Advertisement
Join us for the Montreal launches of two new queer books: Night Terminus by Ellis Scott (Dundurn Press) and Runs in the Blood by Matthew J. Trafford (Arsenal Pulp Press). The visiting authors will read from their work, followed by a conversation with Violet Hour host Christopher DiRaddo.Tuesday, March 31
7 PM to 8:30 PM
At Librairie Pulp Books & Cafe
3952 Wellington St
ABOUT NIGHT TERMINUS ///
An evocative debut novel reflecting the determination and resilience of a gay diaspora as it faced extinction.
Beginning with a chance encounter in 1985, an unnamed narrator embarks on a physical and spiritual sojourn over four decades. From a one-night stand in Paris with the troubled and enigmatic Louis; to Montreal, through a divided Europe, and into the Iranian desert with the sick yet determined Yuri; and finally to Provence, where he meets the gregarious but wistful Frank, the narrator encounters a cast of exiles, fugitives, rebels, and artists. In a journey across continents and decades, we watch the impacts of one of the greatest health crises of the last hundred years through the eyes of those who both survived it and must now remember those who didn’t.
At once an odyssey through time and a love story to the narrator’s found family, this haunting, lyrical novel in five parts explores questions of grief, statelessness, and memory and is a meditation on survival in the age of AIDS.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ellis Scott was born in the U.K. and grew up in Canada. He has published nine short stories in literary journals, including The Iowa Review, Yolk, and The Fiddlehead. His first short story was nominated for a 2020 Pushcart Prize. Night Terminus is his first novel.
ABOUT RUNS IN THE BLOOD ///
A dark and funny short story collection that reveals poignant truths about queer chosen family
A lesbian mother feels out of place taking her daughter to a princess party; a gay couple turns to unconventional means to create their baby; a grieving man winds up on a date with a centaur; an agoraphobic must make an impossible choice before time runs out. This is the unnerving world of Runs in the Blood, Matthew J. Trafford's sophomore story collection, and it pulses with humour, anxiety, and profound disquiet.
Darkly satirical and unflinchingly human, the stories of Runs in the Blood unsettle our notions of family, whether biological or chosen. Careening through the space beyond nature versus nurture, its characters - betrayed, wounded, unequipped - wrangle with their own worst instincts and the grotesqueries of the modern world, attempting to create families worth holding on to and to protect the children they love.
Delightful and disarming, odd and audacious, Runs in the Blood announces the return of a bold and fearless writer.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Matthew J. Trafford earned his MFA in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. He has twice been a finalist for the CBC Literary Prize, received an Honour of Distinction Dayne Ogilvie Award from the Writers’ Trust of Canada, and the Far Horizons Award from The Malahat Review. Douglas & McIntyre published his first collection of stories, The Divinity Gene, which Publishers Weekly described as “shot-through with moments of genuine pathos and even brilliance.” Trafford continues to publish stories as well as writing for the screen. He is an avid knitter and fibre artist in his alternate persona of Fairy Godfather Knits.
Advertisement
Event Venue
Librairie Pulp Books & Cafe, 3960 Rue Wellington, Montréal, QC H4G 1V3, Canada, Verdun
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.
