The Quebec Writers’ Federation is delighted to announce that the 2024 Max Margles Writer in Residence is Aimee Wall!
Aimee will spend three weeks at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in County Monaghan, Ireland, in October 2024, as the third Max Margles Writer in Residence. Previous winners include Heather O’Neill (2023) and Tracey Waddleton (2022).
The Tyrone Guthrie Centre was established in 1981 and is Ireland’s foremost artistic residency centre. The Annaghmakerrig or “Big House” has eleven private bedrooms and offers residencies to international artists in all disciplines, from literature and dance to music and theatre.
I am beyond thrilled to be heading to the Max Margles Writing Residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre this fall. This time and space to work and to be in community with other writers and artists is an invaluable gift, and I am very grateful to Roslyn Margles and the Quebec Writers’ Federation for making it possible.
Aimee Wall, 2024 Max Margles Writer in Residence
Aimee Wall is the author of We, Jane (Book*hug, 2021), which was shortlisted for the 2022 Amazon Canada First Novel Award, longlisted for the 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize, and a jury selection for the 2021 Grand prix du livre de Montréal. She is the translator of the novels Testament and Drama Queens by Vickie Gendreau (Book*hug, 2016 and 2019), Sports and Pastimes by Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard (Book*hug, 2017), Prague by Maude Veilleux, in a co-translation with Aleshia Jensen (QC Fiction, 2019), Open Your Heart by Alexie Morin (Véhicule Press, 2021), and Sadie X by Clara Dupuis-Morency (Book*hug, 2023). Her essays and criticism have appeared in EVENT, Maisonneuve, and The Montreal Review of Books, among other publications. Originally from Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador, she currently lives in Montreal.
Aimee Wall has made a wonderful contribution to Canadian and Quebec literature through her numerous translations and her stunning first novel, We, Jane. We were excited by her proposal to write a novel centering the housing crisis through an absurd, overly intimate relationship between a tenant and her landlord. The overlap between the housing crisis at home and that in Ireland seemed an excellent reason to send her over. Also her interest in the ways the French and English languages interact reflects that of the English and Irish languages in Ireland. We also felt her career was off to such a brilliant start, we wanted to give her the time and quiet to work on her next project!
Heather O’Neill, 2023 Writer in Residence and 2024 Lead Juror
The Max Margles Writing Residency is provided by Roslyn Margles, in memory of her husband Max. The project keeps Max’s memory alive, provides an opportunity for Quebec writers to spend meaningful time in a space in which they can contemplate and create, and supports a significant new contribution to English-language culture in Quebec. Over 60 writers applied for the 2024 Residency, and the jurors were Heather O’Neill, Shannon Webb-Campbell, and Irish writer Kevin Curran.