QWF takes great pleasure in announcing that the recipient of the 2024 Judy Mappin Community Award is writer and literary arts producer Christopher DiRaddo!
Established by the Quebec Writers’ Federation in 1995, the Judy Mappin Community Award is presented every year to a member of the literary community for their significant and longstanding contributions to English-language literature in Quebec.
Since 2005, Christopher has had a profound impact on Quebec’s literary scene, serving as a QWF committee member, board member, and (from 2017 to 2021) president; a mentor in the QWF mentorship program; a member of the evaluation committee of the Conseil des arts de Montréal; and a member of the Literary Umbrella of Quebec (LUQ).
Over the past ten years, he has produced over 160 literary events—including readings, panel discussions, and on-stage interviews—bringing together writers, translators, and readers and adding indelibly to the vibrancy and visibility of Quebec’s English-language literature. All of that has taken an enormous amount of work on his part, often on a shoestring or less.
His contributions to literature in Quebec and Canada continue to raise and amplify the voices of LGBTQ+ writers and readers in particular. In 2014, he founded the Violet Hour Reading Series and Book Club, a queer reading series based in Montreal. Since its inception, the program has platformed more than 250 authors, helping them connect with new readers and communities. In collaboration with the social-change non-profit Never Apart, he produced a series of public talks with LGBTQ+ authors from 2017 to 2021. In 2018, as the LGBTQ+ programmer at the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival, he created the Blue Metropolis Violet Literary Prize, the first Canadian literary award presented to an established LGBTQ+ writer to honour their body of work. He continues to produce events regularly, and his enthusiasm for connecting writers and readers remains tireless.
The Judy Mappin Community Award is named for the first recipient of QWF’s Community Award in 1995, who quietly but fiercely promoted generations of Canadian writers in her long career as a bookseller at the now-defunct Double Hook bookstore in Westmount, Quebec. It is bestowed once every year at the QWF Awards Gala.
The 2024 QWF Awards Gala
Christopher DiRaddo will be honoured as the winner of the Judy Mappin Community Award the evening of Tuesday, November 12, at the 2024 QWF Awards Gala.
The gala will also unveil the winners of the 2024 QWF Literary Awards in fiction, non-fiction, first book, translation, poetry, playwriting, spoken word, and children’s and young adult literature. The winners of the 2024 carte blanche Prize and the 2024 QWF College Writers Award will also be announced at the gala.
The gala is open to the public and tickets are now available for purchase. A cocktail reception will be held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony at 8 p.m.
The theme of this year’s gala is “Reflecting on the Future.” Attendees are invited to get in the spirit of the theme by wearing futuristic attire, shimmering fabrics, or reflective materials. Come dressed in your silks, your satins, your metallics, or your shiniest jewelry and accessories. Feeling bold? Don an aluminum-foil hat. Gala volunteers will choose their favourite outfit, and the lucky wearer will win a prize.
Tickets to the reception are $60 ($40 for full-time students) and include two glasses of wine, beer, or non-alcoholic drink and admission to the awards ceremony. Tickets for the ceremony alone are $25 ($10 for full-time students).
Text about Christopher DiRaddo is compiled from letters nominating him for the award.
Media Inquiries:
John Wickham, Communications Officer
(819) 319-9210
john@qwf.org