This world book day, the Association of English-language Publishers of Quebec returns with the third edition of OPEN BOOKS, OPEN MINDS, a one-day conference geared towards the book publishing industry in Quebec and beyond. Join us in Montreal or online on April 23, 2026, for a full day of panels on the latest issues facing publishers and book industry professionals. Lunch will be provided.
Date
April 23, 2026
9:30 am – 6:30 pm EST
Schedule
All times are in EST.
9:30 am – Opening Remarks
9:45 am – Opening Talk
10:30 am – Talk: The Mechanics of AI Search
11:30 am – Break
11:45 am – Talk: AI Nope
12:45 pm – Lunch, provided by AELAQ
1:45 pm – Panel: Finding Your Identity
3:00 pm – Book Club Discussion: Lament for a Literature
4:00 pm – Break
4:15 pm – Panel: Booksellers Shop Talk
5:30 pm – Wine and cheese
Location
Centre culturel Georges-Vanier
Salle Desjardins, 2nd floor
2450 rue Workman
Montreal, Quebec H3J 1L8
Google Maps
Getting There
The Centre culturel Georges-Vanier is a 6-minute walk from the Lionel-Groulx metro station. Street parking is available, mostly metered.
Accessibility
We strive to host inclusive, accessible events. The Centre culturel Georges-Vanier is accessible to those with reduced mobility, with an exterior ramp entrance, and an elevator to the Salle Desjardins on the second floor. Gender-neutral washrooms are also located on the second floor.
Please indicate any accessibility needs and dietary restrictions on your Zeffy registration form. For any inquiries about accessibility, you may also contact Alexandra Sweny by email or phone (514) 932-5633.
Program
Opening Talk: Norm Nehmetallah
9:45 am
Join Invisible Publishing’s Norm Nehmetallah to learn about this “small, scrappy” publisher making big waves in Canadian literature.
Norm Nehmetallah is the publisher at Invisible Publishing. He was born into a large Arab Canadian family and grew up in Windsor, Ontario. He has performed various roles in Canadian publishing—some more dignified than others—at Penguin Random House Canada, Coach House Books, and Biblioasis.
The Mechanics of AI Search: An Introduction to GEO
10:30 am
As readers increasingly rely on AI-assisted search tools, the way they discover books online is changing. This session will provide a foundational introduction to Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) for book publishers—the practice of creating and structuring web content that AI engines can easily understand, process, and cite.
Augustin Delporte is a technical web marketing expert with over a decade of experience navigating the complexities of search engines and performance tracking. Based in Montreal, he has transitioned from a former life in journalism to becoming a specialist in SEO (Search Engine Optimization), SEA (Search Engine Advertising), Web Analytics and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). Cofounder and owner of the boutique web agency Agence et formations Pragm, Augustin helps organizations of all sorts stay visible in an era where traditional search is evolving into generative response. He combines a deep-rooted understanding of content with a rigorous technical approach to ensure that high-quality content doesn’t just exist—it gets found.
AI NOPE with Raymond Biesinger
11:45 am
While the debut of AI technology has produced anxiety in the creative world, “AI NOPE” walks through AI’s follies, its weaknesses, and how our art, text, and publications can strategically focus on projects AI cannot effectively do.
Raymond Biesinger is a Montréal-based illustrator, artist, and author. He has completed more than one thousand assignments for magazines, newspapers, and ad agencies since 2002. His 2025 Drawn & Quarterly book 9 Times My Work Has Been Ripped Off: An Informal Self-Defence Guide for Independent Creatives explores real-life instances (and responses) of wage theft and copyright theft in the creative world.
Finding Your Identity: Branding Beyond the Bookcover
1:45 pm
With readers discovering their next read online, in a shop, or at an event, why is it important for publishers to project a consistent identity? Moderated by founder of Metatron Press Ashley Obscura, this panel will discuss how publishers can develop a brand that resonates with their values, books and vision.
With:
- Norm Nehmetallah, Publisher, Invisible Publishing
- Martha Sharpe, Owner, Flying Books
- Johnelle Smith, Brand Designer, johnellesmith.com
- Moderated by Ashley Obscura, Founder, Metatron Press
Norm Nehmetallah is the publisher at Invisible Publishing. He was born into a large Arab Canadian family and grew up in Windsor, Ontario. He has performed various roles in Canadian publishing—some more dignified than others—at Penguin Random House Canada, Coach House Books, and Biblioasis.
Martha Sharpe is the owner of Flying Books, a bookstore and publisher based in Toronto. Martha has worked as an editor and publisher at House of Anansi Press, Simon & Schuster, Audible, and n+1. She has worked with authors such as Margaret Atwood, Ken Babstock, Marlowe Granados, Rawi Hage, Sheila Heti, Laila Lalami, Eimear McBride, Lisa Moore, Michael Ondaatje, Michael Redhill, Iain Reid, Amy Stuart, and Michael Winter.
Johnelle Smith is a designer whose work explores how design can function as cultural infrastructure. Working across graphic design, moving image, and brand building, she creates identities and environments that prioritize longevity and exploration over trend. Her practice sits at the intersection of art, commerce, and community, supporting the artists, organizers, and institutions that shape cultural life.
Ashley Obscura is a poet, writer, and creative director based in Montréal. She is the founder of Metatron Press and The Obscura Agency, where she works across publishing, literary curation, and interdisciplinary storytelling. Her practice is rooted in building bold, thoughtful platforms for literary and creative work.
Lament, for whom? Richard Stursberg Book Club
Moderated by Julien Lefort-Favreau
It’s rare for a book about publishing to capture the attention of the masses – yet Richard Stursberg’s Lament for a Literature: The Collapse of Canadian Book Publishing appears to have done just that. At the book’s centre is a stunning statistic: In Canada, only 5.3 per cent of English-language books sold are made by Canadian publishers. The remaining 94 per cent are published by foreign-owned multinationals. The statistic is a well-known thorn in the sides of Canadian publishers – and one that deserves consideration. Yet not all coverage has been favourable. Several reviewers and outlets have centered on Stursberg’s disapproval of EDI initiatives, multiculturalism, and his use of “Canadian” as a metonym for white male writers.
What makes a book “Canadian,” and what is the role of nationalism in 2026? In this book club, Queen’s University’s Julien Lefort-Favreau will unpack the claims made in and about Lament. Familiarity with the book is recommended, but not mandatory to participate in the discussion. Copies are available for conference attendees at a 15% discount from Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore, both instore and online.
Julien Lefort-Favreau is an Associate Professor of French Studies at Queen’s University. His research focuses on publishing in Canada.
Shop Talk: Booksellers Weigh In
4:15 pm
From window displays, to in-store events, to candid recommendations at checkout, booksellers can be a book’s best ambassador to the public. How can publishers and booksellers work together to give the books they believe in their best shot at success? Join our panel of booksellers for a discussion and a Q&A.
With:
- Sundus Abdul Hadi, Maktaba Bookshop
- Andreas Kessaris, Librairie Paragraphe Books
- Alex Nierenhausen, Librairie Pulp Books
- Kennedy Rooke, Librairie Drawn & Quarterly
- Martha Sharpe, Flying Books
- Moderated by Mélissa Bull, QC Fiction
Sundus Abdul Hadi is an interdisciplinary artist, author, and curator of Iraqi origin based in Tio’tia:ke/Montreal. She is the founder of Maktaba Bookshop and cofounder of We Are The Medium. Her decolonial practice blends ancestral knowledge, space-making, and storytelling across visual and literary forms.
Mélissa Bull is a half-franco, half-anglo writer, editor, and translator. She is the author of a collection of poetry, Rue, and a collection of short stories, The Knockoff Eclipse. Her translations include Nelly Arcan’s Burqa of Skin, Marie-Sissi Labrèche’s Borderline, Valérie Lefebvre-Faucher’s This Is Not A Book About Marx: Jenny, Eleanor, and Laura, et al., Francis Dupuis-Déri’s Killer Althusser, and Pascale Rafie’s play The Baklawa Recipe. Her translation of Maxime Raymond Bock’s Morel was shortlisted for the 2024 Governor General’s award. Melissa was the editor of Maisonneuve magazine’s “Writing from Quebec” column from 2011 until 2021 and is currently the editor of QC Fiction, an imprint of Baraka Books specializing in literary translation. She holds a BA in creative writing from Concordia University and an MFA in creative writing from UBC. She lives in Montreal.
Andreas Kessaris grew up in Montreal’s Park Extension district, the son of Greek immigrants. He graduated from Dawson College and Concordia University, earning a BA in Communications & English. His column, Read On! with Andreas Kessaris, was a popular feature in the West-End community paper The Local Herald. His writing has also appeared on Suite101.com, in the literary journal The Write Place, on the Montreal entertainment website Curtainsup.tv, The Miramichi Reader, and The Montreal Review of Books. His first book, The Butcher of Park Ex & Other Semi-Truthful Tales, was released in 2020 to great acclaim, followed by The Grand Tour of Park Ex in 2025.
Alex Nierenhausen is a born and raised Montrealer, and has been a bookseller in the city for nearly a decade. With years of experience under his belt, in 2023 he opened Librairie Pulp Books & Café with his business partner on rue Wellington in Verdun, QC. He is also a co-founder and co-host of the literary podcast Weird Era, and has interviewed many celebrated authors across its 10 published seasons. You can also find his work in the local newspaper, Cult MTL, in the Weird Era column, where he writes about the books he’s reading and the authors he’s interviewed.
Kennedy Rooke (they/them, iel/il) is the Retail Director of Librairie Drawn & Quarterly and has been a bookseller for over fifteen years.
Find out more about past conferences: