Off the Page Literary Festival 2017/18

Got any plans for the weekend, or need a break from St. Patrick’s Day madness? Wondering what a literary can event do in a moment of crisis? Just really love literature?

Curated and coordinated by Concordia’s Creative Writing students, the annual Off the Page literary festival runs from March 15th to 17th 2018 at Concordia University (SGW campus).

Here are just some of the events that will be happening this weekend:

Marathon Reading: Renee Gladman’s The Ravickians Thursday, March 15, at 2 PM, outside LB 646.

Keeping with Off the Page tradition, this event is both straightforward and satisfying: as a group, we will read a novel in its entirety. This year’s novel is Renee Gladman’s The Ravickians, the second volume of her acclaimed Ravicka trilogy. The Ravickians continues the author’s profound meditation on translation, narrating the day-long odyssey of Luswage Amini, the Great Ravickian Novelist, who journeys through the city to attend the reading of an old friend. Participants can join in the reading or sit back and listen- whatever they feel comfortable with.

Literary Mentorships: What Do We Want & How Do We Want It! Saturday, March 17, at 2PM, in LB 646.

This discussion panel aims to define & disassemble the current state of literary relationships & mentorships, articulating new terms by which we can negotiate these concepts, and foster a community of writers that at once sustains and inspires. Our featured panelists are Stephanie Bolster, professor at Concordia & poet, Andrea Bennett, editor-in-chief at Maisonneuve Press, Emily Crompton, graduate student in Concordia’s Creative Writing program, and Meredith Marty-Dugas, editor-in-chief at Soliloquies Anthology.

Disastrous Confidence Friday, March 16, at 4PM, in LB 646.

Finding ourselves in the maw of the University, we find the most ethical path forward to be a messy one. Our aim is to disrupt the public workings of the University, to occupy its hallways, to stake out the spaces it cordons off, and bless them with the presence our bodies. Join us as we invite Nene Myriam Konaté, Jupiter Brown, Tara McGowan-Ross, Jessica Dolan & Sadie Avery to eschew the traditional panel format in favour of guerrilla interventions. There will be noise, of course.

Adaptations, Translations and Reimagined Texts Friday, March 16, at 1PM, in LB 646.

Adaptations, translations and reimagined texts re-contextualize typically older works, that have, at their core, deep truths, and bring those ideas into the contemporary conversation. Marginalized people especially look to re-adaptations to insert their perspective and retell a story with an inclusion of their identities.

Our invitees for this discussion include translator Aimee Wall, multimedia artist Oana Avasilichioeai, author and editor Danielle Dutton, and feature filmmaker Wiebke Von Carolsfeld.

Lemon Hound Launch: Not Your Mother’s Future Thursday, March 15, at 7 PM, at Maison Notman House.

For our third volume, Lemon Hound 3.0 responds to this transformative moment in our literary community by publishing work that intends to smash, upend, rally against, dream of, reclaim, and redefine literary communities—we have chosen writing that is formally or thematically provocative, corporeal, experimental, interruptive, vulnerable, and visionary. Our editorial collective asks you to join us in forging a creative, empathetic resistance. Break the rules. Rewrite them. Reclaim the architecture. Don’t apologize. In conjunction with the 2018 Off the Page literary festival, this event will readings from Karen Solie, Laura Broadbent, Paige Cooper, Oana Avasilichioeai, Canisia Lubrin, Nyla Matuk and more.