIS
Fifteen minutes in the office of Carolina Orloff, Director & Publishing Editor of Charco Press, in Edinburg, Scotland (United Kingdom)
Participant: Caroline Orloff
Interviewer: Ingrid Bejerman
ENGLISH
Quinze minutes en compagnie de Frédéric Maget (France)
Participant: Frédéric Maget
Interviewer: Marie-Andrée Lamontagne
FRANÇAIS
Around the World of Literary Festivals — Fifteen Minutes with…
Literary festivals are places of buzz and excitement. But not all festivals are alike. To take stock of the diverse forms that they take on our planet, Blue Metropolis opens a space for exploration and discovery. The objective: to make known festivals, expressions and literary encounters from all over the world, and to showcase the variety in their approaches. “Fifteen Minutes with…” offers a tour of the world of literary festivals.
Quinze minutes en compagnie de Frédéric Maget, directeur du Festival international des écrits des femmes, à Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye (France)
Participant : Frédéric Maget
Intervieweuse : Marie-Andrée Lamontagne
FRANÇAIS
LA LITTÉRATURE EST-ELLE SOLUBLE DANS LE CAPITALISME?
Tout en s’inscrivant dans un cadre capitaliste, le commerce du livre n’est pas un commerce comme les autres. Le temps long de la littérature s’est souvent révélé peu compatible avec le rythme du capitalisme, sa course aux nouveautés, sa surproduction, sa recherche du profit à court terme, son hyper-concentration éditoriale. Jusqu’où l’édition littéraire peut-elle garder ses distances avec la logique capitaliste? Dans leur essai, Le fétiche et la plume, La littérature nouveau produit du capitalisme (Rivages), Hélène Ling et Inès Sol Salas analysent ces phénomènes et s’inquiètent de ce que peuvent devenir les écrivains, les livres, la littérature – de ce qu’ils sont déjà, peut-être.
ENTREVUE_30 minutes
Participantes : Inès Sol Solas, Hélène Ling
Interview : Marie-Andrée Lamontagne
FRANÇAIS
LA TRADUCTION HORS DES SENTIERS BATTUS
La traduction littéraire est un art, celui-ci d’autant plus subtil et périlleux lorsqu’il se pratique en dehors des clous, par exemple dans des œuvres appartenant aux littératures de l’imaginaire, à traduire des œuvres écrites en langage non-binaire, ou dans des langues en train de renaître, comme certaines langues autochtones. Quelles en sont alors les difficultés ? les pièges ? les joies ?
En partenariat avec l’ATTLC.
PANEL _ 90 minutes
Participants : Émilie Laramée, Benjamin Hedley, Arianne Des Rochers, David Unger
Animatrice : Catherine Ego
FRANÇAIS, ANGLAIS
THANKS TO THE BLUE METROPOLIS FOUNDATION’S MAJOR PARTNERS WHO SUPPORT THE 2024 FESTIVAL AND OUR 2023-2024 EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL PROGRAMS
MERCI AUX PARTENAIRES MAJEURS DE LA FONDATION METROPOLIS BLEU QUI SOUTIENNENT LE FESTIVAL 2024 ET NOS PROGRAMMES ÉDUCATIFS ET SOCIAUX 2023-2024
