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The Blue Metropolis Foundation was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in 1997. Its incorporation was done in conjunction with the creation of Blue Metropolis Inc., owned by Linda Leith. Initially created to help collect funds for projects like a literary magazine, the purpose of the Foundation soon became the organization of an annual literary festival. This festival, named the Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival, was inspired by “Write pour écrire,” an event organized in 1996 by three Montreal writers in partnership with the Union des écrivaines et des écrivains québécois (UNEQ).

The first Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival took place at the Europa Hotel on Drummond Street in Montreal from April 19 to 23, 1999. In addition to readings, on-stage interviews, and panel discussions, events included the first Blue Metropolis Translation Slam, literacy programming, and community writing activities. These events took place in both English and French. Certain events were bilingual.

The second Blue Met festival took place in 2000 at the Hotel des Gouverneurs, Place Dupuis, in Montreal. During this iteration, Spanish became the third “official” language of the Festival. For the first time, the “Grand prix littéraire international Metropolis bleu” was assigned. It was in that year that CBC Radio and Radio-Canada began their involvement with the Festival. Since 2000, the Foundation has expanded its programming beyond the Festival and began organizing a wide range of educational programs for children and adolescents. The first such program was the Student Literary Program, which was first introduced at the Festival in 2000. The Foundation continues to offer year-round literacy activities.

In subsequent years, new languages were added to each iteration of the Festival. Events in non-official languages, including Italian, Dari, Farsi, later Arabic, Russian, and Chinese, were offered without translation. In order to offer programs in various languages, the Festival conducted outreach to various communities and established partnerships with different community organizations.

In 2007, the Blue Metropolis Arab Literary Prize was created, with annual funding from the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage.

Linda Leith was president of the Blue Metropolis Foundation from 2003 to 2011.

Donald L. Boisvert was an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Religions and Cultures.

In 1975 Boisvert was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies followed by a Masters in History and Philosophy of Religion, both from Concordia University. In 1978 he began PhD studies at McMaster University which he completed at the University of Ottawa in 1990.

Boisvert worked for two years as Communications Assistant in the Office of the Leader Opposition of the Canadian House of Commons before returning to Concordia University in September 1979 to work on program development in the Dean of Students Office. The following year he replaced Don Taddeo as Administrative Assistant to Russel Breen (Academic Vice-Rector), a position he held until moving to the Office of the Rector in 1985 to work as an Executive Assistant until 1990.

From 1991-1996, Boisvert was the Associate Vice-Rector, Student Life and from 1996-2003 he was the Dean of Students. In 2008 he succeeded John O’Brien as Speaker of the Senate until 2013. In 2003 Boisvert returned to full-time teaching and research as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Religion where he received tenure in 2011. He served as Chair of the Department of Religion from 2014 to 2015 and retired from Concordia University in 2016.

Boisvert passed away on June 19, 2019. He published two books, including Sanctity and Male Desire: A Gay Reading of Saints in 2004. In 2005 Boisvert was a Lambda Literary Awards finalist in the Spirituality/Religion category. Throughout his academic career he presented his papers at several Canadian, American and European conferences. An openly gay man, Boisvert’s extensive research explored the intersection of religion, gender and sexuality.

• In 1972 Boisvert was the editor of the Loyola Happening.
• During his studies at Loyola College, Boisvert was Vice-President, External, of the Loyola Student Association (LSA) from 1972-1973 and served as Co-President of the LSA with Marc Tigh from 1973-1974.
• In 1975 Boisvert was awarded the Loyola Campus Medal as Graduating Class Valedictorian.
• In 2002 he endowed the Donald L. Boisvert Scholarship for Gay and Lesbian Studies.
• He gave the keynote address at Sexy Religion: The Allure of the Transcendent, an interdisciplinary conference held at Concordia University in February 2006.
• Boisvert received the Concordia University Alumni Association 2010 Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching at the May 17, 2010 Alumni Recognition Awards Banquet.
• In September 2013 Boisvert was ordained Priest in the Anglican Church of Canada by the Anglican Bishop of Montreal.

Chris Bonnet attended Concordia University and, while studying, he helped found Concordia’s Musiclub. In 1995, he graduated from the Science and Human Affairs program with a Bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Arts and Science. He also completed the EMBA program at Concordia in 1997.

Born in Montreal in 1926, Professor Jack Bordan received a B. Eng. (Engineering Physics) and M. Sc. (Physics) degrees from McGill University in 1950 and 1952 respectively. He joined Sir George Williams University in 1952 as Lecturer and became Assistant Professor in Physics in 1955. He was made Associate Professor of Engineering in 1957 and Professor of Engineering in 1962. The following year, Professor Bordan became the first Sir George Williams University Dean of Engineering, a post he held until May 31, 1969. Following John O’Brien’s appointment as Rector, Jack Bordan was made Acting Vice-Principal, Academic in August 1969. He was appointed to the position in February 1970, effective June 1. With the merger of Sir George and Loyola College to form Concordia University in 1974, Professor Bordan was appointed Vice-Rector, Academic of the new institution. He held this position until his retirement in May 1980.

John Douglas Borthwick was born in Glencourse, Scotland, in 1832. He arrived in Canada around 1850, first settling in Upper-Canada and later moving to Montreal. In 1866, Borthwick became ordained in the Church of England and served as a Minister at St. Mary's Church in Hochelaga. He later became a Chaplain at the Montreal prison.

Borthwick authored numerous texts, including but not limited to, Montreal, Its History (1875), History of Montreal and Commercial Registrar for 1885 (1885), History and Biographical Gazetteer of Montreal (1892), History of Montreal, Including the Streets of Montreal (1897), Authentic History of the Eight Prisons of Montreal (1907) and History of the Diocese of Montreal, 1850-1910 (1911).

Borthwick died in Montreal on January 14, 1912.

Walter Boudreau was born in Montreal October 15, 1947 to a musical family. His mother was a pianist; his father, who played alto saxophone in dance bands in Sorel, died just before Walter's birth. Walter Boudreau studied piano from age 7 to 13, then alto saxophone and later tenor saxophone. At 18 he led a jazz quartet. In 1968, with songwriter / poet Raoul Duguay, he founded the Montreal mixed-media music ensemble L'Infonie. Boudreau was the group's conductor and principal composer and arranger. He studied musical analysis at McGill University with Bruce Mather in 1968-1970, and analysis and composition with Serge Garant at Université de Montreal and with Gilles Tremblay at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal in 1969-1973. He had internships in Europe with Kagel, Ligeti, Stockhausen, and Xenakis, and with Boulez in Cleveland. A prolific composer, Boudreau has written for various types of musical ensembles and for Quebec films. He won first prize in the 1973 CBC National Competition for Young Composers. In 1982 he was the youngest-ever winner of the Jules-Léger Prize for his compositionOdyssée du Soleil. He has been the artistic director and conductor for the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec, and is invited to conduct other orchestras.

Gail Bourgeois is a Canadian artist, independent curator, and writer. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Concordia University in 1984 and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Concordia in 1991.
Gail Bourgeois curated from 1996 to 2004 many exhibitions, including exhibitions at La Centrale, like amour-horreur in 1999, as part of La Centrale’s 25th anniversary programme, and “Powerhouse: Who We Are Now”, at the McClure Gallery, Westmount, Quebec in 2001. This exhibition consisted of recent self-portraits by fourteen of the founding members of La Centrale gallery. gail Bourgeois also held exhibitions of her own work, collaborated in exhibitions and other projects, and participated in seminars and other professional activities. She served on the boards of various galleries and resource centers including Montreal's Powerhouse Gallery/ La Centrale. She is one of the founding members of Powerhouse Gallery/ La Centrale.

Huntly Bourne was born as son of Charles E.H. Bourne and Muriel Winnifred (Macdonald) Bourne, around 1916. He married Nancy (Anderson) Bourne in 1946. They lived in Lachine, Quebec with their three children : Stephen, Brian and Janice. Huntly Bourne died on February 10, 2011 in Lachine, Quebec.

Bowden Clipping Service, based in Kitchener, Ontario, is part of the Canadian media tracking company MH Media Monitoring Limited, owned by Maclean Hunter Publishing, and since April 1994 part of Rogers Communications.
Bowden Clipping Service was used by Concordia University Libraries to find articles in French and English Canadian newspapers and magazines relating to the poet Irving Layton. The company would send the clippings via first class mail on a weekly basis. The Libraries ceased using the company’s services in May of 1993.

Gary MacIntyre Boyd was born in Toronto on October 9, 1934 and died in Montreal on April 3, 2011. He received a B.Sc. (Physics) from Carleton University (Ottawa) in 1957, a M.Sc. (Physics) from the University of Saskatchewan in 1961, and a Ph.D in Geophysics from the University of British Columbia in 1968. He also received a Diploma in Computer Assisted Instruction Development (Education & Training Consultants, Los Angeles), in 1970.

In 1968, Dr. Boyd began his career at Sir George Williams University (SGWU) as Assistant Professor of Instructional Communications and Assistant Director (Research & Development) of the Centre for Instructional Technology (later the Concordia Audio-Visual Department). He later started teaching in the Department of Education of SGWU. In 1974, SGWU merged with Loyola College to form Concordia University. Dr. Boyd went on to teach at Concordia University until his death in 2011. He also kept his position of Assistant Director (Research & Development) in the Concordia Audio-Visual Department until the ends of the 1990s.

François Brault, born in Montreal December 7, 1941, directed some 30 documentary films on liturgical art in Quebec for the National Film Board of Canada.

Mark P. Brault graduated from Loyola College in 1950. He served as stage-crew for the Loyola College Dramatic Society in the late 1940s and 1950s.

Russell Whitton Breen was born April 20, 1925 and died June 26, 2005 in Montreal. He attended Loyola High School and graduated with a B. A. in Arts from Loyola College in Montreal in 1946, where he was interested in skiing, boxing, and hockey. He went on to study theology at the Université de Montréal and the Grand Seminary. He was ordained into the priesthood by Paul-Émile Léger on June 3, 1950. He was a chaplain at McGill University for 14 years (1951-1965), and was involved in Newman Clubs. He got a Master’s degree in Philosophy of Education at Fordham University in New York (1958) and he spent four years in France, completing a Doctorate in Religious Sciences at the Université de Strasbourg. In 1968 he returned to Loyola to teach. In 1970 he became Loyola Dean of Arts, and in 1973 Dean of Arts and Science. He was involved in the merger negotiations with Sir George Williams University as a strong advocate for Loyola College. After the merger and the creation of Concordia University, he became Loyola Dean of Arts and Science, and from 1977 to 1985 he was Concordia’s Vice-Rector Academic, Arts and Science. Dr. Breen retired from Concordia University in April 1985. He was appointed Monsignor by the pope in 1981 and in 1986 he became Pastor of downtown Montreal’s St. Patrick’s Basilica, where he undertook a major renovation and revitalization of the church.

Tina Brereton, née Baines, was a dancer in the first all-Canadian Black chorus line in Montreal.