Première Ovation
Première Ovation – Arts littéraires provides emerging authors with support for creative projects and hands-on learning experiences. The program facilitates the integration of new literary talents into the professional world. It takes into account the characteristics and opportunities of the job market, the expertise available in the Québec City region, existing educational programs, and the individual needs of the creators.
UNESCO circular residency program
In 2024, in partnership with several UNESCO cities of literature, L'ICQ and the Maison de la littérature launched a circular residency project dedicated to professional authors. The objective of this initiative is to forge close ties between the partner cities, their literary ecosystems, and their writers, as well as to contribute to promoting Québec City's designation as a UNESCO city of literature.
International Days
Québec City regularly participates in celebrating various international days dedicated to literature and related arts, including the World Poetry Day, International Literacy Day, and International Mother Language Day. Visit the Discover section of our website to learn more about current activities.
The Embassy of Utopia
The Embassy of Utopia is a project developed by the UNESCO Cities of Literature of Manchester and Tartu. It takes the form of an open forum for speeches, words, ideas, and performances—a space where dreamers, artists, citizens, activists, and community groups are invited to share their vision of the future and express ideas too important to remain silent. The event presented this fall at the Maison de la littérature was a production of the Québec en toutes lettres festival in collaboration with Québec City, UNESCO City of Literature, Villa Gillet, Lyon, City of Literature, and RAPAIL.
Salon international du livre de Québec
Où voyage la lumière
Où voyage la lumière is a photographic film created by Guillaume D. Cyr and La maison de la photo de Québec in collaboration with author Vanessa Bell. The work was projected onto the silos of the Old Port during the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of Old Quebec's inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It pays homage to Old Quebec through a poetic interplay of archival images and contemporary photographs.
Slam-O-Vision
Slam-O-Vision is an international slam poetry competition initiated by Melbourne in 2019 and organized annually by the reigning champion city. Slam poets from participating UNESCO cities of literature compete virtually in a friendly competition. The international public is invited to vote for their favorite performance by watching the competing videos on the project's webpage. Each participating city also assembles a local jury. The participation of Québec City is coordinated by the Tremplin d'actualisation de poésie (TAP); the champion of the TAP slam poetry season has the honour of representing the city.
Poetry Pen Pals
The Poetry Pen Pal project connects writers worldwide through exchanged poems, fostering creative collaboration, community, and cultural exchange. In 2025, Québec and Ōtepoti (Dunedin), have joined forces at the Morrin Centre for this poetic correspondence project. The two communities connected through handwritten letters, celebrating the rich literary heritage of both cities.
Rallye Vieux-Québec littéraire
As the cradle of French-language culture in North America, Old Québec bears the traces of a long literary tradition. Launched in the summer of 2021, this discovery trail puts the city’s rich history literally on the map. People who follow the trail are invited to (re)discover 25 points of interest and their treasures. This year, visitors were also invited to find the clues hidden in the texts to enter the contest and win a prize package.
Une ville, un livre
Since 2019, Une ville, un livre has sought to connect the local community through a single Québec-authored book. Book clubs, meetings, and other activities are organized to foster conversation among readers. Called One City, One Book in English, this initiative originated in Seattle and has been adopted by a number of UNESCO Cities of Literature.
Toponymy
From here and elsewhere, cities of literature reveal their roots. In words and colours, discover the origins of their names: toponyms of the past, revisited in the present. This exhibition was created and produced by Québec City of Literature, UNESCO, presented on the occasion of the 2023 annual meetings of the UNESCO Cities of Literature.
Saint-Pie-X Ephemeral Library
Located in a multicultural neighbourhood, the Saint-Pie-X ephemeral library is set up in a renovated martime container. It holds books destined to children, ages 0 to 12, and aims to foster their love of reading and academic achievement.
Poésie sur les toits
This Québec, UNESCO City of Literature signature project showcases five poetic fragments by artists from Québec and Wendake, in French and Wendat. Rendered in neon, these pieces have been installed on rooftops since the summer of 2021 to illuminate the city.
Confluence. À la rencontre de la littérature d’ici.
More than 250 writers call the Québec and Chaudière-Appalaches regions home, as do many editors, publishers, booksellers, and other organizations that bring words to life. Confluence is an invitation to meet these artists and mediators. This publication is produced by Table des lettres de Culture Capitale-Nationale et Chaudière-Appalaches.
Québec-Norwich Virtual Residency
Norwich and Québec, UNESCO Cities of Literature, invited their writers to apply for a virtual cross-residency that took place in fall 2022. The exchange aimed to build bridges between the two cities and to further both literay worlds' outreach. Read what came of it, by Juliette Bernatchez (Québec City) and Megan Bradbury (Norwich).
Interview with Emte, illustrator from Jakarta
Emte is a visual artist based in Jakarta, UNESCO City of Literature. He created the illustration for the city's segment in the exhibition Toponymy and came to see his work on site, in Québec City, in Octobre 2023. We asked him a few questions about his art and his history.
UNESCO Québec-Kraków Cross-Residency at the Maison de la littérature
In August 2023, the Maison de la littérature hosted Polish author Radek Rak as part of the UNESCO Québec-Kraków Cross-Residency, supported by the Cultural Development Agreement. During his stay, Radek Rak worked on the second book of his Agla cycle, a fantasy trilogy on totalitarianism, and on a polyphonic novel on the evolution of his polish province in the last 30 years. Get to know the author in three questions.