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SUMMARY:Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival 2026 Press Conference
DESCRIPTION:POSTPONED TO: Wednesday\, March 18\, 20264:30 pm ET\n\n\n\nMark your calendars! The Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival\, a landmark annual literary event in Montreal\, is returning for its 28th edition this coming spring\, from April 23–26\, 2026.  \n\n\n\nThis year\, as in past years\, the festival will be structured around a central socially engaged theme\, to be announced with our programming at our press conference at 4:30pm on March 11\, 2026.  \n\n\n\nAbout the Festival\n\n\n\nThe Blue Metropolis Festival is one of the largest multilingual literary events in North America. Each year\, writers from Quebec\, Canada and around the world converge on Montreal for an action-packed weekend. Festivalgoers are treated to live interviews\, roundtable discussions\, public readings\, debates\, master classes\, and performances. Every year\, the Festival is structured around several strong themes that testify to a deep social engagement and a passion for literature in all its richness. \n\n\n\nAbout the 2026 Edition\n\n\n\nAt the upcoming 28th edition of the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival\, expect readings\,roundtables\, debates\, workshops\, performances and interviews with prestigious authors fromCanada and abroad. Over 100 guests\, including authors\, musicians\, artists\, researchers and more! \n\n\n\nMultilingual Programming in Up to Nine Languages.\n\n\n\nThe Blue Metropolis Festival is one of the largest multilingual literary events in North America. Each year\,writers from Quebec\, Canada and around the world converge on Montreal for an action-packed weekend.Festivalgoers are treated to live interviews\, roundtable discussions\, public readings\, debates\, masterclasses\, and performances. Every year\, the Festival is structured around several strong themes that testifyto a deep social engagement and a passion for literature in all its richness. \n\n\n\nActivities for Children and Parents All Year Long\n\n\n\nThe TD-Blue Metropolis Children’s Festival now runs year-round\, with events in schools\, libraries andbookstores near you or online. \n\n\n\nDiscover our 2026 programming\, as well as our wide range of online content at: bluemetropolis.org/youth
URL:https://qwf.org/event/blue-metropolis-international-literary-festival-2026-press-conference/
LOCATION:Hotel 10\, 10 Sherbrooke Street West\, Montreal\, Quebec\, H2X 4C9\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Festival
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ORGANIZER;CN="Blue Metropolis":MAILTO:info@bluemetropolis.org
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260318T174500
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SUMMARY:Translating Quebec Fiction
DESCRIPTION:Curious about literary translation? This eight-week workshop is an opportunity to experiment with translating contemporary French-language fiction from Quebec in a supportive setting where we will discuss the challenges and possibilities of different texts in translation together as a group. \n\n\n\nEach week\, participants will take home a short excerpt from a work of fiction to translate from French to English. We will then discuss and workshop our translations together during the following session. We’ll work on texts that pose a variety of different challenges in translation\, such as cultural references; jokes; regional slang and Québécismes; the inclusion of other dialects\, accents\, or languages; period-specific dialogue in historical fiction; experimental prose; and rendering voice in a first-person narrative. \n\n\n\nThroughout the workshop\, we will also think together about audience\, adaptation\, research\, and the role and responsibility of the translator\, and we’ll look at examples of existing translations to see what we can learn from different approaches. In our final session\, we’ll take a look at the process of translating a book for publication\, from choosing a project to writing a pitch to working with a reviser. \n\n\n\nNo previous translation experience is necessary for this workshop\, but participants should be comfortable reading and analyzing texts in French in order to write their own English translations.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/translating-quebec-fiction/2026-03-18/
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:20260318T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260318T190000
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SUMMARY:Book Launch: Loch Baillie's River Running
DESCRIPTION:Wednesday\, March 18\, 20267:00 pm ET\n\n\n\nJoin Loch Baillie for the launch of his first full-length collection of poetry\, River Running\, on Wednesday\, March 18th at 7PM! Loch will be joined by special guests Simina Banu\, Tara McGowan-Ross\, and Sally Cunningham. \n\n\n\nFree to attend! \n\n\n\nLoch Baillie (he/il) is a queer writer and editor based in Quebec City. He is the author of two poetry chapbooks\,ice\, dove\, parachute (Cactus Press) and Citronella (Anstruther Press)\, as well as the full-length collection River Running (Goose Lane Editions\, 2026). He is an associate poetry editor at Plenitude Magazine and a board director for the Quebec Writers’ Federation. An alumnus of Bishop’s University\, Loch is currently continuing his English literature studies at the graduate level at Université Laval. Find him everywhere @lochbaillie. \n\n\n\nSimina Banu’s interests are at the intersection of capitalism\, technology and mental health. In 2020\, she published her debut full-length collection\, POP (Coach House Books)\, which won the 2021 ReLit award for poetry. She has published several chapbooks: where art (words(on)pages)\, Tomorrow\, adagio (above/ground)\, harmony in beach foam (Anstruther press)\, and ERE—a collaboration with Amilcar John Nogueira (Collusion Books). In 2024\, she released her second full-length poetry collection\, I will get up off of (Coach House Books). \n\n\n\nTara McGowan-Ross is an urban Mi’kmaw multidisciplinary artist and writer. She’s the author of poetry collections GIRTH and SCORPION SEASON\, the Substack THEATRE OF CRUELTY\, and the memoir NOTHING WILL BE DIFFERENT\, which was a finalist for the Weston prize for nonfiction. She lives in Montreal. \n\n\n\nSally Cunningham (she/her) is a writer and an instructional designer based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal. Originally from British Columbia\, she holds an MA in English from Memorial University of Newfoundland. She was shortlisted for the 2025 Montreal Fiction Prize\, and her writing has appeared in yolk\, Riddle Fence\, and Mud Season Review\, among others. Her play Pianoland was featured in the 19th Women’s Work Festival. She was a 2025 writer-in-residence at Sundress Academy for the Arts\, a 2026 writer-in-residence at Hundredth Hill\, and is a fiction editor at Ahoy Magazine. Find more of her work online at sallyjcunningham.weebly.com. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRSVP on Pulpbooks.ca
URL:https://qwf.org/event/book-launch-loch-baillies-river-running/
LOCATION:Librairie Pulp Books & Cafe\, 3952 Wellington Street\, Montreal\, Quebec\, H4G1V3\, Canada
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SUMMARY:Sustaining Dramatic Tension in Long-form Fiction (Wednesdays)
DESCRIPTION:The feeling of losing an audience is one of the most terrifying experiences a theatre actor can have. With fiction writing\, the relationship to the reader is far less immediate but\, I would argue\, no less important. The energy created in the first pages of a novel begins a relationship between an author and her reader and must be tended throughout for the relationship to flourish. \n\n\n\nStories were spoken aloud long before they were written down. The ability to convey information in compelling packets is innate to all of us\, as important to human survival as hunting or farming. From the 911 call to a teen’s excuse for why their homework is late\, we are in a near constant state of story-making. But how to hold your reader’s attention for 300+ pages? \n\n\n\nThis workshop proposes to look at long-form fiction’s rules of craft through the lens of theatre to breathe new and exciting life into familiar concepts. It is open to writers at all levels; all aspects will be explained and explored in depth. Writing exercises and selected reading will supplement in-class discussions. \n\n\n\n\nWeek #1: Dramatic Tension – What is it? How is it created?  How is it sustained? From the actor’s toolkit: actions\, objectives\, obstacles\, tactics\, and super-objectives.\n\n\n\n\n\nWeek #2: Unity of Action – We will look at Aristotle’s definition of action and Shakespeare’s use of verbs to see how every action in every chapter of your novel is contributing to the larger overarching action of the novel.\n\n\n\n\n\nWeek #3: Causality – How to discern if a chapter or scene is following the scene before it out of necessity. When a novel is propulsive\, you can be sure the author understands causality.\n\n\n\n\n\nWeek #4: Character and the importance of contrast of characters.\n\n\n\n\n\nWeek #5: Show Don’t Tell and the actor’s version of this famous writing rule: acting is visual first.\n\n\n\n\n\nWeek #6: Language\, Diction\, and Tone – Style choices\, syntax\, and the nitty gritty at the line level.\n\n\n\n\n\nWeek #7: Writing Constraints as maps. How writing constraints allow you to access the buried treasures of your subconscious and still find your way back to your core ideas.\n\n\n\n\n\nWeek #8: Know Your Writing– Michael Crummey\, Toni Morrison\, and Louise Erdrich are three very different writers\, but they are each completely and consistently themselves. Who are you as a writer? Participants will be asked to bring in a longer sample of writing than for previous workshops. Through positive constructive feedback\, we will use the elements we have learned as a guideline to get a sense of where each writer’s strengths lie\, and what in their voice or style makes them uniquely themselves. \n\n\n\n\nExcerpts (2-4 pages) from the following works will be provided: The Poetics by Aristotle\, Prophet Song by Paul Lynch\, Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell\, Self-Help by Lorrie Moore\, A Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George Saunders\, Beloved by Toni Morrison\, Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich\, True Grit by Charles Portis\, Foster by Claire Keegan\, Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood\, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy\, Room by Emma Donahue\, Tell Me Everythi
URL:https://qwf.org/event/sustaining-dramatic-tension-in-long-form-fiction-wednesdays/2026-03-18/
LOCATION:QC
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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