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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260323T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260327T140000
DTSTAMP:20260510T034920
CREATED:20260217T174247Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260217T174253Z
UID:10004830-1774260000-1774620000@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Adaptation 101; From Inspiration to Action with Nick Carpenter
DESCRIPTION:Applications are now open for “Adaptation 101; From Inspiration to Action” with Nick Carpenter. \nHave you always been interested in adapting for the stage? In this Exploring Practice\, facilitator Nick Carpenter will take you through the steps of adapting a piece from its original source to a new theatrical shape. Running from March 23-27\, this workshop will be taking place in the PWM Studio and is free of cost. \nOpen to playwrights at all levels of experience. Participants are invited to unlock and explore the theatrical possibilities of a work not originally intended for the stage\, or find a new spin on an already existing play. \nEach session will be built around group discussion\, exercises\, sharing\, and feedback. \nApply by February 25\, 2026!
URL:https://qwf.org/event/adaptation-101-from-inspiration-to-action-with-nick-carpenter/
LOCATION:QC
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260324T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260324T131500
DTSTAMP:20260510T034920
CREATED:20260311T144215Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260324T140044Z
UID:10004863-1774353600-1774358100@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Lunch and Learn: Writing Medicine Authentically in Speculative Fiction
DESCRIPTION:Tuesday\, March 24\, 202612:00–1:15 pm ETFree\, Online via Zoom—Register for Link\n\n\n\nMedicine is an integral part of our lives—and\, often\, our stories. In this presentation\, author and pathologist Kyrie Wang will discuss the importance of authentic representations of medicine in fiction\, including how to incorporate medical content into your writing and avoid common mistakes. Join us as we explore medicine as not only scientific practice but also a cornerstone of society\, culture\, and world-building. \n\n\n\nThis discussion will be focused on medicine in speculative fiction\, but writers of all fiction genres are encouraged and welcome to join. \n\n\n\nAbout the Presenter\n\n\n\nKyrie Wang is a medical mystery detective (fancy words for “pathologist\, MD”) by day and a dreamweaver of historical fantasy by night. Pencil on paper makes her cry and laugh\, and every book she writes is like living another life. She loves writing stories where people discover their true selves\, goodness wins\, and the forgotten and voiceless become heroes. When she isn’t peering through a microscope or building hamster toys with her daughter\, Kyrie is at her keyboard\, chasing the next adventure. \n\n\n\nFor a free novel\, The Thief’s Keeper (An Enemy’s Keeper Prequel)\, please visit www.kyriewang.com. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRegister for Zoom link
URL:https://qwf.org/event/lunch-and-learn-writing-medicine-authentically-in-speculative-fiction/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Lunch & Learn,QWF Events,Webinar
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260324T174500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260324T194500
DTSTAMP:20260510T034920
CREATED:20251211T190728Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251211T190728Z
UID:10004710-1774374300-1774381500@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Crafting a Compelling Personal Essay
DESCRIPTION:The personal essay sits at the crossroads of memory\, imagination\, and reflection. It is a form that invites vulnerability and experimentation\, asking writers to turn the lens inward while reaching outward toward readers. This ten-week workshop explores the craft of creative nonfiction through readings\, discussion\, and guided writing exercises. Together\, we’ll study a wide range of contemporary essayists and thinkers such as Sheila Heti\, Alicia Elliott\, Maggie Nelson\, James Baldwin\, Leslie Jamison\, and Joan Didion\, whose work challenges and expands our understanding of form\, voice\, structure\, and truth-telling. \n\n\n\nEach week\, participants will write in response to prompts designed to help them develop their voice\, experiment with structure\, and explore the ethical and emotional complexities of writing about real lives (our own and others’). We will discuss fragments and braids\, confession and restraint\, intimacy and distance\, always returning to the central question: how do we shape lived experience into compelling art? \n\n\n\nBy the end of the workshop\, participants will have generated several essay fragments and drafts\, gained tools for revision\, and deepened their understanding of the essay as both a personal and public act. Writers will leave with at least one essay draft they can continue to refine beyond the course. No prior experience is required—just a willingness to read closely\, write bravely\, and share generously. \n\n\n\nWeek 1 — What Is a Personal Essay? \n\n\n\nTheme: Truth\, memory\, and the boundaries of nonfiction.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nSarah Manguso\, The Two Kinds of Decay (selections)\n\n\n\nJoan Didion\, “On Keeping a Notebook”\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nIntroductions & course goals\n\n\n\nDiscuss “truth” vs. “fact” in essay\n\n\n\nPrompt: Write a short scene from memory\, then annotate where memory fails\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Write a 600–800-word vignette about a formative memory. \n\n\n\nWeek 2 — Memory and Fragment \n\n\n\nTheme: Shaping nonlinear memory.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nSheila Heti\, Motherhood (fragmented passages)\n\n\n\nMaggie Nelson\, Bluets (selections)\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nDiscussion: how fragment builds resonance\n\n\n\nExercise: Write three fragmentary takes on the same memory\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Develop a mosaic-style essay (1\,000 words). \n\n\n\nWeek 3 — Intimacy and Confession \n\n\n\nTheme: The essayist’s voice and vulnerability.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nAlicia Elliott\, “A Mind Spread Out on the Ground” (title essay)\n\n\n\nLeslie Jamison\, The Empathy Exams (title essay excerpt)\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nConfessional vs. performative honesty\n\n\n\nPrompt: Write a letter to someone you cannot send it to\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Expand into a 1\,200-word letter-essay. \n\n\n\nWeek 4 — Deepening Voice\, Tone & Emotional Register \n\n\n\nTheme: How voice\, tone\, and emotional distance shape the personal essay.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nZadie Smith\, “Fail Better”\n\n\n\nKatherena Vermette\, selected interviews on writing community\, trauma\, and point of view\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nDiscuss tonal shifts: intimacy\, distance\, authority\, hesitance\n\n\n\nExercise: Rewrite a paragraph in three distinct tonal registers (tender\, analytical\, ironic)\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Revise your Week 3 letter-essay with purposeful tonal modulation. \n\n\n\nWeek 5 — Structure and Form \n\n\n\nTheme: Chronology\, braiding\, and experimentation.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nSarah Manguso replaced here to avoid repetition →NEW reading:\n\nJenny Offill\, Dept. of Speculation (fragmented passages on structure)\n\n\n\n\n\nEula Biss\, “Time and Distance Overcome”\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nDiscuss braiding personal + cultural history\n\n\n\nExercise: Write a short braided passage (memory + outside text/reference)\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Draft a braided essay (1\,200–1\,500 words). \n\n\n\nWeek 6 — The Self as Character \n\n\n\nTheme: Distance between narrator and narrated self.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nSheila Heti\, How Should a Person Be? (essayistic passages)\n\n\n\nJames Baldwin\, “Notes of a Native Son” (opening sections)\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nCompare Baldwin’s authority with Heti’s uncertainty\n\n\n\nPrompt: Write a scene twice — once from the past self’s POV\, once from the present self’s POV\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Develop one version into a polished essay draft. \n\n\n\nWeek 7 — Risk\, Ethics\, and Responsibility \n\n\n\nTheme: Writing what feels dangerous; truth vs. harm.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nKatherena Vermette\, interview excerpts on writing community\, family\, trauma\n\n\n\nAlexander Chee\, “The Autobiography of My Novel”\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nDebate: what’s “too much” to share?\n\n\n\nWorkshop 2–3 student essays\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Revise draft based on feedback. \n\n\n\nWeek 8 — Revision and Compression \n\n\n\nTheme: Re-seeing\, cutting\, deepening.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nJenny Offill\, Dept. of Speculation (compression and brevity passages)\n\n\n\nJoan Didion\, “Goodbye to All That”\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nRevision strategies (How to “write coldly”)\n\n\n\nPrompt: Take a draft and cut it to 70% length without losing essence\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Prepare a near-final essay draft (1\,500–2\,000 words). \n\n\n\nWeek 9 — Workshop Intensive & Thematic Excavation \n\n\n\nTheme: Deep structural and thematic revision.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nNone — focus on student manuscripts.\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nHalf-class workshop\n\n\n\nIdentifying the essay’s “governing question”\n\n\n\nDiscuss strategies for expansion vs. contraction\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Revise based on workshop + draft your artistic statement. \n\n\n\nWeek 10 — Final Workshop & Publication Paths \n\n\n\nTheme: Reflection and sharing.Readings: \n\n\n\n\nNone — focus on participant work.\n\n\n\n\nIn-Class: \n\n\n\n\nFinal peer workshop\n\n\n\nDiscuss venues for publishing personal essays (journals\, anthologies\, online mags)\n\n\n\nClosing: Write a brief artistic statement on your personal essay practice\n\n\n\n\nHomework: Submit final essay + artistic statement. \n\n\n\nBy the end\, students will have:\n\n\n\nA stronger sense of their essayistic voice and relationship to truth. \n\n\n\nA good command of how to craft a compelling personal essay. \n\n\n\nExperience with both traditional and experimental essay forms.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/crafting-a-compelling-personal-essay/2026-03-24/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260324T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260324T220000
DTSTAMP:20260510T034920
CREATED:20251211T190727Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251211T190727Z
UID:10004720-1774382400-1774389600@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Creative Play for Writers (Online)
DESCRIPTION:This workshop is designed for writers from any genre but artists from other mediums are welcome to join. \n\n\n\nYou can’t use up creativity. The more you use\, the more you have.~ Maya Angelou \n\n\n\nMany writers have other creative outlets. Maya Angelou danced. D.H. Lawrence painted. Miranda July makes films. Creativity thrives across disciplines and when writers tap into other art forms\, surprising things can happen on the page. \n\n\n\nCreative Play for Writers is an online exploratory workshop that uses visual art\, music\, movement\, film\, and more to spark new writing. Each session invites you to engage with a different form of creative expression—not to master it\, but to play with it—and discover how it can fuel your storytelling. \n\n\n\nYou’ll respond to rich\, sensory prompts\, collaborate with others\, and experiment freely\, both during the Zoom sessions and with set exercises in between classes. Whether you’re feeling stuck\, looking for new inspiration\, or simply aiming to reconnect with the joy of making things\, this workshop offers a playful and supportive online space to expand your creative practice. \n\n\n\nWe will explore exercises and readings from Syllabus by Lynda Barry\, Workbook by Steven Heighton\, and The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad. We will also touch on the ideas and art of Rebecca Belmore and Elizabeth Zvonar\, among others\, as inspiration. Weekly exercises and homework will be given.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/creative-play-for-writers-online/2026-03-24/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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