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SUMMARY:Book Launch: Reading with Jane Austen by Elaine Bander
DESCRIPTION:Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore and Bucknell University Press present a launch for Reading with Jane Austen by Elaine Bander. \nJoin us as Dr. Elaine Bander discusses and signs her new book Reading with Jane Austen. \nAdmission is free. \nRefreshements will be served. \nAbout the Book\nJane Austen has more readers today than at any time in history. Many of Austen’s legions of fans\, however\, came to her novels after first seeing films or other adaptations made for twenty-first-century audiences. Austen herself conversely spent her literary career undermining romantic clichés and rethinking novel conventions. Confident that she and her contemporaries shared a common reading culture\, Austen deliberately constructed her novels to set readerly expectations\, only to disrupt or confound those expectations by challenging her readers’ assumptions and values. In Reading with Jane Austen\, Elaine Bander carefully rereads the great author’s novels—beginning with her late work of juvenilia\, “Catharine\, or The Bower\,” and ending with her final fragment\, “Sanditon”—against the rich context of late Georgian literary and intellectual culture. In doing so\, Bander invites us into the transformative experience that Austen intentionally designed for her earliest readers\, adding new layers of appreciation for those who love her work. \nAbout the Author\nElaine Bander is retired from Dawson College in Montreal\, Canada\, where she taught English for three decades. She is the author of dozens of essays and several book chapters on Austen and other writers and served as president of the Jane Austen Society of North America (Canada) as well as of the Burney Society (North America). \nPraise for Elaine Bander\n“Reading with Jane Austen sets out to help us re-see the great novelist’s aims and achievements by carefully\, clearly\, and productively describing them alongside the significant writings of her best-loved contemporaries. Elaine Bander’s fine book will have you rereading Austen in engaging\, surprising\, and powerful new ways.” —Devoney Looser\, author of Wild for Austen: A Rebellious\, Subversive\, and Untamed Jane \n“Reading with Elaine Bander is a delicious and rewarding experience. She introduces us to the authors and the books that Jane Austen and her readers loved and admired\, tracing the ways Austen both subverts conventions and clichés and reimagines what the novel can be. Reading with Jane Austen is a gift.” —Susan Allen Ford\, author of What Jane Austen’s Characters Read (and Why) \n“Light\, bright\, and sparkling\, Bander’s account of her own life of teaching and writing under the sign of Austen brought me enormous delight and deserves a place in every Austen fan’s library.” —Jenny Davidson\, author of Reading Jane Austen \n“Reading with Jane Austen is a meticulous and innovative study illuminating the literary culture that shaped Austen’s art. With scholarly precision and fresh insights\, Elaine Bander draws on a lifetime spent with Austen and her precursors to reconstruct what Austen read and might have read—revealing new dimensions of her taste\, intelligence\, and creative engagement.” —Peter Sabor\, coeditor of Jane Austen’s Manuscript Works \n“A long-awaited manuscript from a respected Austen scholar\, Elaine Bander’s Reading with Jane Austen offers significant insights into Austen’s creative process.” —Inger Sigrun Bredkjær Brodey\, author of Jane Austen and the Price of Happiness
URL:https://qwf.org/event/book-launch-reading-with-jane-austen-by-elaine-bander/
LOCATION:Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore\, 2220 McGill College Ave\, Montreal\, Quebec\, H3A 3P9\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Book Launch
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260429T174500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260429T194500
DTSTAMP:20260429T131318
CREATED:20251211T190727Z
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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/2026-04-29/
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:20260429T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260429T210000
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SUMMARY:2026 Annual General Meeting
DESCRIPTION:The 2026 Quebec Writers’ Federation Annual General Meeting will be held \n\n\n\nWednesday\, April 29\, 2026\, 7:00 pm ETatAdair Auditorium\, Atwater Library1200 Atwater Avenue (top floor)and online via Zoom\n\n\n\nAt the meeting\, the President will review the year’s activities\, and the Executive Director will present the financial report. An election will be held for the Board of Directors for the coming year\, April 2026 to April 2027. \n\n\n\nIf you wish to nominate someone for a position on the Board\, or to put your own name forward\, please contact Riley Palanca (riley@qwf.org) and request the Introduction for Potential Board Members document and a nomination form. Completed nomination forms\, including the signatures of two other QWF members\, must be submitted to Riley by Friday\, April 17\, 2026. \n\n\n\nPlease note that you must be a member in good standing to be eligible to run for the board\, nominate someone for the board\, or vote at the AGM. \n\n\n\nAgenda\n\n7:00–7:15: Schmoozing\n7:15: Call to order\nApproval of Agenda\nAdoption of Minutes of the AGM held on April 22\, 2025\nReport from the outgoing QWF President\, Crystal Chan\nFinancial report\, presented by QWF Executive Director\, Lori Schubert\nAppointment of accountant for 2026 audit\nElection or acclamation of Board of Directors for 2026–2027\nParting words from the incoming President\, Rachel McCrum\nAdjournment\n\nRegistration\n\n\n\nTo register\, fill out the RSVP form at the bottom of this page. Please indicate whether you will be attending in person or online via Zoom. If attending online\, you’ll receive the Zoom link a day or two before the meeting takes place. \n\n\n\nRegistration will close on Wednesday\, April 29\, at 5:00 pm ET. If you would like to register to attend after registration has closed\, please contact John Wickham at john@qwf.org to be put on the attendance list. Please also indicate whether you will attend in person or on Zoom. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\nOnline attendees will receive the Zoom link 1–2 days before the meeting is scheduled to take place.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/2026-annual-general-meeting/
LOCATION:Adair Auditorium\, Atwater Library\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, top floor\, Montreal\, Quebec\, H3Z 1T4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Events
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260429T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260429T220000
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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/2026-04-29/
LOCATION:Quebec
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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