Art and Life in Graphic Novels
2025-12-07 15:00 (America/Toronto) | Casa d’Italia, 505 rue Jean Talon est, Montreal, QC, H2R 1T6, Canada
December 7, 2025, 3 – 4 pm
Main Stage, Salle des célébrations

D. Boyd
Juli Delporte
Pascal Girard
Moderated by François Vigneault

Three 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.
Montreal-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.
Juli 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.
Pascal 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.
François 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.

Montreal Review of Books Spring 2026 Launch
2026-03-11 18:00 - 19:30 | Hotel 10, 10 Sherbrooke O, Montreal, QC, H2X 2X3, Canada
The Montreal Review of Books launches its Spring 2026 issue on Wednesday, March 11th at Hotel 10 (10 Sherbrooke Street West) in partnership with the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival!

Following the festival’s 2026 programming announcement, join us in Espace Godin for refreshments and readings by Marianne Ackerman (Oyster, Dundurn Press), Francine Pelletier (Dream Interrupted, Sutherland House Press) and Karine Rosso & Anita Anand (Between the Island and the Turtle, QC Fiction).

The Blue Metropolis press conference will begin at 4:00 p.m., followed by a wine reception, and mRb readings beginning at 6:00. The authors will be available to sign books after the readings. Admission is free.

For those unable to attend in person, readings will be live-streamed on our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@aelaq
