The 2023 Max Margles Writer in Residence has been announced.
Author Heather O’Neill (Lullabies for Little Criminals, When We Lost Our Heads) is the recipient of the 2023 Max Margles Writing Residency in Dublin, Ireland.
In August 2023, a Quebec-based fiction writer will spend one month in Dublin, Ireland, for the next Max Margles Writing Residency!
The 2023 Writer in Residence will spend four weeks in the centre of the literary-rich city of Dublin. The aim of the residency is to provide time and space for a Quebec writer to reflect, research, and write as they need.
The Max Margles Writing Residency is open to Quebec-based writers working in English. Applications will open on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, via Submittable. The deadline for applications is Wednesday, January 16, 2023 and the successful applicant will be announced in March.
The Residency is open to writers at any stage of their careers. In 2023, the Residency will go to a fiction writer, or a writer with a specific fiction project that they wish to work on. The Residency must be taken up for the full month of August 2023. Please see the Submittable for full terms and conditions.
The Residency includes:
- Round-trip flights from Montreal, Quebec to Dublin, Ireland
- Accommodation at St Patrick’s Park Lodge, on the grounds of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland
- A stipend of $2,300 CAD for the writer
- Living expenses ($55 per day)
- Travel and medical insurance
If you are interested in applying for the Residency and have a query, please write to
the Project Manager, Rachel McCrum, at maxmarglesresidency@qwf.org.
About Max Margles
Max Margles loved to read. He was an in-depth reader, seeking out well-written and engrossing books, relevant and meaningful. He kept two Rolodex files – one arranged by author, the other arranged by title. On these small cards, in his meticulous printing (he was a structural engineer), he summarized the nature of the book, the plot, and provided his eloquent assessment of the work.
When Max died suddenly in 2004, his widow Roslyn looked for projects to endow in Max’s memory. Since the couple has no children, Roslyn carries on this mandate with vigour and pride. She established a Max Margles Endowment Fund at the Jewish Public Library in Montreal, sponsoring an annual lecture by outstanding literary authors. Recent guests have included Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Salman Rushdie, with Ian McEwan and Colson Whitehead coming to read in 2020.
We were delighted when Roslyn approached QWF to find out how she might support English-language literature in Quebec. After extensive research and intense – and enjoyable – discussions, Dublin, Ireland, was chosen as a location for the pilot project in 2020. If all goes well, Mrs. Margles is looking forward to establishing an endowment to support an annual Max Margles Writing Residency in this city rich with literary history.
The project will keep Max’s memory alive, provide an opportunity for Quebec writers to spend meaningful time in a space in which they can contemplate and create, and support a significant new contribution to English-language culture in Quebec.
The Quebec Writers’ Federation is delighted to partner with the Irish Writers’ Centre, University College Dublin, MoLI (Museum of Literary Ireland) and Dublin City Council for this project.