Blue Metropolis – the city’s 19th annual celebration of writers – kicks off April 24 and during an event-filled week, offers something for all tastes, ages, and orientations.

The seven-day celebration includes too many events to be included in a short round-up, but festival organizers have compiled their own not-to-be-missed selection.

They run April 27-30 at various venues, most are free, some cost $10, or slightly more, and a festival pass can be purchased for $60. If you buy $30 worth of books at one of the sponsoring stores, including Drawn & Quarterly in Outremont, the pass costs $25. There are many associated events, including for children, that can be found at bluemetropolis.org website.

Read more: Local authors launch their books

• April 27, 2:30 pm, panel on the art of translation, Hôtel 10, 10 Sherbrooke W.
• April 27, 5:30 pm, acclaimed author Charlotte Gray discusses Canada at 150, Moot Court, Law Faculty, McGill U, 3660 Peel St.
• April 27, 6:30 pm, American novelist, Francisco Goldman accepts the Premio Azul for The Interior Circuit: A Mexico City Chronicle, among his works that explore Spanish-language cultures, Hôtel 10, 10 Sherbrooke W.
• April 27, 7 pm, an interview with the Canadian writer, actor, and drag performer Sky Gilbert at Never Apart, 7049 St. Urbain.
• April 28, 2 pm, Babel Blue, poets from Israel, Slovenia, and Scotland read from their work, Hôtel 10.
• April 28, 4 pm, Documentary filmmaker Alexandre Trudeau talks about Cuba after Fidel, Librairies los Americas, 2075 St. Laurent Blvd.; 8:30 pm. Trudeau talks about China, Hotel 10.
• April 28, 4 pm, Ojibwe author David Treuer receives the First Peoples Prize and is interviewed by CBC’s Duncan McCue, McCord Museum, 690 Sherbrooke W.
• April 28, 7 pm, readings by queer authors Ivan Coyote and those connected to The Violet Hour, Stock Bar strip club, 1171 Ste. Catherine E.
• April 29, 9 am, Slovenian and Canadian poets take part in a two-hour translation workshop, Hôtel 10.
• April 29, 11 am, panel on the art of ghost writing, Hôtel 10.
• April 29, 2 pm, panel on the art of biography, Hôtel 10.
• April 29, 3:30 pm, environmental writer Alex Shoumatoff discusses  greed, ecocide, the plight of the giraffe, Hôtel 10.
• April 29, 4 pm, celebrated Indian author Anita Desai, who has written 17 novels, novellas, and children’s books, accepts the festival’s Literary Grand Prix onstage with CBC broadcaster Eleanor Wachtel, Grande Bibliothèque, 475 de Maisonneuve E.
• April 29, 4 pm, violence against women as expressed in the works of Mexican artist Teresa Margolles, Musée d’art contemporain, 185 Ste. Catherine W.
• April 29, 7 pm, Barbara Gowdy interviews Montreal-based novelist Heather O’Neill, Drawn & Quarterly, 211 Bernard W., Outremont.
• April 29, 8 pm, Prizewinners Anita Desai, Francisco Goldman, Imbolo Mbue and David Treuer on writing in the Trump era, Hôtel 10.
• April 30, 10:30 am, Slovenian writers read poems translated from and into Slovenian, Hôtel 10.

— Irwin Block