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Illustrated poster with overlapping text. Top: Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival. Head and shoulders portrait of a woman with long black hair, head tilted slightly with eyes cast downward. Her hair floats up above her - giving her the appearance of becoming one with the tree in the background. Right corner: Metropolis Bleu / Blue Met Festival logo.
Illustrated poster with overlapping text. Top: April 23 to 26, 2026. Online starting April 13. Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival. Head and shoulders portrait of a woman with long black hair, head tilted slightly with eyes cast downward as she reads a book. Her hair floats up above her - giving her the appearance of becoming one with the tree in the background.

Finding connection Finding connection

as we consider this year's theme: Words for Understanding One Another.

Home Events Reading Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival 2026

Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival 2026

150 authors & cultural mediators. 110 events. 9 languages.

The highly respected Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival is one of the largest multilingual literary events in North America. This year, writers of all genres and styles from around the world converge in Montreal, with online events starting Monday, April 13 and taking place in person from Thursday, April 23 to Sunday, April 26, 2026 at Hôtel 10, partner bookstores and local venues. The jam-packed, eclectic program features local, national and internationally acclaimed authors, including readings, interviews, round-table discussions, lectures, debates, masterclasses and more.

The 2026 Festival welcomes literary voices from France, Switzerland, Italy, Ukraine, Sweden, Antigua, Trinidad, USA, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Cuba, Colombia and Catalonia, in addition to those from Québec and Canada. Activities are offered in French, English, Spanish and Portuguese, and additional events feature Italian, Ukrainian, Cree, Yiddish and Japanese. This year offers an exceptionally diverse program, bringing together voices from different contexts and perspectives: neurotypical and neurodivergent, straight and queer, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, from across the globe.

Literature as a source of hope

This 28th edition of the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival will revolve around the theme Words for Understanding One Another. In such a noisy world – a world marked by wars, conflicts and divisions, dominated by speed, dizzied by overconsumption, assaulted by petty rumours circulating on social media, submerged in the constant flow of fact and falsehood – how can we come to understand each other? Authors, writers, thinkers, philosophers, translators and journalists from different countries and cultures will attempt to respond to this question at this year’s Festival.

An exciting group of authors from Quebec and Canada

Claire Cameron explores nature, illness and resilience in How to Survive a Bear Attack (2025 Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction); Canadian-Israeli Ayelet Tsabari recounts the troubled family history of Zohara, whose parents emigrated from Yemen to Israel in the 1950s, in her award-winning novel Songs for the Broken Hearted. Writer Mikhail Iossel offers his masterful short stories in Sentence; and photographer and poet Gabriel Safdie shares his deep knowledge of China in his magnificent collection, Affair with China. Sisters Arizona O’Neill (Opioids & Organs) and Heather O’Neill (The Capital of Dreams) reveal their unbridled imagination. Poet and psychiatrist Ouanessa Younsi (Soigner, écrire, winner of the 2025 Governor General’s Literary Award for French-language Non-fiction) brings poetry to the bedsides of the sick; and Blaise Ndala’s The Equation Before Night shares a little-known chapter in the race between the Nazis and the Americans to build an atomic bomb. Andreas Kessaris casts an amused look on his youth and his neighbourhood in The Grand Tour of Park Ex; Barbara Sibbald evokes her Anglo-Indian ancestors in Almost Indians; and Katia Belkhodja relates the epic family saga of her childhood in Algeria in Les déterreées (2025 Governor General’s Literary Award for French Fiction). Dominique Fortier gives an in-depth interview about her career as a translator. The Festival is also hosting a lively discussion on the question of Belonging: Who Really Belongs in Quebec?, with Kim Thúy, Toula Drimonis, Guy Rex Rodgers and Francine Pelletier – and considers what it means to be Québécois and born elsewhere.

“Social networks are overflowing and information is circulating abundantly, but are we still able to hear what someone is really trying to tell us? In today’s world, we must find the words to finally get along.”

– William St-Hilaire, Festival Executive and Artistic Director

All the world’s literary roads lead to Montreal…

Blue Metropolis is renowned for bringing worldwide guests of exceptional calibre to Montreal audiences. The 2026 Festival will feature more than 20 international participants, including Lyuba Yakimchuk (Ukraine), Daniel Tammet (UK/France), Antoinette Rychner (Switzerland), Olivier Ciechelski (France), Ariana Harwicz (Argentina/France), Martine Reid (France), Marcelo Rubens Paiva (Brazil), Daniel Hahn (UK), Luigi Farrauto (Italy) and Gwenaëlle Lenoir (France).

Other highlights include the ever-popular Blue Metropolis Eleanor Wachtel Series, this year featuring interviews with novelists Miriam Toews, Brandon Taylor and Jamaica Kincaid, conducted by the acclaimed Eleanor Wachtel.

But wait – there’s more!

The annual TD-Blue Metropolis Children’s Festival returns, offering a series of activities and stimulating programing for children and adolescents of all ages across Québec. The Youth Festival’s new Draw Me A Sun exhibition will be on display in four libraries across Montreal.

This year’s Blue Metropolis Foundation fundraising evening is Pleasure and Passion, taking place on April 23, with delectable and sensuous literary performances. Money raised goes toward maintaining youth and educational programs.

About the Blue Metropolis Foundation

Founded in 1997, the Blue Metropolis Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that brings together people from different cultures to share the pleasure of reading and writing, and encourages creativity and intercultural understanding. The Foundation produces an annual literary festival of international calibre; and offers a wide range of educational and social programs year-round, both in classrooms and online. These programs use reading and writing as therapeutic tools, encourage academic perseverance, and fight against poverty and social isolation.

Illustrated poster with overlapping text. Top: April 23 to 26, 2026. Online starting April 13. Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival. Head and shoulders portrait of a woman with long black hair, head tilted slightly with eyes cast downward as she reads a book. Her hair floats up above her - giving her the appearance of becoming one with the tree in the background. To the right: Metropolis Bleu / Blue Met Festival logo.

(Photo credits: Blue Metropolis Foundation.)

 

Event details

Hosted by: Blue Metropolis Foundation

Type of event: international literary festival

Dates & times: See the 2026 schedule for event, date and time details, as well as language availability. Use their filter and drop-down options to find an event that speaks to you.

  • Online events start Monday, April 13
  • In-person events from Thursday, April 23 – Sunday, April 26

Cost: Many events are free. Please note that online registration (free) is required to participate in the workshops, even if you’ve purchased a Festival Pass, as spaces are limited.

Festival Passes cover events from Friday, April 24 – Sunday, April 26. Enjoy a special C$25.00 discount at Paragraphe Bookstore with the purchase of a Festival Pass. Events not included with the Festival Pass: Pleasure and Passion – 2026 Benefit Event, Morning Meet-up (by invitation only) & Professional Day Events (require a Professional Pass).

  • Individual tickets: Start at C$8.00
  • Festival Pass (early bird – till midnight April 1): C$35.00 (+ taxes & fees)
  • Festival Pass (after midnight April 1): C$50.00 (+ taxes & fees)
  • Professional Day Pass: C$26.84 (incl. taxes + fees). Includes all Professional Day program events on Friday, April 24, as well as the networking lunch.

Festival location:

  • Festival programming includes events online and in person at Hôtel 10 (see location below) and various partner bookstores and venues around Montreal, QC. Please refer to the festival schedule for individual event locations.
  • Hôtel 10 location: 10, rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montreal, QC, H2X 4C9

Booking links:

Contact Details: Blue Metropolis Foundation, 661, rue Rose-de-Lima, bureau 204, Montréal, QC, H4C 2L7, Canada; Festival info line: (438) 453-7721, info@metropolisbleu.org, bluemetropolis.org

 

Accessibility: For Hôtel 10, please contact them at (514) 843-6000 or toll free at +1 (855) 390-6787. For other venues, please refer to the venue website or contact the venue.

Refund policy: Until the event starts.