Faculté Saint-Jean celebrates literary and intellectual diversity at its Book Fair.
18 November 2025
Faculté Saint-Jean, the university learning and research entity of the University of Alberta's Campus Saint-Jean, is pleased to announce its upcoming Salon du Livre, a flagship event dedicated to celebrating literature, research and creativity in the French-speaking world.
This event will take place on Wednesday, 26 November 2025, at 3 p.m. at the Lacerte Pavilion on the Saint-Jean Campus.
Please note that the Book Fair will be preceded at 1:30 p.m. by a Research Conversation session presented by Professor Laurier Fagnan on the theme: The acoustic magic of the human voice in the context of choral singing.
This year, the Fair will feature a rich and diverse programme, offering the public a unique opportunity to meet leading authors and discuss crucial contemporary issues.
Participants will have the privilege of attending presentations that reflect the intellectual vitality of the campus and the wider community.
Books and presentations:
- Frédéric Boily will discuss the current political dynamics explored in his book Le Canada à l’épreuve du complotisme, du populisme et du régionalisme (2018-2023).
- Samira ElAtia will offer an overview of her historical analysis of a complex standardised examination with The First Century of the Baccalauréat Exam.
- Maïté Snauwaert will share her poignant and poetic work, Animaux du chagrin.
- Sheena Wilson will address the human and social perspectives of energy transition with We Were in It. Stories about Energy Transition.
"The Book Fair is an essential gathering for our community," says Vice-Dean (Research, Graduate Studies and Internationalisation) Professor Samira ElAtia. "It embodies our campus's mission: to be a crossroads of ideas, where academic research and bilingual literary creation engage in dialogue to better understand the world around us. We are delighted to welcome such strong and relevant voices."
The event is an exceptional opportunity for students, faculty, and the general public to discover new publications, interact directly with creators, and celebrate the power of words.
The Book Fair will be held on Wednesday, 26 November, at 3 p.m. at the Lacerte Pavilion on the Saint-Jean Campus, 8406 Marie-Anne Gaboury Street, Edmonton, Alberta T6C 4G9. Admission is free and open to everyone.
Books presented:
- Frédéric Boily
Le Canada à l’épreuve du complotisme, du populisme et du régionalisme (2018-2023)
(Presses de l'Université Laval)
The period following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly turbulent on the Canadian political scene. In terms of political ideologies, it has been marked by a resurgence of populism, the rise of conspiracy theories, the presence of the far right and anti-Semitism, and vigorous autonomism in Alberta. This collective work is dedicated to examining these different ideological currents. Each of the experts and emerging researchers gathered here has examined specific aspects of this period in order to present rigorous analyses drawing on sociology, political science, and social psychology. These different approaches thus offer a set of avenues for reflection on phenomena that are poorly understood and too often analysed in haste.
- Samira ElAtia
The First Century of the Baccalauréat Exam
(Cambridge Scholars Publishing)
A legacy of the Napoleonic era, the baccalauréat has long reflected French society. This book focuses on its first century of existence, tracing its evolution from a simple oral examination to a series of complex standardised tests designed to channel the country's academic elite. - Maïté Snauwaert
Animaux du chagrin
(Les Editions du Boréal)
Through stories interwoven with reflections, Maïté Snauwaert seeks to show what it is about animals that moves her so deeply. How they are sometimes the messenger, sometimes the bearer of a vulnerability that runs through her. How, in childhood, they forged her first sorrows. She tells the story of Laika, the space dog; of Victor and his master's voice; of black cats and ghosts; of horsemen buried with their horses; of an elephant hanged for murder; of morning rabbits and evening sheep. An ephemeris of the joys provided by animals, the last emissaries of the strangeness of the world. - Sheena Wilson
We Were in It. Stories about Energy Transition
(Memorial University Press)
Bringing together academics, scientists, creative writers, visual artists, lawyers, and policymakers, We Were In It is a collaborative effort to tackle the problem of the climate crisis from very different backgrounds and perspectives, through fiction. The fusion of scholarship, literary writing, research, and creativity allows us to leverage the strengths of many forms of writing to address the current crisis of our modern petro-cultures. Drawing on the brevity of flash fiction to reflect the passing of time in the climate crisis, the stories in this collection are smooth as oil, but stand in opposition to oil. They are a speculation on the future, drawing on the present and the past as a bridge to a better world.