Meet the new team behind the Quebec Writers’ Federation.
After 23 years at the helm, QWF’s Executive Director Lori Schubert will retire at the end of August. Likewise, QWF’s Membership Services Coordinator Riley Palanca will be leaving for law school in July.
Following nearly two years of planning involving the Board of Directors, two committees, the current staff, and an independent human-resources consultant, QWF has prepared a transition plan to welcome a new Executive Director and reconfigure the roles and responsibilities of its staff. Here’s how it looks:
- Lori Schubert will retire on August 31. She will be succeeded by Rémy Attig as Executive Director. Rémy starts on August 1.
- Riley Palanca will finish their term as Membership Services Coordinator on July 17. They will be succeeded by Zac Remple in a new position, Operations Manager. Zac starts today.
- John Wickham will transition from Communications Officer to Communications Manager, starting today.
Learn more about the new team below.
Note about Workshop Queries:
Starting July 2, John Wickham will be responsible for workshop registration and workshop scholarships. Going forward, if you have a question about workshops, please email John at john@qwf.org.
For membership services and general queries, please email Zac Remple at zac@qwf.org.
Meet the New QWF Team
Rémy Attig
Executive Director
Rémy Attig, PhD, is the incoming executive director of the Quebec Writers’ Federation. Prior to joining QWF, Rémy worked as an associate professor of sociolinguistics and translation, where their research focused on minority/minoritized language communities. In a pre-academic life, they worked as the senior director of operations at the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), the operations manager of the David Suzuki Foundation, and the executive director of Projet 10 / Project 10, Montreal’s longest-running organization supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ youth. Through their research, teaching, writing, and activism, Rémy demonstrates that the way people tell their stories, and the language(s) they choose to use, are often as important as the message they share with the world.
Zac Remple
Operations Manager
Zac Remple is a writer, theatre artist, and cultural producer whose work explores storytelling, performance, community, and the relationship between art and public life. His career has taken him through arts organizations, pride organizations, cultural institutions, and corporate environments, where he has worked in programming, events, communications, and organizational operations. Originally from Winnipeg, Zac holds a bachelor’s in Communications and Culture from the University of Calgary. He maintains an active artistic practice in theatre, performance, poetry, and interdisciplinary arts and is passionate about supporting artists, strengthening creative communities, and creating opportunities for people to connect through stories.
John Wickham
Communications Manager
John Wickham is a writer and has been the communications officer of QWF since 2022. He is also the web designer for Quist, QWF’s online literary journal publishing poetry, prose, and art by Quebec youth. His writing has appeared in The Montreal Review of Books and Ahoy, among others, and he was longlisted for the 2026 CBC Short Story Prize. He looks forward to serving the organization in an expanded role as Communications Manager.
Join us in welcoming Zac and Rémy to the organization! Later this summer, watch for welcome messages from both of them, as well as departing words from Lori and Riley.