Feature Friday - Foster Gareau
Name
Foster Gareau
Pronouns
He/Him
Bio
Foster Gareau is a queer montreal-based, French-Canadian poet, bibliophile, sentimentalist and recovering alcoholic. He is currently serving as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Soliloquies Anthology for the 2025/2026 academic term. He is a Creative Writing student at Concordia and holds an honours degree in Cinema Studies from the University of Toronto. His work has most recently appeared or is forthcoming in PRISM International, LBRNTH, Soliloquies Anthology, The Page and The Pit. He writes every day.
Where in Montreal are you located?
Hochelaga
What do you love about that neighborhood?
Les Pirates Verts is a waste-management program/food bank that began during covid as a group of dumpster divers intent on redistributing produce that was being thrown away heedlessly. Today they serve the low or no income community by doing the same on a larger scale. They're open nearly every day and don't require any proof of poverty, you just show up and ask for food. I found this org when I moved to Hochelaga in October last year and they have been crucial to my survival in a new city while struggling and unemployed. They are a part of my neighbourhood and I love them.
What’s your favourite art space in Montreal and why?
I attended the annual Expozine for small presses, comics, artists and zine-makers last fall and, though overwhelming at first, I found it to be an incredibly exciting and warm space. Having so many creatives sat shoulder-to-shoulder in a standardized convention setting made their art feel accessible and friendly. I ended up making some personal connections that have been essential for my growth as a writer and a community member in the anglo literary scene and I am so grateful.
Describe your art in your own words.
My art is an attempt to convince my peers, my family members and all other witnesses to have perfect faith in my possession of sentient faculties.
What have you been working on recently?
Right now I'm working on a piece of flash fiction tentatively called "Royal Blue" that begins like this: "Who hasn’t been frustrated by a virgin?"
I'm also writing a poem about flowers who give up too early in the season.
How would you describe your poetic voice?
I have been told often that I have a "strong voice", which I am taking to mean easily recognizable or ever-present in work. I think my voice is true to self, honest, a bit melancholy, a bit jaded. I’m even funny sometimes but it’s a quiet calm type of humour.
Where do you find your inspiration?
Since getting sober from alcohol 15 months ago I have been "inspired" nearly constantly. Being awake to your own life is always mentally stimulating whether you're at a semi-nude interactive fringe dance recital or staring at a blank whiteboard. I write every day, all day long as I am going about my life.
Describe your writing process.
I write every day, all day long as I am going about my life. I have trained myself to record my quotidian observations for later use and do so very often. Many of them are deleted later on but some become poems or stories. Another poet once told me that he writes based on his own "mini epiphanies", which I relate to. Once or twice a week I will sit down to expand on these thoughts or fit them together, usually with other writers to keep me motivated.
Who are some of your favorite writers?
Leslie Jamison, Viktor Frankl, Charles Bukowski, Charlotte Brontë, Italo Calvino and Agatha Christie.
What do you love about Montreal's poetry scene?
Accent Open Mic, the bi-weekly bi-lingual series currently held at Bar La Marche À Côté near Laurier metro station and organized by Cactus Press.
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