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bluemetropolis.org November 2011

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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 Montreal, Quebec, Canada 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

• asignificantreductionofourfixedcosts,includingarestructuringofthestaffforevenbetterproductivityandtobeginrepayingtheaccumulateddeficit

• 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 CharleboisChair of the Board of DirectorsVice President, Real Estate, QuebecCanada Lands Company

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT, GENERAL MANAGER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

WhenIarrivedinJanuary,Iquicklyrealizedtheextenttowhich the Foundation’s activities are rich and diverse, and thattheaudienceswhichbenefitfromthemareextremelyvaried. 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–examplesofthepowerofwordsconceivedbyBlueMetropolis.

William St-HilairePresident, General Manager and Artistic DirectorBlue Metropolis Foundation

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ORGANIZATION

Linda Leith, Founder

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Cameron Charlebois, Chair of the BoardVice-President, Real Estate, Quebec, Canada Lands Company Peter Daniel, Vice-Chair of the BoardPrincipal, Ilian Consulting and Management, Inc.Suzanne Rancourt, TreasurerVice President, Internal Audit, CGIIsabelle Fontaine, Senior Advisor, NATIONAL Public RelationsMary Kay Lowy, Director, Canadian Institute of PsychoanalysisLine Maheux, Director, Government Relations, Bell CanadaPierre-André Themens, Managing Partner, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg s.r.l.Sheila de la Varende, Director of National and International Business Development,TelefilmCanada

PROGRAMMING CONSULTANTS

Abigail AndersonIngrid Bejerman Lise Bergevin Rupert BottenbergIssa J. BoullataSerge CarrierAnn CharneyFrank EscoubesFrancis Farley-ChevrierMarie-Louise GayMikhail Iossel Naïm Kattan Julie Keith Michele LuchsÉmile MartelCaroline MorinBirendra PrasadaRama SifriLori SchubertDiane ThérienCarolyn Warren Patterson Webster

FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE

Cameron Charlebois, Canada Lands CompanyMarcel Côté, Secor GroupPeter Daniel, Ilian Consulting and Management.David Laidley, Deloitte & ToucheMichel Lamontagne, Université de MontréalFrederick Lowy, Concordia UniversityReford MacDougallRichard Pound, McGill UniversityDeon Ramgoolam, EOCI PharmacommSuzanne Rancourt, CGIRae Turley

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HONORARY BOARD

Abigail Anderson André Bisson, CIRANODenise Bombardier, WriterPierre Bourque, Constellation Monde, Inc. Claude Castonguay, Invited Fellow, CIRANOThe Hon. Baljit Singh Chadha, Chadha Family FoundationChristiane CharetteAnn Charney, WriterHélène Desmarais, Centre d’entreprises et d’innovation de MontréalMaurice Forget, Fasken MartineauJean-Claude Germain, WriterNicholas Hoare, Nicholas Hoare BooksJulie Jacobson, United States EmbassyNaïm Kattan, WriterPhyllis Lambert, Canadian Centre for ArchitectureJudith MappinAlex Paterson, McGill Institute for the Study of CanadaJohanne PérusseCecil RabinovitchJack Rabinovitch, The Scotiabank Giller PrizeRichard J. Renaud, TNG CorporationJavier San Juan, L’Oréal CanadaAndré Vanasse, Lettres québecoises

INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL

Etel Adnan, FranceTaiaiake Alfred, KahnawakeYassaman Ameri, MontrealNicole Brossard, MontrealNoëlle Châtelet, FranceSteven Davis, Academics for Higher Education and DevelopmentSarah Dawbarn, The British CouncilJacques de Decker, BrusselsScott Griffin,TheGriffinTrustRiccardo Held, VeniceAnnie Heminway, New YorkAnees Jung, New DelhiElias Khoury, BeirutRamona Koval, MelbourneChristina Lembrecht, BerlinPing Li, Canada China Network CouncilYan Liang, MontrealJuana Libedinsky, MadridThomas Lynch, MichiganAlberto Manguel, FranceMechtild Manus, Goethe-InstitutÉmile Martel, Centre Québécois du P.E.N. internationalRichard O’Hagan, TorontoAngelo Mazzone, Istituto Italiano di CulturaSuhayl Saadi, GlasgowGabriel Safdie, MontrealDavid Sela, MontrealAmela Simic, Toronto

STAFF

William St-Hilaire, President, General Manager, and Artistic Director Gregory McCormick, Director of ProgrammingIsabel Brinck, Director of Communications and DevelopmentFlorence Allegrini, Production Manager (Festival and Educational Programmes)Élisabeth Reyt, Administrative and Government Funding Coordinator, and Assistant to the President

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MISSION AND VALUES

“We write because no one listens.” George Rochefort

BLUE METROPOLIS FOUNDATION: THE POWER OF WORDS

BlueMetropolisFoundationisanot-for-profitorganizationfoundedin1997thatbrings 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:

• TheInternationalLiteraryFestival,heldinMontrealinFrench,English,and several other languages;• TheChildren’sFestival,presentedbyTD,forchildrenupto12yearsold,held in libraries and cultural centres across Montreal; • Literaryreadingsandwritingworkshopsbeforealiveaudienceandonline;• EducationalprogrammesacrossCanadathatattempttoreachisolatedcommunities;• Awards,grantsandotherprizesmeanttohighlightexcellenceintheliterary world.

BlueMetropolisisabletokeepitsfirmcommitmenttosocialintegrationanddiversity 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

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2011 AT A GLANCE THE YEAR OF CHANGE

NEW DIRECTIONAfter 14 years at the helm of Blue Metropolis, founder Linda Leith handed the reins of the FoundationtoWilliamSt-Hilaire,inofficesinceJanuary1,2011.AsPresident,GeneralManager and Artistic Director, Ms. St-Hilaire has brought a wind of change and renewal to the Blue Metropolis Foundation.

BLUE METROPOLIS FESTIVALThe 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 locationsacrossMontreal,theFestivalwelcomedover22,000festival-goers.Onefifthofitsevents 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 fromexhibitionstomeetingswithauthorsinvariouslocationsaroundMontreal.

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMESIn 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:

• QuebecRoots:ThePlaceWhereILive:launchofthebookandexhibitionproducedby students, at the McCord Museum on April 28;• TreatsFromTheTerroir:participantsgatheredforagourmetbooklaunchattheJean-Talon Market;• StudentLiteraryProgramme/Programmelittéraireétudiant:broughttogetherover500studentsforwritingworkshopsfromApril27to29.

TheBreakingDownBarriers/Lepouvoirdesmotstracknowunitestheeducationalandsocial 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 CONTENTThe 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.

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THE 13th BLUE METROPOLIS INTERNATIONAL LITERARY FESTIVALFor 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 qualityliteraryevents,thusconfirmingthepositionofQuebec’slargestcityasaninternationalliterary 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 WRITINGIn 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 BlueMetropolisGrandPrixwenttoAmitavGhosh,aworld-renownedIndian

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 ThisisthefirstGillerPrizeeventeverheldoutsideofToronto. This special evening, hosted at the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, Montreal’s oldest chapel, featured a fascinating conversation between Linden MacIntyreandJohannaSkibsrud,winnersin2009

and 2010, and moderated by CBC journalist Carol Off.

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THE AL MAJIDI IBN DHAHER ARAB LITERARY PRIZEBlue 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 PERILWritersinPeril,oureventseriesaboutfreedomofexpression,launchedin2008 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 CLASSESBlue 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 abletodrawontheexperienceofAlexandreJardin,EricFottorino,PhilippeForestandAnneFine during these activities, which sold out.

INTERNATIONAL AUTHORSInternationalheadlinerswereplentifulduringthe2011edition,whichgeneratedsignificantbuzz 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, AlexandreJardin,GilbertSinoueandAmitavGhosh.

QUEBEC AND CANADIAN AUTHORSQuebec and Canadian authors have always been at the heart of our program. Their presence givesfestival-goerstheopportunitytodiscovertheexceptionalvitalityofauthorshipandpublishing 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 onApril29duringtheBlueMetropolisFestival.

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CBC BLUE SERIESThis 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,

AlexandreJardin,AmitavGhoshandBernhardSchlink.TheCelebrationofIndianWritingwasalso 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, presentedbyTD.TheFestivalincludedeverythingfromexhibits,suchasthe popular Un cadeau pour Sophie, to meet-and-greets, featuring a session withAnneFine,theBritishauthorofMadameDoubtfire,attheJewishPublicLibrary, Norman Berman Children’s Library. Venues ranged from the Canadian Centre for Architecture to the Théâtre de L’Esquisse on the Plateau-Mont-Royal.

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The International Reading Series is an array of activities held throughout the year that unites readersofalllevelsandbackgroundswithwritersfrommanyfields,includingpoetry,fiction,storytelling and comics.

• TranslationSlam/Ledireautrement–ThesignatureeventoftheFoundationwaspresented September 13, 2010 in English and Mandarin at the Canadian Pavilion of theWorldExpoShanghai2010,andonSeptember14totheAssociationofShanghaiwriters. 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..kYouandOtherSalutations:TheUnstablePoliticsofCivility–Thisactivitywasheld 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.• Àlarecherchedescontesperdus!–AspartoftheJournéesdelacultureevent,25children followed a literary trail to collect and hear tales from Ireland, Germany, Haiti, VietnamandQuebec.FeaturingstorytellersFranckSylvestreandClaudetteL’Heureux,on Saturday, September 25, 2010, at the Côte-des-Neiges Library.• Words–ActivitywiththeScottishauthorA.L.Kennedy,whosharedhischildhoodwith humour, his writing debut, and his motivation for creating worlds with words. Held on September 27, 2010 at Concordia University.

INTERNATIONAL LITERARY SERIES

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2010-2011 EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMESThanks 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 providedfivedistincteducationalprogrammesto30elementaryandsecondaryschools,reachingmorethan900studentsandteachers.

QUEBEC ROOTS: THE PLACE WHERE I LIVEOverthecourseofoverfivemonths,nearly200English-speakingstudentsfromacross

Quebec collaborated with writers and photographers who helped in the publishingoftextsandimagesabouttheircommunities.ThebooklaunchofQuebec Roots: The Place Where I Live was held April 22, 2010 at the Blue Metropolis Literary Festival.

TREATS FROM THE TERROIRGuided by Quebec authors specializing in gastronomy, food photographers and producers, students became familiar with local Quebec produce. The anthology of over 70 of theirtextsandimageswaslaunchedonApril29,2011atthe 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.

 

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TWEET PALS / TWITOSPHÈREThisprogramofferedCanadiansaged13to16auniqueculturalandlinguisticexperiencebycorresponding in their second language on the social network Twitter and on a blog created especiallyfortheproject.FromBritishColumbiatoNewBrunswick,youngpeopleexchangedsome very nice tweets.

STUDENT LITERARY PROGRAMME / PROGRAMME LITTÉRAIRE ÉTUDIANTThe 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

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SOCIAL ACTION PROGRAMMEBREAKING DOWN BARRIERS /LE POUVOIR DES MOTS

Withover12yearsofexperienceincreatingliteraryandeducationalactivitiesfortheclassroom, 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 Metropolishasexploreditseducationalprogrammesfurtherthaneverbyaskingwhetherthey 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, tosomeextent,useitseducationalprogramstoachievesocialactionbutinpartnershipwiththeseexperts.Wearethereforeplanningwritingworkshopsforthisaudience,fortheirparentsandsiblings,fornextyear.

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)

Partenaires Ministère de l’Éducation,

du Loisir et du sport Patrimoine canadien / Canadian Heritage

investisseurs Groupe Banque tD / tD Bank Group the Molson Foundation Judith Mappin

Bâtisseurs abu Dhabi authority for Culture and Heritage the Beaverbrook Foundation Conseil des arts de Montréal Conseil des arts du Canada – Canada Council for the arts Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec eric t. Webster Foundation Média@McGill Ministère des affaires municipales, des régions et de l’Occupation du territoire scotiabank the tiphane Foundation ville de Montréal

aMBassaDeurs air inuit amazon.ca Bibliothèque et archives nationales du Québec - BanQ the Cole Foundation Davies Ward Phillips & vineberg eJLB Foundation the Gazette Government of india High Commission of india, Ottawa Learn Ministère de la Culture, des Communications et de la Condition féminine La Presse World affairs Zeller Family Foundation

MentOrs agence Braque Chadha Family Foundation Le Consulat général de France à Québec Goethe-institut institut culturel italien de Montréal italvine

the Jarislowsky Foundation Larry & Cookie rossy Foundation Power Corporation of Canada tourisme Montréal

aMis aCCenti Magazine association des illustrateurs et illustratrices du Québec Peter Blaikie the British Council Carleton university CBC radio One – CBC Blue series CGi Cirque du soleil Communication-Jeunesse the Consulate General of israel in Montreal DJs Holdings LtD Peter Daniel Délégation générale du Québec à new York entre les lignes Festival Fyre Festival robert Graham scott Griffin the Hylcan Foundation illustration Québec illustre Galerie Joan ivory Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montréal Julie Keith & richard Pound Le Libraire Librairie Olivieri Luminato, toronto Festival of arts, Culture & Creativity Line Maheux McCord Museum of Canadian History / Musée McCord d’histoire canadienne McGill university Mitzi & Mel Dobrin Family Foundation antoine et Lucille

Panet-raymond Cecil & robert rabinovitch réseau des bibliothèques publiques de Montréal Gabriel safdie Marie senécal-tremblay & Bruce Mcniven société radio-Canada William st-Hilaire Patterson & norman Webster

COLLaBOrateurs agence rubisvaria inc. arrondissement de l’Île-Bizard – sainte-Geneviève association québécoise des professeurs de français (aQPF) association of

italian-Canadian Writers Babar books suzanne Bélanger Biblioasis Bibliothèque Haut-anjou Bibliothèque Benny Bibliothèque Charleroi Bibliothèques Côte-des-neiges et notre-Dame-de-Grâce Bibliothèque de l’Île-Bizard Bibliothèque de Kirkland Bibliothèque de la Maison culturelle et communautaire de Montréal-nord Bibliothèque de rosemont Bibliothèque de saint-Laurent Bibliothèque de

saint-Léonard Bibliothèque des jeunes de Montréal - Montréal Children’s Library Bibliothèque Frontenac Bibliothèque Georges-vanier Bibliothèque Henri-Bourassa Bibliothèque Hochelaga Bibliothèque interculturelle de Montréal Bibliothèque Jean-Corbeil Bibliothèque Langelier Bibliothèque Maisonneuve Bibliothèque Marie-uguay Bibliothèque Mercier Bibliothèque municipale de Beaconsfield Bibliothèque Parc extension Bibliothèque Patro Le Prévost Bibliothèque Père ambroise Bibliothèque Plateau

Mont-royal Bibliothèque publique de Dollard-des-Ormeaux Bibliothèque publique de Pierrefonds Bibliothèque publique de Pointe-Claire – succursale valois Bibliothèque publique eleanor London Côte saint-Luc Bibliothèque réginald

J.P.-Dawson

Bibliothèque rivière-des-Prairies Bibliothèque saint-Charles Bibliothèque saint-Henri Bibliothèque saint-Michel Bibliothèque saul-Bellow Bibliothèque st-Pierre Brasserie Mcauslan Café L’escalier Centre Canadien d’architecture – Canadian Centre for architecture Carleton university Cégep du vieux-Montréal Centre afrika Centre communautaire Bon courage de la Place Benoît Centre communautaire de loisir Côte-des-neiges Centre culturel de

Pointe-Claire - stewart Hall Centre culturel de verdun Centre d’éducation des adultes de Lasalle Le Centre québécois du Pen international Le Centre Lartigue Cercle des conteurs de Montréal Cameron Charlebois Patricia Claxton nancy Cleman Collège stanislas Concordia university Concordia university alumni association Conseil international d’Études Francophones Community Learning Centres – CLC Cormorant Books teresa Costa Délégation Wallonie-Bruxelles au Québec Douglas & Mcintyre Les Éditions Flammarion Dragonneries Éditions David Éditions du noroît Éditions interligne Festilou Foire du Livre de Buenos aires Fondazione Maria e Goffredo Bellonci OnLus Fondation Pierre Desmarais Belvédère Dutch Foundation for Literature Maurice Forget Luc Gauvreau Goose Lane editions

merci à tous nos partenairesthank you to all our partners!

Hachette Canada Hay Foundation Huguette Gingras Guernica editions india-Canada association of regina

institut du tout-Monde Colin irving Jewish Public Library Journées de la culture Kabir Cultural Centre / Centre Culturel Kabir (CCK) Montreal Bartha Maria Knoppers Michel Leblanc Linda Les 400 coups Les mots partagés andrée Lévesque LHnC du Commerce-de-la-Fourrure-à-Lachine Lis avec moi Macdonald College

reford MacDougall sally & Doug McDougall Maison de la culture Frontenac Maison de la culture

notre-Dame-de-Grâce Maison de la culture Plateau Mont-royal Manitoba arts Council McGill – Queen’s university Press Pavillon du Canada – expo universelle shanghai 2010 Pen american Center Colette Perron-sharp Johanne Pérusse Christopher Pickwoad Pierre Pilon Planète rebelle Madeleine Poulin Premio strega Les Productions Cormoran

Les Productions du Diable vert Quattro Books Quebec 4H Quebec Writers’ Federation suzanne rancourt random House regina Public Library regroupement des éditeurs canadiens-français – rÉCF reporters sans frontières représentation de l’État de Bavière au Québec t. F. rigelhof La rosée-des-vents suzanne sauvage second story Press semaine canadienne du livre tD

semaine interculturelle à l’école Pierre-Dupuy

shanghai Writers’ association

sODeC Benjamin smith télé Québec théâtre Bilingue de Montréal théâtre de la source théâtre de l’esquisse thomas allen & son, Ltd. sarah tobias tundra Books université de Montréal university of regina Westmount Public Library Judith Woodsworth Words Without Borders

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Major Projects Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival has received more than 2000 writers since 1999.

Blue Metropolis Children’s Festival is a growing event that offers a variety of activities promoting youth literature, writing and illustration.

Educational Programmes for primary, secondary and Cégep students in Quebec and across Canada in classrooms and online.

The Student Literary Programme offers creative writing workshops for teens with distinguished authors.

Every year, Blue Metropolis awards the $10,000 Blue Metropolis Literary Grand Prix for a lifetime of literary accomplishment. In years past, the award has gone to:

Marie-Claire Blais 2000

Paul Auster 2004

Daniel Pennac

2008

Mavis Gallant

2002

Michel Tremblay

2006

Dany Laferrière

2010

Norman Mailer

2001

Carlos Fuentes

2005

A.S. Byatt2009

Maryse Condé

2003

Margaret Atwood

2007

Amitav Ghosh

2011

Blue Metropolis Literary Grand Prix

Blue Metropolis Foundation 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. To learn more about who we are, visit bluemetropolis.org.

bluemetropolis.org

Alexandre Jardin

Gilbert Sinoué

Gore Vidal

Kim Thuy

Nancy Huston

Alaa Al Aswany

2011 Festival HighlightsThe 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 Italy’s most prestigious literary awards, was given to Italian writer Antonio Pennacchi.

Over 22,000 festivalgoers attended more than 200 events over 5 days.

Linden MacIntyre, Johanna Skibsrud and Carol Off at the2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize Event. © Arnaud Champalbert

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

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bluemetropolis.org info festival : 514.937.BLEU

metropolisbleu.org

info festival : 514.937.BLEU

Holiday Inn Select Montréal centre-ville

99, avenue Viger Ouest Place d’Armes

27 avril au 1er mai 2011

metropolisbleu.org 27 avril au 1er mai 2011

“A fi rst true understanding of how diverse and fun a multilingual festival can be.” 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

“Such an intelligent, fun, interesting, and warm festival.” Priscila Uppal, writer, Toronto

2010 Finalist for the Prix Jacques-Couture which highlights efforts made in the promotion of intercultural exchanges, Ministère de l’immigration et des communautés culturelles du Québec

2009 Award of Excellence – Promotion of Linguistic Duality, Canada Commissioner of Offi cial Languages

2008 Award of Excellence from the Montreal Arts Council, literary category

Awards& Distinctions

2005 Finalist for the Concours LUX for the poster illustration Finalist for the Grand Prix du Tourisme québécois, festival

and event category

2004 Boomerang Prize nominee for our Teleliterature distance- education programme

2002 Nominated for the Odyssée Prize, literary event of the year category

2001 Award of Excellence from the Montreal Arts Council, literary category