Jay's List (What's Goin' On?) — October '24

What's happening in Montreal this month?

Doing a new thing here, dedicated to Discordia’s recently-deceased Godfather, Jay Gobuty. Here’s a list of what’s going on in Montreal in the lit world in October 2024 (these events are principally anglo, but if you’ve got a foot in the franco scene we’d love to do a parallel French list).

If we’re missing something, message @discordia.review on Instagram to propose an inclusion.

To navigate this list, you can click the bar on the left to see all the dates and navigate around said dates. This list will change and expand with time.

1 OCTOBER (TUES)

ONE OFF
What: Latest in a series of poetry readings, this time with an audiovisual experimental piece and a merch table for zines and art.
Where: L’hemisphere gauche.
When: 9pm.
Who: JM Francheteau, Ian Martin, Scott Bevins (of No Cosmos), Shima Ra’essi, Tara McGowan-Ross, Rickie Leach, and Jack Daniel Christie. Discordia Review selling zines and Ariana Pickard selling art.
How Much: $5 or PWYC.

2 OCTOBER (WEDS)

TWO READERS & MUSIC III
What: You get what it says on the box. Yolk hosting two readings set to music. BYOB.
Where: Contact Yolk for details; @yolkliterary on Instagram.
When: 7pm doors, 8pm show.
Who: Sean Michaels and Valérie Bah, with musicians TBA.
How Much: Free.

BRYAN LEE O’MALLEY SIGNING
What: The author/artist/mangaka? of Toronto cult classic Scott Pilgrim is doing a signing.
Where: Espace Drawn & Quarterly.
When: 5pm until 7pm.
Who: Bryan Lee O’Malley. As I’ve said twice. Pay attention.
How Much: You gotta buy one of these things. (Minimum $23)

3 OCTOBER (THURS)

LAUNCH: FAWN PARKER, HI, IT’S ME
What: You get what it says on the box. Fawn Parker launching her new novel, Hi, It’s Me.
Where: Librarie De Stiil.
When: 7pm.
Who: Fawn Parker, interviewed by Sean Michaels.
How Much: Free.

5 OCTOBER (SAT)

YOLK’S POP-UP POETRY
What: Guests typing bespoke custom poetry & merch.
Where: Time Out Market.
When: 12pm until 7pm.
Who: The Yolk people (& guests).
How Much: Free.

MARK NOWAK & NORA FULTON & GAIL SCOTT BOOK SALE???
What: Mark Nowak and Nora Fulton at a studio reading, featuring the sale of parts of Gail Scott’s library! You can own a book that Montreal legend Gail Scott read the words in with her own eyes!
Where: 5425 Ave Casgrain, third floor.
When: 6pm doors/book sale/wine, 7pm readings.
Who: The aforementioned Nowak, Fulton, and Scott, at Michael Nardone’s studio.
How Much: Free.

THROW! POETRY COLLECTIVE
What: It’s a poetry slam… um… Look, I’m not going to pretend that shit is for me, but if it floats your boat, it floats your boat, I’m just here to facilitate you. It’s held at an improv joint (this is something we call the “rules of attraction”).
Where: La Basement.
When: 8:30pm doors, 9pm show (and it recurs the first Saturday of every month).
Who: Whoever wants to go up, but you have to sign up two weeks in advance, which you can do here.
How Much: Free.

8 OCTOBER (TUES)

LAUNCH: SOFIA AJRAM, COUP DE GRÂCE
What: Celebrating the launch of the aforementioned book by the aforementioned author.
Where: Librarie De Stiil.
When: 7pm, I think. Event page lacks a time but that’s when other De Stiil events usually take place,
Who: The aforementioned Ajram.
How Much: Free, but you can RSVP (and should if you’re going, let’s be courteous) at this link.

10 OCTOBER (THURS)

LAUNCH: ÉRIC CHACOUR & PABLO STRAUSS, WHAT I KNOW ABOUT YOU
What: Celebrating the launch of the English translation of Chacour’s Ce que je sais de toi.
Where: Espace Drawn & Quarterly.
When: 5pm until 7pm.
Who: The aforementioned Chacour and his translator Strauss.
How Much: I think you have to buy a copy of the book as is usually the case but tbh the FB event is not helpful and has too many words (I hate reading! I’m only here to schmooze!).

CHIMERA OPEN MIC
What: It’s an open mic, you get what it says on the box. They’re encouraging spooky shit this time around. 5 minute limits.
Where: Phoenix Books.
When: 7pm until 8:30-9pm.
Who: Whoever wants to go up.
How Much: Free.

18 OCTOBER (TUES)

LAUNCH: GARTH GREENWELL, SMALL RAIN
What: Celebrating the launch of the aforementioned book by the aforementioned author.
Where: Librarie De Stiil.
When: 7pm until 9pm.
Who: The aforementioned Greenwell.
How Much: Free, but you can RSVP (and should if you’re going, let’s be courteous) at this link.

HORROR NIGHT
What: An evening of spooky readings, followed by a panel on horror writing, probably to do with that one holiday that’s coming up. People ought to do more seasonal literary events, I’m stealing that one.
Where: Argo Books.
When: 7pm until 9pm.
Who: Nour Abi-Nakhoul, Sofia Ajram, and Steve Hugh Westenra.
How Much: Free, but you gotta RSVP, which you can do here.

20 OCTOBER (SUN)

METATRON: DECADE READING
What: Metatron has made it a decade, and there’s going to be a big reading to celebrate it.
Where: Le Système.
When: 5:30pm but it looks like it goes until like 9:30pm. It would—big bill.
Who: Um… a lot of people. Okay I’ll list: Sara Sutterlin, Ali Pinkney, Lee Suksi, Lora Mathis, Faith Pare, Jay Ritchie, Liz Bowen, Viola Chen, Olivia Wood, Marcela Huerta, Trynne Delaney, Sennah Yee, Sofia Banzhaf, Brad Casey, Greg Zorko, Frankie Barnet, Cason Sharpe, Alasdair Rees, Alex Manley, and Hannah Karpinski. I’ve got blisters on me fingers.
How Much: Tickets are on sale online for $17.50 (not including fees).

24 OCTOBER (THURS)

LAUNCH: SUSAN GRUNDY, MAD SISTERS
What: Guests typing bespoke custom poetry & merch.
Where: Espace Drawn & Quarterly.
When: 7pm.
Who: Susan Grundy, interviewed by Carrie Haber.
How Much: Free.

POLYMORPHIC HALLOWEEN PARTY
What: Another Halloween event at Argo? Costume party to celebrate horror magazine/collective Polymorphic’s contributors. There will be signings, games, etc. and they will be launching their annual BLOODSHOT artbook (made in support of Dawson College’s illustration department).
Where: Argo Books.
When: 7pm until 10pm.
Who: The Polymorphic crew.
How Much: Free, but you gotta RSVP, which you can do here.

VIOLET HOUR: 10 YEARS OF METONYMY PRESS
What: Metonymy, a principally queer press, has made it a decade, and there’s going to be a reading to celebrate it with Violet Hour. They just put out El Ghourabaa: A Queer and Trans Collection of Oddities.
Where: Librairie Pulp Books & Cafe.
When: 7pm until 8:30 pm.
Who: H Felix Chau Bradley, Ralph Haddad, Kama La Mackerel, and Leila Marshy, hosted by Christopher DiRaddo.
How Much: Free.

31 OCTOBER (THURS)

LANDLORD GRAVEYARD
What: Celebrating the end of a DIY space with a multi-room event, part poetry reading, part rock show, part rave. BYOB.
Where: DM @pubertywell on Instagram for the spot.
When: 6:30pm until “the witching hour.”
Who: Poetry readings from Discordia alumni and affiliates Joshua Chris Bouchard (author of this Discordia zine), JM Francheteau, and Jack Daniel Christie, as well as music from DISXYN, Gleba, Kalonymus, Killer Radar, Raindog, Sandy Hill House Fire, Moth’s Frog, Malice Doll, Alexa Momtaz, Wencat B2B Ensix, Girl with Armor, Carg.irl.1, G String, Passerine, Clothilde, Puperty Well (a member of which penned this Discordia zine), Niivi, Tall Shadows, Bob Tape, Slogo, Sarah Feldman, and art installations by Ev Ricky (who also has a Discordia zine) and Océane. I probably got some of those in the wrong categories but I’m also not principled enough a list curator to look every single one of those up. It’s gonna be fun, just go.
How Much: PWCY, NOTAFLOF.

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And as a peak into the next month:

3 NOVEMBER (SUN)

ACCENT: VOL. 102 — “SILLY”
What: Popular weekly bilingual open mic. The theme this week is “silly.”
Where: La Marche a Cote.
When: 7pm until 10pm.
Who: Whoever has the balls, along with special guests Loch Bailie and Ashley Fish Robertson.
How Much: Free.

10 NOVEMBER (SUN)

ENSEMBLE SCHOLASTICA: MCGILL’S SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
What: Only marginally a literary event, but I’m counting it anyway. Ensemble Scholastica is going to be performing medieval compositions transcribed in manuscripts found in McGill’s Special Collections—much of it obscure and fragmentary. As standard musical notation was only really formalized in Europe in the early medieval period, these represent some of its earliest examples. This might be the event I’m most looking forward to, to tell the truth.
Where: Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours.
When: 7pm doors, 7:30pm show.
Who: Ensemble Scholastica, and a bunch of dead medieval musical scribes.
How Much: $31.14 for general admission, with student pricing at $26.15. You can buy tickets here.

DISCLOSURE: I don’t necessarily like everything on the Jay List but, damn it people, this is a public service.

In memory of Jay Gobuty, who was Outrageous.