WIRES
Twelve Years of Queer and Trans Stories
A queer writer myself trying to break into Montreal’s literary scene, it hadn’t taken long for me to learn about Metonymy Press. A passion project and lovechild of two friends, Ashley Fortier and Oliver Fugler, the Press has been on the scene since 2014…
Standing Up, Never Alone
No industrial music festival existed in Montreal for a decade until AMP launched one last year. In a city with such an alternative, rebellious streak as Montreal, this absence strikes as strange. After all, there was once an era where Montreal was one of North America’s capital for the industrial music scene.
Connection Through the Passage of Time
The photography exhibit was curated by Maggie Rossy-Aulman, bringing together the work of Simon Suparatana Blitzer and Maxwell Lincoln Neubacher, whose works contrasted in form and style, but met at the intersection of themes like belonging, coming of age, and identity formation in unfamiliar spaces.
The Third Space of The Humble Abode
As I approached the group, I noticed a Tiny Desk-esque environment fashioned together on a bed of grass: a large, green armchair sat surrounded by two guitars, some decorative lamps, and a microphone. A group of seven or eight people lounged around it, chatting amongst each other.
Navigating The Space In Between
How is identity created in an era of deep isolation and overwhelming individuality? How much of us is left behind in the snippets of memory of the places we used to inhabit, and the people we’ve shared our lives with?
Between Seas, Beyond Borders
On September 10th, I attended the opening of Between Two Seas: a collaborative exhibition presented by the New York-based Rukh Art Hub, a women-run creative initiative, and Galerie Angelina. Located at the heart of Old Montreal, Galerie Angelina sits between a boat-tour agency and a dentist's office,…
A New Haven, A Shared Stage
The opening of a new theatre venue, ANY new venue in Montreal, is cause for celebration. It's fitting, then, that Teesri Duniya Theatre has chosen to inaugurate their new space with a festival of three powerful pieces.
A Mosaic of Grief and Change
It’s a cool evening on the patio of Le Billy, and murmurs ripple through the crowd as they await the band’s entrance. The audience is a mix of fans, some wearing their Hot Girls Listen to Museums merch, and some coming out to see the band for the first time.
The Hidden History of Foufounes Électriques
Located at 87 Sainte-Catherine East, Foufs has been home to Montreal's alternative community for more than forty years. Punk, metal, goth, rock, new wave: basically all the loud music our parents hated has passed through its doors.
Echoes of Paris in Montreal
Amélie is a 2001 French film that follows the titular character as she learns how to break out of her shell after a very isolating childhood, including losing her mother at a very young age. Over the years, the film has gained a cult following…
There is Only One Word
469 Milton Street: A two-storey brick building painted an unforgettable greyish blue. Stacks of books line the outside sill of the huge, streetlevel window. Behind the two dusty panes of the upstairs windows, books pile on top of each other to see me better as I look up at them.
Open Doors to the Cirus
On Tuesday night on St. Denis, a little crowd lounged on the terrace, guitars unfurled, half talking and half focusing. Passersby stared or kept moving; Open Haüs, open mic, at Turbo Haüs, is hardly the strangest sight on the street.
Touching Grass at the Lesbo-Queer Picnic
Although you can find hundreds of Montrealers lounging at the city’s many parks on any given summer day, the Lesbo-Queer Picnic is specifically geared towards facilitating a low-pressure environment to chat, meet fellow community members, and simply hang out.
Radical, Accessible Shakespeare Rebuilds Hope
This summer, Repercussion Theatre is back for their annual Shakespeare-in-the-Park tour with performances of the Bard’s The Winter’s Tale.
Julie Neff on Being a Bit More Fine
It’s around 8am on a Saturday and I’m sitting at my kitchen table, eating a quick breakfast. I open my phone and sift through saved songs, artists, and albums until I find what I’m looking for. I press play. Twelve songs and forty-two minutes later, I’m still sitting there, unable to press pause on Julie Neff’s debut album, fine.
Fantasia Festival Celebrates Thirty Years
This week is Fantasia International Film Festival’s 30th birthday, and they’re kicking off this year’s 18-day blowout celebration with the opening of Her Private Hell. Founded in 1996, and running for 30 consecutive years, Fantasia has become a celebrated festival, a centre of genre filmmaking, and a breeding ground for successful World Premieres.
Not Your Traditional Spelling Bee
The sentence “I’m going to a spelling bee this weekend” is one that can usually only be met with looks of confusion and/or concern if you’re a grown adult, but if you’re in Montreal, chances are that the other person will say, “Oh, I know someone who’ll be spelling there!”
In Defence of Making Messy Public Art
Open Mic Mondays in Jeanne-Mance have just entered their seventh year and at this point, they have it figured out. Bring your picnic blanket, bug spray, and set yourself up on the side of the hill overlooking Duluth as the smell of barbeque and weed rolls over you.
The Art of the Long Game
A comedy club is a very specific sensory experience. The noise of the bar, the murmur of the crowd settling into their seats, bouncing off the low ceilings; it all builds anticipation, excitement, and tension. But there is also a distinct, frantic rhythm to a standard comedy show that often undercuts this atmosphere, the rapid-fire transaction of modern stand-up…
The Return of Mary Gallagher
Walking through Griffintown in 2026 is an exercise in cognitive dissonance. The neighborhood that was once the gritty, industrial, working-class Irish heart of Montreal has been relentlessly paved over, replaced by an expanse of towering glass condominiums, upscale boutiques, and overpriced gastropubs.