bluemetropolis.org November 2011

2010-2011 Annual Report Blue Metropolis Foundation 2 MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Blue Metropolis is much more than a great literary festival. It is a crucial cultural institution in an ever changing cultural and demographic landscape. And so it is with great pleasure and honour that I chair the Board of Directors of this astonishing organization.

Since no individual organization or actor has the resources to singlehandedly produce meaningful change in society, Blue Metropolis Foundation has, since its beginning, forged strong partnerships with a variety of stakeholders in , , and internationally. It has maintained these partnerships in 2010-2011, which has been a transitional year for the Foundation.

The Board of Directors is proud of, and has supported, several noteworthy achievements:

• a successful new-look festival, with a 50 percent increase in ticket sales and over 22,000 visitors in attendance • the development of new and innovative partnerships for our educational programmes and digital ventures • a significant reduction of our fixed costs, including a restructuring of the staff for even better productivity and to begin repaying the accumulated deficit • a bold fundraising campaign resulting in close to $500,000 from private donors

Thank you to William St-Hilaire and her team for a successful transition and a memorable Festival. And special thanks to Linda Leith, the remarkable founder of Blue Metropolis, who resigned at the end of 2010.

Cameron Charlebois Chair of the Board of Directors Vice President, Real Estate, Quebec Canada Lands Company

3 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT, GENERAL MANAGER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

When I arrived in January, I quickly realized the extent to which the Foundation’s activities are rich and diverse, and that the audiences which benefit from them are extremely varied. From elementary school students to literary veterans, from the general public to a university audience, and from the thriller to the philosophical essay: everyone has their place.

I was looking for a way to accurately convey this diversity and I needed a slogan, a motto, that says everything and in few words. Reading The Love Queen of Malabar, the inspiring book by Merrily Weisbord on the life of Kamala Das, enlightened me. I found the inspiration for the future and the present of Blue Metropolis in the words of the Indian poetess: “Ask the books that I read why I changed...”

This also inspired me to create the slogan, The power of words. Books and their authors use the power of words to transform the lives of others. And those who write, from the very young to the elderly, from amateurs to professionals, take control of their lives through the power of words. The coming year will give you many – and I hope, eloquent – examples of the power of words conceived by Blue Metropolis.

William St-Hilaire President, General Manager and Artistic Director Blue Metropolis Foundation

4 ORGANIZATION

Linda Leith, Founder

BOARD OF PROGRAMMING FUNDRAISING DIRECTORS CONSULTANTS COMMITTEE

Cameron Charlebois, Chair Abigail Anderson Cameron Charlebois, of the Board Ingrid Bejerman Canada Lands Company Vice-President, Real Estate, Lise Bergevin Marcel Côté, Secor Group Quebec, Canada Lands Rupert Bottenberg Peter Daniel, Ilian Consulting Company Issa J. Boullata and Management. Peter Daniel, Vice-Chair of Serge Carrier David Laidley, Deloitte & the Board Ann Charney Touche Principal, Ilian Consulting Frank Escoubes Michel Lamontagne, and Management, Inc. Francis Farley-Chevrier Université de Montréal Suzanne Rancourt, Marie-Louise Gay Frederick Lowy, Concordia Treasurer Mikhail Iossel University Vice President, Internal Naïm Kattan Reford MacDougall Audit, CGI Julie Keith Richard Pound, McGill Isabelle Fontaine, Michele Luchs University Senior Advisor, NATIONAL Émile Martel Deon Ramgoolam, EOCI Public Relations Caroline Morin Pharmacomm Mary Kay Lowy, Birendra Prasada Suzanne Rancourt, CGI Director, Canadian Institute Rama Sifri Rae Turley of Psychoanalysis Lori Schubert Line Maheux, Diane Thérien Director, Government Carolyn Warren Relations, Bell Canada Patterson Webster Pierre-André Themens, Managing Partner, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg s.r.l. Sheila de la Varende, Director of National and International Business Development, Telefilm Canada

5 HONORARY BOARD INTERNATIONAL STAFF ADVISORY COUNCIL Abigail Anderson William St-Hilaire, André Bisson, CIRANO Etel Adnan, France President, General Manager, Denise Bombardier, Writer Taiaiake Alfred, Kahnawake and Artistic Director Pierre Bourque, Yassaman Ameri, Montreal Gregory McCormick, Constellation Monde, Inc. Nicole Brossard, Montreal Director of Programming Claude Castonguay, Invited Noëlle Châtelet, France Isabel Brinck, Director Fellow, CIRANO Steven Davis, Academics of Communications and The Hon. Baljit Singh for Higher Education and Development Chadha, Chadha Family Development Florence Allegrini, Foundation Sarah Dawbarn, The British Production Manager Christiane Charette Council (Festival and Educational Ann Charney, Writer Jacques de Decker, Programmes) Hélène Desmarais, Centre Brussels Élisabeth Reyt, d’entreprises et d’innovation Scott Griffin, The Griffin Administrative and de Montréal Trust Government Funding Maurice Forget, Fasken Riccardo Held, Venice Coordinator, and Assistant to Martineau Annie Heminway, New York the President Jean-Claude Germain, Anees Jung, New Delhi Writer Elias Khoury, Beirut Nicholas Hoare, Nicholas Ramona Koval, Melbourne Hoare Books Christina Lembrecht, Berlin Julie Jacobson, United Ping Li, Canada China States Embassy Network Council Naïm Kattan, Writer Yan Liang, Montreal Phyllis Lambert, Canadian Juana Libedinsky, Madrid Centre for Architecture Thomas Lynch, Michigan Judith Mappin Alberto Manguel, France Alex Paterson, McGill Mechtild Manus, Goethe- Institute for the Study of Institut Canada Émile Martel, Centre Johanne Pérusse Québécois du P.E.N. Cecil Rabinovitch international Jack Rabinovitch, The Richard O’Hagan, Scotiabank Giller Prize Angelo Mazzone, Istituto Richard J. Renaud, TNG Italiano di Cultura Corporation Suhayl Saadi, Glasgow Javier San Juan, L’Oréal Gabriel Safdie, Montreal Canada David Sela, Montreal André Vanasse, Lettres Amela Simic, Toronto québecoises

6 MISSION AND VALUES

“We write because no one listens.” George Rochefort

BLUE METROPOLIS FOUNDATION: THE POWER OF WORDS

Blue Metropolis Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1997 that brings together people from different cultures to share the pleasure of reading and writing. The Foundation produces multilingual literary activities, such as the Blue Met International Literary Festival, the Blue Met Children’s Festival, and education programmes for young people.

For 13 years, Blue Metropolis has organized several innovative literary activities for an audience of all ages and backgrounds, including: • The International Literary Festival, held in Montreal in French, English, and several other languages; • The Children’s Festival, presented by TD, for children up to 12 years old, held in libraries and cultural centres across Montreal; • Literary readings and writing workshops before a live audience and online; • Educational programmes across Canada that attempt to reach isolated communities; • Awards, grants and other prizes meant to highlight excellence in the literary world. Blue Metropolis is able to keep its firm commitment to social integration and diversity by organizing top notch literary activities thanks to the support of volunteers, donors, sponsors, and government and corporate partnerships.

“Ask the books that I read why I changed…” Kamala Das

7 2011 AT A GLANCE THE YEAR OF CHANGE

NEW DIRECTION After 14 years at the helm of Blue Metropolis, founder Linda Leith handed the reins of the Foundation to William St-Hilaire, in office since January 1, 2011. As President, General Manager and Artistic Director, Ms. St-Hilaire has brought a wind of change and renewal to the Blue Metropolis Foundation.

BLUE METROPOLIS FESTIVAL The Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival has closed the cover on its 13th edition with a 50 percent increase in ticket sales compared to 2010. Held from April 27 to May 1 at the Holiday Inn Select Montreal Centre-Ville hotel in Chinatown, and at other locations across Montreal, the Festival welcomed over 22,000 festival-goers. One fifth of its events were sold out.

For the fourth consecutive year, 5,000 children and their families enjoyed over 75 free activities. The Blue Metropolis Children’s Festival, presented by TD, offered events ranging from exhibitions to meetings with authors in various locations around Montreal.

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES In 2011, the Foundation’s educational programmes grew in scope. Five programmes brought together more than 1,200 students from primary and secondary schools across Canada. Three of them culminated at the Blue Metropolis Festival:

• Quebec Roots: The Place Where I Live: launch of the book and exhibition produced by students, at the McCord Museum on April 28; • Treats From The Terroir: participants gathered for a gourmet book launch at the Jean-Talon Market; • Student Literary Programme/Programme littéraire étudiant: brought together over 500 students for writing workshops from April 27 to 29.

The Breaking Down Barriers / Le pouvoir des mots track now unites the educational and social activities of the Foundation. The action plan was developed to help various groups of at-risk youth through social and literary educational activities.

WEBSITE AND DIGITAL CONTENT The Foundation’s new interactive website will be launched in January 2012. The website will offer a variety of platforms dedicated to writing; portraits of people in the industry and the literary world; blogs; podcasts; as well as practical information about the 2012 Festival.

8 THE 13th BLUE METROPOLIS INTERNATIONAL LITERARY FESTIVAL

For the 13th consecutive year, Blue Metropolis Foundation held a successful Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival. From April 27 to May 1, 2011, the Festival brought together artists from Quebec and Canada, but also from many other countries, providing top quality literary events, thus confirming the position of Quebec’s largest city as an international literary centre.

The Holiday Inn Select Montreal Centre-Ville and other locations served as the gathering place for the Blue Metropolis Festival, as more than 22,000 festival-goers and some 150 writers, storytellers, illustrators, translators, cartoonists, publishers and researchers met to discuss a variety of subjects. These included censorship, World War II, the Arab Spring, languages, storytelling and history, the city, eroticism, feminism, fundamentalism, memory, children’s literature, humanitarian aid, social networks, marriage, and translation.

In total, nearly 200 events were held in English, French, Italian, German, and Arabic, all unfolding in a multitude of readings, panel discussions, debates, on-stage interviews, conferences, writing workshops, book launches, literary and musical performances and evenings of storytelling and poetry.

A CELEBRATION OF INDIAN WRITING In collaboration with the Year of India in Canada and the High Commissioner of India, a dozen authors from India or the Indian diaspora made the trip to Montreal. This international project was widely publicized and festival-goers came out to participate. As a part of these festivities, the Blue Metropolis Grand Prix went to Amitav Ghosh, a world-renowned Indian author whose events were very popular.

THE BLUE METROPOLIS STREGA PRIZE This new partnership with the Premio Strega in Rome brought Antonio Pennacchi, winner of the 2010 Strega Prize, the most prestigious Italian literary award, to Montreal. Held during a special evening at the Casa d’Italia, Mr. Pennacchi received the Blue Metropolis Strega Prize before numerous representatives of the local and international Italian community.

THE SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE EVENT This is the first Giller Prize event ever held outside of Toronto. This special evening, hosted at the Notre- Dame-de-Bon-Secours, Montreal’s oldest chapel, featured a fascinating conversation between Linden MacIntyre and Johanna Skibsrud, winners in 2009 and 2010, and moderated by CBC journalist Carol Off.

9 THE AL MAJIDI IBN DHAHER ARAB LITERARY PRIZE Blue Metropolis awarded the Al Majidi Ibn Dhaher Arab Literary Prize to Egyptian author Alaa Al Aswany. Very active on the Egyptian public scene, this dentist-by-training turned writer received his award at a greatly anticipated ceremony. The internationally acclaimed Mr. Aswany spoke about his work as a writer and his involvement in the Arab Spring.

WRITERS IN PERIL Writers in Peril, our event series about freedom of expression, launched in 2008 in association with Media@McGill and Reporters without Borders, has since become a key Festival event. This year, the Festival brought together Tasmila Nasreen, Nassira Belloula and Caroline Fourest for an event that addressed issues of equality and religion; and Alaa Al Aswany and Gilbert Sinoué for a brilliant roundtable moderated by François Bugingo.

WRITING WORKSHOPS AND MASTER CLASSES Blue Metropolis is very implicated in the training of professional writers and increased its offering of writing workshops and master classes for its 2011 edition. Festival-attendees were able to draw on the experience of Alexandre Jardin, Eric Fottorino, Philippe Forest and Anne Fine during these activities, which sold out.

INTERNATIONAL AUTHORS International headliners were plentiful during the 2011 edition, which generated significant buzz in both the local and national media. As a result, 20 percent of the Festival’s activities were sold out, especially events with Gore Vidal, Bernhard Schlink, and Alaa Al Aswany, Alexandre Jardin, Gilbert Sinoue and Amitav Ghosh.

QUEBEC AND CANADIAN AUTHORS Quebec and Canadian authors have always been at the heart of our program. Their presence gives festival-goers the opportunity to discover the exceptional vitality of authorship and publishing in our country. French and English authors, Kim Thuy, Wayne Grady and Peter Dubé, to name just a few, contributed greatly to the richness of the Blue Metropolis Festival.

WORDS WITHOUT BORDERS In collaboration with the famous American translation magazine, Words Without Borders, Nicolas Dickner, Nadine Bismuth and Dominique Fortier attended the New York launch of the special issue on Quebec literature at the PEN World Festival in New York. A Montreal launch also took place on April 29 during the Blue Metropolis Festival.

10 CBC BLUE SERIES This is one of the most popular Festival events. Hosts Eleanor Wachtel, Michael Enright, Sue Smith, Jeanette Kelly, Christiane Charette, and our special guest, Noah Richler, interviewed literary stars, such as Gore Vidal, Alexandre Jardin, Amitav Ghosh and Bernhard Schlink. The Celebration of Indian Writing was also part of the CBC Blue Series: Voices from India and the Diaspora brought together Amitav Ghosh, Bharati Mukjerjee and K. Satchidanandan for a discussion moderated by Eleanor Wachtel. Carol Off, host of As It Happens, presented the Scotiabank Giller Prize Event. Last but not least, Varied Trajectories: Montreal Writers, Richler et Glassco, hosted by Jeanette Kelly, was another very popular Festival event.

CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL For the fourth consecutive year, 5,000 children and their families enjoyed 75 free activities across Montreal at the Blue Metropolis Children’s Festival, presented by TD. The Festival included everything from exhibits, such as the popular Un cadeau pour Sophie, to meet-and-greets, featuring a session with Anne Fine, the British author of Madame Doubtfire , at the Jewish Public Library, Norman Berman Children’s Library. Venues ranged from the Canadian Centre for Architecture to the Théâtre de L’Esquisse on the Plateau-Mont-Royal.

11 INTERNATIONAL LITERARY SERIES

The International Reading Series is an array of activities held throughout the year that unites readers of all levels and backgrounds with writers from many fields, including poetry, fiction, storytelling and comics.

• Translation Slam / Le dire autrement – The signature event of the Foundation was presented September 13, 2010 in English and Mandarin at the Canadian Pavilion of the World Expo Shanghai 2010, and on September 14 to the Association of Shanghai writers. These events, developed in partnership with Cirque du Soleil, were hosted by Yan Liang and featured Canadian poet A.F. Moritz and translators Shi Yu and Lien Chao. • F..k You and Other Salutations: The Unstable Politics of Civility – This activity was held on Friday, September 17, 2010, at the Heart of Sciences amphitheatre at UQAM. The conference was moderated by professor and philosopher Mark Kingwell and featured professors Sherry Simon, Dominic Beneventi and Simon Harel. • À la recherche des contes perdus ! – As part of the Journées de la culture event, 25 children followed a literary trail to collect and hear tales from Ireland, Germany, Haiti, Vietnam and Quebec. Featuring storytellers Franck Sylvestre and Claudette L’Heureux, on Saturday, September 25, 2010, at the Côte-des-Neiges Library. • Words – Activity with the Scottish author A.L. Kennedy, who shared his childhood with humour, his writing debut, and his motivation for creating worlds with words. Held on September 27, 2010 at .

12 2010-2011 EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES

Thanks to the support of Canadian Heritage, the ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Tiphane Foundation, the Molson Foundation, Amazon.ca, LEARN and the CLC, among others, this year the Blue Metropolis Foundation provided five distinct educational programmes to 30 elementary and secondary schools, reaching more than 900 students and teachers.

QUEBEC ROOTS: THE PLACE WHERE I LIVE Over the course of over five months, nearly 200 English-speaking students from across Quebec collaborated with writers and photographers who helped in the publishing of texts and images about their communities. The book launch of Quebec Roots: The Place Where I Live was held April 22, 2010 at the Blue Metropolis Literary Festival.

TREATS FROM THE TERROIR Guided by Quebec authors specializing in gastronomy, food photographers and producers, students became familiar with local Quebec produce. The anthology of over 70 of their texts and images was launched on April 29, 2011 at the Jean-Talon Market, during the Blue Metropolis Literary Festival.

A COMMUNITY OF WORDS / UNE COMMUNAUTÉ, DES MOTS

This program aimed to enrich the language skills of young Canadians who are members of a minority language community. Through writing workshops, young people were invited to familiarize themselves with their culture and show us their community, its history, its characters and its relationship with the majority-language community.

The best papers were published in digital format and are available in over 1,400 Francophone public libraries.

13 TWEET PALS / TWITOSPHÈRE This program offered Canadians aged 13 to 16 a unique cultural and linguistic experience by corresponding in their second language on the social network Twitter and on a blog created especially for the project. From British Columbia to New Brunswick, young people exchanged some very nice tweets.

STUDENT LITERARY PROGRAMME / PROGRAMME LITTÉRAIRE ÉTUDIANT The student literary programme was conducted in French and English from April 21 to 23, 2010 on the Festival site and in various libraries around Montreal. It brought together high school students and authors for creative writing workshops and discussion. In total, 415 students and 16 teachers and authors participated.

Kim Thuy ©Benoît Levac Recipient of the 2010 Governor General’s Literary Award

14 SOCIAL ACTION PROGRAMME BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS /LE POUVOIR DES MOTS

With over 12 years of experience in creating literary and educational activities for the classroom, Blue Metropolis has positioned itself as a leader in developing innovative educational programs. We regularly see the social impact of the power of words on at-risk youth. Often, our writing, slam or twitterature workshops have given rise to touching, even disturbing literary compositions, sometimes perceived as a call for help from certain children.

For almost a year, with the help of the Molson Foundation and the Tiphane Foundation, Blue Metropolis has explored its educational programmes further than ever by asking whether they have the potential to help youth at risk via the power of words. Breaking Down Barriers is the name of the research project that led us to meet many social workers, teachers and specialists who work with this clientele.

We met with Tel-Jeunes, the Fédération québécoise de l’autisme, the Foundation of Dr. Julien, youth centres, Dr. Clown, etc. They are unanimous: Blue Metropolis can and should, to some extent, use its educational programs to achieve social action but in partnership with these experts. We are therefore planning writing workshops for this audience, for their parents and siblings, for next year.

15 BLUE METROPOLIS FOUNDATION 2009-2010 2010-2011 TOTAL Festival Educational TOTAL

REVENUE

REVENUE GENERATED Own-source Revenue 37 865 3% 54 119 5 954 60 073 5% Private funding 502 771 37% 405 783 101 500 507 283 40% TOTAL REVENUE GENERATED 540 637 40% 459 903 107 454 567 356 44%

GOVERNMENT GRANTS Federal grant 475 200 35% 252 780 171 000 423 780 33% Provincial grant 269 550 20% 87 898 120 000 207 898 16% Municipal grant 74 652 5% 65 968 1 532 67 500 5% Gouvernements étrangers 6 394 0% 11 383 0 11 383 1% TOTAL GOVERNMENT GRANTS 825 796 60% 418 029 292 532 710 561 56%

TOTAL REVENUE 1 366 432 100% 877 932 399 985 1 277 917 100%

EXPENDITURES

PRODUCTION EXPENDITURES Programme & event costs 802 475 62% 615 005 265 675 880 680 62% Communications 154 334 12% 157 542 38 256 195 798 14% TOTAL PRODUCTION EXPENDITURES 956 809 74% 772 547 303 931 1 076 478

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES 342 987 26% 246 466 89 328 335 794 24%

TOTAL EXPENDITURES 1 299 796 100% 1 019 013 393 259 1 412 272 100%

INCOME 66 636 (141 081) 6 726 (134 354)

START OF YEAR BALANCE (95 836) (29 200)

YEAR-END BALANCE (29 200) (141 081) 6 726 (163 554) merci à tous nos partenaires Thank you to all our partners!

Partenaires The Jarislowsky Foundation Collaborateurs Bibliothèque Rivière-des- Larry & Cookie Rossy Prairies Ministère de l’Éducation, Agence RubisVaria inc. Foundation Bibliothèque Saint-Charles du Loisir et du Sport Arrondissement de l’Île-Bizard Power Corporation of Canada Bibliothèque Saint-Henri Patrimoine canadien / – Sainte-Geneviève Tourisme Montréal Bibliothèque Saint-Michel Canadian Heritage Association québécoise Bibliothèque Saul-Bellow des professeurs de français Bibliothèque St-Pierre Investisseurs Amis (AQPF) ACCENTI Magazine Brasserie McAuslan Groupe Banque TD / TD Bank Association of Association des illustrateurs Café L’Escalier Group italian-Canadian Writers et illustratrices du Québec Centre Canadien The Molson Foundation Babar books Peter Blaikie d’Architecture – Canadian Judith Mappin Suzanne Bélanger The British Council Centre for Architecture Biblioasis Carleton University Carleton University Bâtisseurs Bibliothèque Haut-Anjou CBC Radio One – CBC Blue Cégep du Vieux-Montréal Abu Dhabi Authority for Bibliothèque Benny Series Centre Afrika Culture and Heritage Bibliothèque Charleroi CGI Centre communautaire Bon The Beaverbrook Foundation Bibliothèques Côte-des- Cirque du Soleil courage de la Place Benoît Conseil des Arts de Montréal Neiges et Notre-Dame-de- Communication-Jeunesse Centre communautaire de Conseil des Arts du Canada – Grâce The Consulate General of loisir Côte-des-neiges Canada Council for the Arts Bibliothèque de l’Île-Bizard Israel in Montreal Centre culturel de Conseil des arts et des lettres Bibliothèque de Kirkland DJS Holdings LTD Pointe-Claire - Stewart Hall du Québec Bibliothèque de la Maison Peter Daniel Centre culturel de Verdun Eric T. Webster Foundation culturelle et communautaire Délégation générale du Centre d’éducation des Média@McGill de Montréal-Nord Québec à New York adultes de LaSalle Ministère des Affaires Bibliothèque de Rosemont Entre les lignes Le Centre québécois du PEN municipales, des Régions et Bibliothèque de Saint-Laurent Festival Fyre Festival international de l’Occupation du territoire Bibliothèque de Robert Graham Le Centre Lartigue Scotiabank Saint-Léonard Scott Griffin Cercle des conteurs de The Tiphane Foundation Bibliothèque des jeunes The Hylcan Foundation Montréal Ville de Montréal de Montréal - Montréal Illustration Québec Cameron Charlebois Children’s Library Illustre Galerie Patricia Claxton Ambassadeurs Bibliothèque Frontenac Joan Ivory Nancy Cleman Air Inuit Bibliothèque Georges-Vanier Jeune Chambre de commerce Collège Stanislas Amazon.ca Bibliothèque Henri-Bourassa de Montréal Concordia University Bibliothèque et Archives Bibliothèque Hochelaga Julie Keith & Richard Pound Concordia University Alumni nationales du Québec - BAnQ Bibliothèque interculturelle de Le Libraire Association The Cole Foundation Montréal Librairie Olivieri Conseil international d’Études Davies Ward Phillips & Bibliothèque Jean-Corbeil Luminato, Toronto Festival of Francophones Vineberg Bibliothèque Langelier Arts, Culture & Creativity Community Learning Centres EJLB Foundation Bibliothèque Maisonneuve Line Maheux – CLC The Gazette Bibliothèque Marie-Uguay McCord Museum of Cormorant Books Government of India Bibliothèque Mercier Canadian History / Musée Teresa Costa High Commission of India, Bibliothèque municipale de McCord d’histoire canadienne Délégation Wallonie-Bruxelles Ottawa Beaconsfield McGill University au Québec LEARN Bibliothèque Parc Extension Mitzi & Mel Dobrin Family Douglas & McIntyre Ministère de la Culture, des Bibliothèque Patro Le Prévost Foundation Les Éditions Flammarion Communications et de la Bibliothèque Père Ambroise Antoine et Lucille Dragonneries Condition féminine Bibliothèque Plateau Panet-Raymond Éditions David La Presse Mont-Royal Cecil & Robert Rabinovitch Éditions du Noroît World Affairs Bibliothèque publique de Réseau des bibliothèques Éditions Interligne Zeller Family Foundation Dollard-des-Ormeaux publiques de Montréal Festilou Bibliothèque publique de Gabriel Safdie Foire du Livre de Buenos Aires Mentors Pierrefonds Marie Senécal-Tremblay & Fondazione Maria e Goffredo Agence Braque Bibliothèque publique de Bruce McNiven Bellonci ONLUS Chadha Family Foundation Pointe-Claire – succursale Société Radio-Canada Fondation Pierre Desmarais Le Consulat général de France Valois William St-Hilaire Belvédère à Québec Bibliothèque publique Eleanor Patterson & Norman Webster Dutch Foundation for Goethe-Institut London Côte Saint-Luc Literature Institut culturel italien de Bibliothèque Réginald Maurice Forget Montréal J.P.- Dawson Luc Gauvreau Italvine Goose Lane Editions

Hachette Canada Reford MacDougall Les Productions du Diable SODEC Hay Foundation Sally & Doug McDougall Vert Benjamin Smith Huguette Gingras Maison de la culture Quattro Books Télé Québec Guernica Editions Frontenac Quebec 4H Théâtre Bilingue de Montréal India-Canada Association of Maison de la culture Quebec Writers’ Federation Théâtre de la Source Regina Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Suzanne Rancourt Théâtre de l’Esquisse Institut du Tout-Monde Maison de la culture Plateau Random House Thomas Allen & Son, Ltd. Colin Irving Mont-Royal Regina Public Library Sarah Tobias Jewish Public Library Manitoba Arts Council Regroupement des éditeurs Tundra Books Journées de la culture McGill – Queen’s University canadiens-français – RÉCF Université de Montréal Kabir Cultural Centre / Centre Press Reporters sans frontières University of Regina Culturel Kabir (CCK) Montreal Pavillon du Canada – Expo Représentation de l’État de Westmount Public Library Bartha Maria Knoppers Universelle Shanghai 2010 Bavière au Québec Judith Woodsworth Michel Leblanc PEN American Center T. F. Rigelhof Words Without Borders Linda Colette Perron-Sharp La Rosée-des-vents Les 400 coups Johanne Pérusse Suzanne Sauvage Les mots partagés Christopher Pickwoad Second Story Press Andrée Lévesque Pierre Pilon Semaine canadienne du livre LHNC du Commerce-de-la- Planète rebelle TD Fourrure-à-Lachine Madeleine Poulin Semaine interculturelle à Lis avec moi Premio Strega l’école Pierre-Dupuy Macdonald College Les Productions Cormoran Shanghai Writers’ Association Alexandre Alexandre Aswany Gilbert Gilbert Huston Sinoué Alaa Al Jardin Nancy Nancy Vidal Thuy Gore Gore Kim Kim and online. Quebec andacrossCanadainclassrooms primary, secondaryandCégepstudents in we are, visitbluemetropolis.org. young people. To learnmoreaboutwho Festival, andeducationprogrammes for Literary Festival, theBlueMetChildren’s activities, suchastheBlueMetInternational The Foundation producesmultilingualliterary cultures tosharethepleasureofreadingandwriting. founded in1997thatbringstogetherpeoplefromdifferent Blue MetropolisFoundation isanot-for-profit organization Programme The Student Literary Educational Programmes Festival Blue Metropolis Children’s Festival International Literary Blue Metropolis Montreal Projects Major literature, writingandillustration. a variety ofactivitiespromotingyouth writers since1999. authors. workshops forteenswithdistinguished Foundation Metropolis Blue isagrowingeventthatoffers hasreceivedmorethan2000 offerscreativewriting for

Literary Grand Prix Prix Grand Literary Metropolis Blue has goneto: Grand Prixforalifetimeofliterary accomplishment. Inyearspast, theaward Every year, BlueMetropolisawards the $10,000BlueMetropolisLiterary Marie-Claire Marie-Claire Paul Auster

Pennac Pennac Daniel Daniel Blais Blais 2000 2004 2008 A.S. Byatt A.S. Norman Norman Fuentes Fuentes Mailer Mailer Carlos Carlos 2005 2009 2001

Blue Metropolis Foundation 661, Rose-de-Lima street, #201 Laferrière Laferrière

Tremblay Tremblay Montreal, Quebec H4C 2L7

Gallant T 514.932.1112 F 514.932.1148 Michel Michel

Mavis Mavis bluemetropolis.org Dany Dany 2006 2002 2010 bluemetropolis.org Margaret Margaret Atwood Atwood Maryse Maryse Amitav Amitav Condé Ghosh Ghosh 2003 2007 2011

Awards&

Distinctions 2005 Finalist for the Concours LUX for the poster illustration Finalist for the Grand Prix du Tourisme québécois, festival 2010 Finalist for the Prix Jacques-Couture which highlights and event category efforts made in the promotion of intercultural exchanges, Ministère de l’immigration et des communautés culturelles 2004 Boomerang Prize nominee for our Teleliterature distance- du Québec education programme 2009 Award of Excellence – Promotion of Linguistic Duality, 2002 Nominated for the Odyssée Prize, literary event of the year Canada Commissioner of Offi cial Languages category 2008 Award of Excellence from the Montreal Arts Council, 2001 Award of Excellence from the Montreal Arts Council, literary literary category category 2011 Festival Highlights

The 13th Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival took place April 27 to May 1, 2011. Over 200 writers, literary translators, illustrators, storytellers, and publishers took part. The Blue Metropolis Children’s Festival, presented by TD, offered children and their families over 75 free activities across Montreal.

The fi rst ever Blue Metropolis Strega Award, one of

er mai 2011 Italy’s most prestigious literary awards, was given to 27 avril au 1 metropolisbleu.org : 514.937.BLEU Italian writer Antonio Pennacchi. info festival 1 Place d’Armes : 514.937.BLEU Holiday Inn Select Montréal centre-villebluemetropolis.org info festival 99, avenue Viger Ouest Over 22,000 festivalgoers attended more than 200 events over 5 days.

“Such an intelligent, fun, “A fi rst true understanding interesting, and warm of how diverse and fun a festival.” multilingual festival can be.” Priscila Uppal, writer, Toronto Ian McGillis, The Gazette

“It was a pleasure and joy to be at Blue Met; Montreal is a great city and this festival adds to that.” Peter Balakian, writer, New York Linden MacIntyre, Johanna Skibsrud and Carol Off at the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize Event. © Arnaud Champalbert

THE 14TH BLUE METROPOLIS MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL LITERARY FESTIVAL WILL TAKE PLACE APRIL 17 - 23, 2012.