The Montreal Book Fair: More Than Just Books

The Salon du livre de Montréal isn’t just a place to buy or showcase books.

It’s a space for meaningful encounters and roundtable discussions — a place where people gather around a shared theme: the importance of storytelling and the exchange of ideas.

Highlights from this year include:

“Ricochet Dialogues: Shared Languages, Multiple Identities”
With Fabrice A. Vil, Agathe Tupula Kabola, and Philippe Fortin (moderator).

A conversation about linguistic and cultural hybridity:

• “There is no pure language”: every language carries its own culture and worldview.
• Bilingualism is not a barrier — it enriches thinking from childhood, our brains are naturally wired for it.
• French, Creole, Tshiluba… different languages coexist, complement one another, and sometimes only one language can express a particular nuance or energy.

A sobering reminder: a language disappears somewhere in the world every two weeks, often an Indigenous language.

“Finding Your Voice in a New Language”
With Adis Simidzija.

• “Write with your heart, not with the fear of making mistakes.”
• “Welcome the other without judgment. One language nourishes another.”

Adis embodies the richness of having three languages within him — three ways of feeling, thinking, and writing.

“Freedom to Publish, Program, and Prescribe: When Censorship Resurfaces”
With Élodie Cardinal, Myriam Daguzan Bernier, Philippe Fortin, Carolyne Ménard, and Simon de Jocas.

• A powerful reminder of the crucial role of libraries and bibliodiversity in representing every voice.
• Books rewritten to “please,” banned in some countries, burned in others…

Here, in Canada, we have the privilege to read freely — a privilege that should be used to amplify voices that otherwise have no microphone. In a world where some avoid taking a stand “to not make waves,” defending the freedom to publish becomes an act of collective courage.