This past week, someone said something so heinous that the room fell silent around them. People stopped mid chew, and cutlery clattered to plates. A couple clicked photos to post the incident later. Word spread like wildfire.

Double Curve is a Mile End and Little Italy-based indie rock trio formed in 2024 by longtime collaborators from Montreal’s underground music scene. Moving between nervous energy and hypnotic momentum, the band combines abrasive, 90s-inspired textures with melodic undercurrents ahead of their debut LP release later this year.

A dear friend called me the other day, completely frazzled. Her sister just had what could be considered an ill conceived baby. Ill conceived because the parents were ships passing in the night, and the mother is young -- both chronologically and emotionally.

Gillian Sze is an NDG-based poet and children’s author whose work has earned the Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the QWF’s A. M. Klein Poetry Prize. An instructor at Concordia University, her slow and attentive practice spans award-winning poetry collections and celebrated children's books translated into multiple languages.

When I was born, all The Beatles were alive. I mean, ever so briefly, but alive nonetheless. Despite the timing, they didn't get much play in my childhood home. My dad was more of a Doors and Joplin guy, and my mom was more Rod Stewart and James Taylor.

A couple of months ago, I started writing an essay about toxic empathy – the point at which our caring for others becomes detrimental to ourselves. I have a fair amount of first hand experience on the subject, and have seen people slip into this pit, never to be seen as their whole selves again.

Sandwiched between a candle-making cafe and a dancing bar at the intersection of Saint-Laurent and Duluth is Le Club DD’s—the latest and hottest fixture in Montreal’s queer nightlife scene. Even on the coldest of winter nights, club goers are greeted by a lively and welcoming crowd hanging out in front of the venue, having a smoke or catching some air before heading back inside.

The word on the street is Hanta Virus. One can tell by the hushed tones, and careful media coverage, that even though the cruise ship outbreak is still considered a localized event, and the virus doesn't appear to be spreading any differently than usual, a lot of people are holding their breaths.

If you’ve ever walked the streets of Montreal, you’ll recognize the languages and sounds that define the city. Some of the sounds that make our city’s music culture were created by the queer community, enriching the scene with distinct subcultures, life-experiences, and fascinating rhythms.

Jinwoo Park is a Saint-Henri-based Korean Canadian writer and literary translator. A graduate of the University of Oxford’s creative writing program and winner of the Jim Wong-Chu Emerging Writers’ Award, his work explores the complexities of the Korean diaspora and national division.