Concordia's McConnell Building was abuzz with literary luminaries and readers Nov. 3-4 for the 8th Read Quebec Book Fair. Members of the public browsed the latest titles from local anglophone publishers and sat in on live readings, panels, and even a podcast taping.

The fair was put on by the Association of English-language Publishers of Quebec (ALEAQ) in partnership with the Quebec Writers’ Federation (QWF). ALEAQ Executive Director Rebecca West says it has become "a community hub" for the anglophone side of the publishing industry.

Some of those publishers are Montreal mainstays. Véhicule Press is celebrating their 50th anniversary, which makes them "the granddaddy of anglo indie publishers in the city," says co-publisher Simon Dardick.

Last week, they launched a new edition of Spirits in the Dark by H. Nigel Thomas, a queer coming-of-age story originally put out in 1993.

"The audience didn't know what to do with that book 30 years ago," Dardick told CKUT.

He's excited to see it rediscovered all these years later.

It's these connections between different generations of writers and publishers that West finds so exciting. ALEAQ's membership "seems to grow a little bit every year," she says.

"It's really nice to see... a bit of a passing of the torch."

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