The atmosphere was reminiscent of a high school play, or at least that’s what my date leaned over to whisper into my ear as the lights dimmed. With its knots of young people huddled in their respective corners and coats hung up on wooden pegs near the stage, in a way I did feel transported back to high school, the fun part where I joked around with my friends in the stage wings before a production.

During a long, lazy, blazing-hot summer day on school break, a group of neighborhood kids and I were shuffled off to a local library’s community room for my first-ever improv workshop.

Docking my Bixi at the corner of St. Laurent and St. Catherine, I weave through the shiny new CIBL radio station and dodge the long line outside Club Soda. The air smells faintly of grilled meat and poutine from Pool Hall, and I jaywalk across the street toward the door of Café Cléopâtre.

Hung with glowing neon spider webs and pink lighting bolts, Coup D’État sits patiently on the corner of Clark and Marie-Anne, waiting for clients and walk-ins.

Forget The Box, as it currently exists, is a testament to the necessity of change. When I resurrected this publication in 2023, it wasn't a mere dusting off of archives, but a full-fledged reinvention.

If you’ve been in Montreal for a while, you probably noticed that the neighborhood of Verdun has undergone quite the transformation over the past couple of years.

Street lamps gleamed against turning trees; juicy oranges, crisp reds, and mellow yellows, on the cusp of tumbling from their branches in the late October chill. I headed to Mcsway Poetry Collective’s Halloween open mic, hosted at the ever-so-cozy community hub, The Yellow Door.

In the heart of Montreal’s vibrant art scene, there’s a place that has quietly yet powerfully shaped the city’s culture and given local artists a home.

Metatron Press is an award-winning literary publisher based in Montréal, Quebec. Founded and managed by Ashley Obscura, this remarkable publishing house is “devoted to publishing new perspectives in literature that reflect the experiences and sensibilities of our time.”

Up a short flight of stairs, above Boulevard Saint Laurent, is one of the city’s top venues. From the outside, the only signage is plain black, but inside hides a true cabaret theatre.