Dick’s Lending Library
Reading Room & Collective Library — Dick’s Lending Library
From Monday, August 17 to August 30th. Open to all and free.
Closing Event & Fundraiser on Sunday, August 30th from 2 to 5 PM.
We are thrilled to invite you to Dick’s Reading Room and Collective Library, running Monday, August 17th until Sunday, August 30, at articule. As a part of articule’s Deprogrammation Year, we are setting up a reading room and collective library in the gallery space to showcase trans literature, essays, art, zines, and other printed materials. All are invited to donate or lend printed materials that address trans lives, desires, fantasies, politics, advocacy, erotics, and other facets of trans experience. Dick’s entire collection will also be available for browsing, including our non-circulating (more rare and precious) titles.
PROGRAM
— ✨Opening Event ✨
Monday, August 17, 3 to 7 PM. Come by during our opening event to lend or donate books, zines, printed essays, and other print materials to the collective library for the duration of the reading room.
We are looking for:
~ Materials written/created by trans, non-binary, or Two Spirit people
~ Materials written/created by gender non-conforming authors who self-identify in other ways
~ Materials that relate to trans issues and experiences more broadly
~ Materials that we don’t already carry in our collection
Or just come by to say hi and/or learn about how to get involved with the library!
— 📚Librarian hours 📚
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, 12-6pm. Visit us during our librarian hours to drop off additional donations or loans to the reading room, peruse the collective library, hang & read some books or zines, and chat about the library.
— 🎈Closing Event 🎈
Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026 from 2 to 5 PM.
Join Dicks Lending Library for the closing event of the reading room & collective library at articule! For the occasion, they are hosting a fundraiser in support of Metonymy Press, featuring readings by:
H Felix Chau Bradley
Prathna Lor
Lee Arden
Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch
This closing event also marks the resumption of their lending services. Come by to borrow some books, pick-up your loans to the collective library, and celebrate queer & trans publishing! The library will be open from 12 to 6 PM. All are welcome to hang out & browse the collection before and after the closing event.
Reader Biographies:
— H Felix Chau Bradley is a writer and editor living in Tiohtià:ke / Montreal. They are the author of Personal Attention Roleplay, which was a finalist for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award and the Kobo Rakuten Emerging Writer Prize in 2022. They are the fiction editor at This Magazine, an associate editor at Metonymy Press, and a book review columnist at Xtra. Recent work can be found in the Malahat Review, the Toronto Review, Feeld Magazine, and esse magazine. They publish a monthly newsletter at filletchaubradley.substack.com, and are working on a novel.
— Prathna Lor is a poet, critic, and sometimes a professor. Their debut poetry collection, Emanations (Wolsak & Wynn, 2022) was a finalist for the 2022 A. M. Klein Prize for Poetry and for a 2023 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Poetry.
— Lee Arden is originally from Algonquin land in the Ottawa Valley, and now calls Montréal/Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang home. They are the author of many zines, including PALS: The Radical Possibilities of Friendship, Surprisingly OK: What Healing Trauma Feels Like, and the novella Summer Shade. Their first traditionally published book, The Politics of Lonely: Why Is Friendship So Hard? is being published by Fernwood Publishing in September 2026. Lee founded and runs Sheer Spite Press, a small press and zine distributor focused on beautiful, affordable work by creators who face barriers such as transphobia, ableism, and poverty in their practice.
— Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch is a queer Arab writer living in Tiohtià:ke. They are also a publisher at Metonymy Press. They are writing a book of poetry, a book of essays, and a novel because they don't know how to stop.
Accessibility Info:
~ articule is wheelchair-accessible and has one gender neutral washroom
~ K/N95 masks provided
~ K/N95 masks required
~ A HEPA filter air purifier will be in the space
~ Fragrance-free. Please refrain from wearing any perfume or scented items.
Dick’s Lending Library
Dick’s Lending Library is a community-run library that specializes in the literary, political, and artistic work of trans, non-binary, and Two Spirit authors. Through our collections and programming, Dick’s aims to build a free resource for local communities while fostering a space for political education and mobilization. While our collections focus on writing by trans, non-binary, and Two Spirit authors, we also carry books written by authors that may self-identify in other ways, and other books that pertain to trans issues more broadly. We are a collaboratively-run project, with an open door to those who would like to get involved.
Accessibility
For any questions or requests concerning accessibility to the event or our gallery space, please contact Samuel via email or by phone at 514-842-9686. For general accessibility information, please visit our dedicated page. We are committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming space for all.
Considering ongoing COVID-19 and flu transmissions, please note that mask wearing is strongly recommended during events.