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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241021T180000
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SUMMARY:Writing the Personal Essay
DESCRIPTION:Have you ever wanted to see your words on the pages of your favourite newspaper\, magazine\, or website? The personal essay is a subgenre of creative nonfiction that focuses on unique stories with universal appeal told from a first-person perspective. In this 8-week course\, you’ll learn everything from how to generate ideas to how to structure your first and second drafts to how to pitch your completed piece. \n\n\n\nThe course will consist of teacher-led instruction\, at-home readings\, generative in-class writing exercises\, and guided peer feedback. You will also be expected to work on your essay at home\, between classes. By the end of this session\, you will have one completed personal essay. \n\n\n\nWeek 1: What is the personal essay? \n\n\n\nOverview of the genre and generating ideas. \n\n\n\nWeek 2: Structure \n\n\n\nDefining the elements of the personal essay and exploring structure. \n\n\n\nWeek 3: First Drafts\, Part I \n\n\n\nGetting words on the page. \n\n\n\nWeek 4: First Drafts\, Part II \n\n\n\nEmploying techniques from creative writing. \n\n\n\nWeek 5: Revision \n\n\n\nA step-by-step guide for revising your own work. \n\n\n\nWeek 6: Second Drafts \n\n\n\nHow to polish your essay and turn it into something publishable. \n\n\n\nWeek 7: Pitching and Publishing \n\n\n\nHow to find target outlets and write a great pitch. \n\n\n\nWeek 8: Ask-Me-Anything with a Working Editor \n\n\n\nGuest Editor (TBA) and wrap-up.Julie Matlin is a writer with pieces appearing in The New York Times\, The Washington Post\, Chatelaine\, The Globe and Mail\, Huffington Post\, CBC\, and other publications. She has one screenplay in development and is currently querying an essay collection\, Such a Nice Jewish Girl\, about the intersection of faith\, grief\, and identity\, which was supported by a Canada Council for the Arts grant. She has a weakness for puppies\, naps\, and the music of Jack White. You can follow her on twitter @jmatlin or Instagram and Threads @j.matlin. Portfolio:  www.juliematin.com
URL:https://qwf.org/event/writing-the-personal-essay/2024-10-21/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241021T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241021T190000
DTSTAMP:20260417T211044
CREATED:20241008T005232Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241008T005235Z
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SUMMARY:The Power of Fiction Readings and Discussion
DESCRIPTION:Rescheduled to: Monday\, October 21\, 2024\, 7:00 pm ETFree RSVP via Ticketsource\n\n\n\nPlease join Argo Books for an evening with Danila Botha\, Nora Gold\, Mireille Silcoff and Sivan Slapak\, where they will be performing readings of their work\, followed by a discussion about their craft\, common themes and personal inspiration. There will also be an open Q&A and time for book signing. This event is free\, but space is limited\, so please RSVP on TicketSource. \n\n\n\nAbout the Authors\n\n\n\nDanila Botha is the author of three short story collections\, Got No Secrets and For All the Men (and Some of the Women I’ve Known). Her new collection\, Things that Cause Inappropriate Happiness was published in April by Guernica Editions. Her novels include Too Much on the Inside and A Place for People Like Us (2025). \n\n\n\nDr. Nora Gold\, born and raised in Montreal\, is the prize-winning author of five books and the editor-in-chief of the prestigious literary journal Jewish Fiction. Gold’s books have won a Canadian Jewish Literary Award\, a Vine Canadian Jewish Book Award\, and praise from Cynthia Ozick\, Dara Horn\, and Alice Munro. noragold.com \n\n\n\nMireille Silcoff is the editor of Best Canadian Essays 2023\, and is a regular essayist at The New York Times\, where she covers culture and society. Mireille is the author of four books\, including the multi-award-winning story collection Chez l’Arabe. Mireille began her career in the early 1990s as a nightclub reporter at the Montreal Mirror. She has written extensively about drugs and psychedelics. Mireille is currently writing a book with Vin Mon Lapin (Phaidon\, 2025)\, and is completing her latest collection of short fiction. She runs the raucous discussion salon Hot Chain. \n\n\n\nSivan Slapak is a Montreal-based writer. Her work has appeared in The New Quarterly\, Montreal Serai\, carte blanche\, and collections published by Véhicule Press and Guernica Editions. She was a finalist for the CBC Quebec Writing Competition\, won the TNQ Peter Hinchcliffe Fiction Award once\, and was shortlisted for it twice. Here Is Still Here is her first book. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRSVP on Ticketsource
URL:https://qwf.org/event/the-power-of-fiction-readings-and-discussion/
LOCATION:Argo Bookshop\, 1841A Ste-Catherine St. West\, Montreal\, Quebec\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Community Events,Panel,Reading
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241021T200000
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SUMMARY:The Vivid and Continuous Dream: A Short Story Workshop
DESCRIPTION:In March\, in 1918\, an Olympic swimmer accepts a job rehabilitating the Polio-ravaged legs of a rich young woman\, not knowing the mess of love and wreckage that await their future selves; in Western Australia\, a bullied adolescent watches his high school tormentor drown beneath the surface of an aquifer—he expects reprieve\, but all his life he will sense the boy\, resinous\, in the mist and the warm wet air; in Spokane\, a man embarks on a strange\, galvanizing quest to reclaim an heirloom headdress that once belonged to his grandmother\, and the journey leaves him wondering who he is\, or who he used to be\, or who he might yet become. \n\n\n\nThe best stories ask questions but don’t dare give all the answers; they take the reader on a journey and leave them with a brief sliver of enlightenment. Yes: love is worth the cost to body and soul\, in 1918 as much as now. No: there is no easy escape from regret\, and good people will suffer if they stoop to the level of their abusers. Perhaps what matters is not to complete the task or reclaim our past\, but to reassure ourselves that we tried. \n\n\n\nThis workshop is a guided discussion about the plot\, characters\, point of view\, structure\, and language (the mechanics or “craft”) of participants’ short stories\, as well as an investigation of each story’s aboutness\, patterns\, emotional plot\, and central question(s)—that is\, all those hard-to-define elements that make fiction what it is. \n\n\n\nAdditionally\, the workshop aims to foster community among the attendees\, to bring together writers of similar skill and drive\, and to encourage the kind of creative energy that crackles between new practitioners. \n\n\n\nSome Learning Objectives \n\n\n\n\nCritical reading\, and the ability to identify the roots of a story’s problems\, particularly with regard to dramatic structure and conflict. Conversely: the ability to identify the roots of a story’s successes\, especially when it seems intangible or difficult to pin down.\n\n\n\nClose reading\, even of your own work\, for strongest-possible sentences. (They are\, after all\, the building blocks of fiction.)\n\n\n\nTo immerse yourself in\, and engage with\, literature among a cohort of people who are similarly immersed and engaged in literature; to enjoy it.\n\n\n\n\nIn our first meeting\, we will establish a schedule\, review workshop etiquette\, spend some time meeting each other\, and do a few writing exercises. From then on\, each session will consist of detailed discussion and feedback on participants’ stories. The goal\, always\, is to offer the writer of each story constructive suggestions to help them improve the story and their craft. We are\, I always say\, in this together. \n\n\n\nIn preparation: Please bring a short story of no more than 2500 words to the first session. \n\n\n\nD. W. Wilson is the author of Once You Break a Knuckle\, a collection of short stories\, and Ballistics\, a novel. His work has appeared in lit mags across the globe\, and in 2011 he won the BBC National Short Story Award for “The Dead Roads.” Since then he has been shortlisted for numerous fiction prizes\, and has won the CBC Short Story Prize and the Manchester Fiction Prize. He taught creative writing at the University of Victoria and Brandon University and is currently a fiction mentor for the University of King’s College’s writing MFA.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/the-vivid-and-continuous-dream-a-short-story-workshop-2/2024-10-21/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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