The Quebec Writers’ Federation is offering free writing workshops to groups of English-speaking youth and/or seniors throughout the province. The workshops can be delivered in a one-day format in person or via Zoom. Virtual workshops will be delivered over 3 sessions of 2 hours or 4 sessions of 90 minutes. Community organizations interested in participating can request one of seven workshops to offer, free of charge, to members of their community.
The goal of the workshops is to give participants in isolated or underserved communities an opportunity to connect and to shape (or “scape”) their personal stories through wordplay and experimentation. The focus is on giving participants a chance to share their stories, document their lives, and read or perform their creative work.
2024 StoryScaping Workshops
Explore our 2024 roster of free StoryScaping workshops on a range of subjects, including storytelling, comics, rap, zine-making, and more.
Click here to view our workshops
“Searching for a creative outlet during the confinement of Covid, I took a QWF storytelling workshop on a whim. It was led by Nisha Coleman in November, as part of the QWF’s StoryScaping program. At the end of the month, Nisha encouraged me to start pitching stories to producers for virtual shows. I have since been featured on Bodies of Stories, the Volume Knob, Mental Health Happy(ish) Hour and Soul Stories Live. I have found a supportive community of creative writers and opened my world to something far greater than I ever imagined.”
Madeleine Holden
If you are interested in these workshops for your community, a short, simple application form is all we need to get the process started.
QWF will cover the honorarium for the facilitator. Community organizations will be responsible for the following:
- Publicizing the workshop, with support from QWF, and keeping track of registration (maximum of 10 participants).
- For in-person workshops, providing a venue.
- For online workshops, ensuring that all participants have access to technology (ideally a laptop with speakers and webcam) and good Wi-Fi connectivity.
- Liaising with the QWF project manager to connect with potential participants, and alerting the QWF project manager to any special needs within the community.
Workshops will be booked on a first-come, first-served basis, with QWF making every effort to accommodate the scheduling preferences of the requesting organizations.
Step 1: Select a Workshop
The link below connects to the seven workshop descriptions and facilitator bios. Once you have selected the workshop, and completed the form in Step 2, you will be contacted by email to confirm details. You may indicate a first and second choice of workshop.
Each workshop leader has a particular specialty, ranging from poetry to storytelling, comic book writing to spoken word; however, most workshops are flexible and can be adapted to your group’s needs.
Step 2: Request a workshop by filling out the form below
Once you’ve submitted your request, QWF will contact you within a week.
