Highlights of the 2015 Festival

So everything we've been working for since May, 2014, finally came together and we did this whole Festival-thing.

Whew. I don't ever remember feeling so exhausted at the end of a Festival as I did at the end of this one. At our closing cocktail on Sunday, I literally couldn't follow any more conversations and I couldn't speak French at all. I was done. When I got home, I laid down at 8:30 and was out for the next 10 hours!

Gene Luen Yang at Drawn & Quarterly

Every Festival has moments which stay with us and for me, these are the standouts:

Junot Díaz at the Rialto: great conversation, packed hall, wonderful energy in the air. This was the largest show we ever put on and it was an all around success.

The Film Series wasn't as well attended as I'd hoped but since it's our first year of doing it, we weren't expecting major turn out (we find that these things take a few years to get going). Sitting in Living Stars on Sunday and hearing people laughing out loud throughout was very gratifying since I had such a personal connection to this film.

Performigrations events and their fascinating suitcase installation. Those people constantly impress
me: they were up late the night before installation, putting the finishing touches on those displays and they were absolutely fascinating.

Gene Luen Yang was such a cool dude and I love his writing even more (and I loved it before).

Oonya Kempadoo was as amazing in real life as her novels. I can't say enough good about her.

Enpuku-ji Zen Centre poetry events were packed and there was such a nice vibe in there.

Oonya

Yes, every year there are a few snafus, forgotten photocopies, missed calls, etc., but we managed to handle all these issues without much trouble. The snotty authors are easily forgotten (and, yes, every Festival there are a handful of those).

We love our public: they are so supportive, kind, offering constructive ideas and criticism and being honest about confusing descriptions, hotel facilities, organization of events, and more. This is vital. And we feel so lucky that our audiences are so loyal and devoted. Each year the familiar faces is very rewarding. We love all the new faces, too!



Thanks, everyone, for making the 2015 such a raging success!

Shoes at the entrance of the Enpuku-ji Zen Centre during a poetry event

Blue Met 2015: Gene Luen Yang in Montreal at Drawn & Quarterly

Comics artist Gene Luen Yang will be here in Montreal for Blue Met 2015 and on March 18 at 7pm, there's a great opportunity to read some of his work with other fans or newbies.

Librairie Drawn & Quarterly (211 Bernard Ouest in Mile End) will be doing a session of their very popular graphic novel book club with his work, Boxers & Saints. This is great news: whether you're a big fan of graphic novels/comics and want to be a part of one of the most revolutionary voices in the medium OR whether you're new to comics in its most contemporary iteration and want to become familiar with what kind of experience reading a comic/graphic novel is about, this book club is your chance.

The bookstore is offering a 20% discount on his work, Boxers & Saints, from now until March 18.

Boxers & Saints

This book, a two-volume piece which looks at the Boxer Rebellion from two very distinct (and competing) perspectives, and won a slew of awards for its blending of myth, history and character. Much has been written about the Boxer Rebellion in recent years and its entire place in Chinese and Western history is being rewritten in many key ways. But Yang's work is not a dry historical treatise: it's moving and funny and shows us how we are shaped by the history we are fed and raised with (the book tells the story of the Boxer Rebellion from two quite distinct perspectives).

As the New York Times puts it:

Both volumes show how everyday humiliations by foreigners bred fear and hatred in the Chinese. But Yang also portrays the missionaries' tireless efforts to spread Christian learning and help orphaned children. Though many Chinese found Christianity threatening (and with good cause - it stirred up social conflicts that killed millions), the faith liberated and strengthened others, like the heroine of "Saints," a fatherless, outcast girl whose nocturnal visits from the spirit of Joan of Arc help her imagine herself a Christian warrior.

Get the book (again, if you buy it at the Librairie Drawn & Quarterly, you'll receive 20% off!), then attend the session, then have your chance to meet Yang in person at Blue Met 2015: Yang will be in Montreal for events on Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25.

Drawn & Quarterly's book club session is scheduled for March 18 at 7pm in their shop at 211 Bernard Ouest in Mile End. Refreshments will be served.