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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Quebec Writers' Federation
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260612T183000
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SUMMARY:Writing Contemporary Short Fiction with Siavash Saadlou (Online course)
DESCRIPTION:Date and Time: Fridays\, June 12–July 31\, 6:30–8:30 p.m. ET \nThis intensive\, 8-week online workshop is designed for writers who want to break away from conventional narrative formulas and master the sharp\, subtext-driven landscape of contemporary short fiction. Moving past predictable plots\, we will analyze the technical mechanics of stories that feel alive\, dangerous\, and emotionally bruising. To anchor our craft lectures\, we will closely study the machinery of some of today’s most acclaimed contemporary voices\, reading award-winning work by Jamel Brinkley\, Jhumpa Lahiri\, Ottessa Moshfegh\, Emma Binder\, and Amber Caron. Each two-hour session pairs deep-dive structural analysis of these authors’ stories with immediate\, high-stakes writing sprints. This is a hands-on workshop. You will draft live\, dissect craft machinery\, and workshop your own fiction in a rigorous\, supportive environment modeled on top-tier MFA programs. By looking closely at how today’s masters engineer desire\, proximity\, and domestic friction\, you will learn to build short fiction that lingers long after the final sentence. \nMaximum number of participants: 12\nStandard Registration: $295 CAD\nQWF Members: $250 CAD \nAbout the instructor:\nSiavash Saadlou is a 2026 Rising Star\, selected by Writers’ Trust of Canada. His short stories\, essays\, and works of translation have appeared in Ploughshares\, Massachusetts Review\, and New England Review\, among other journals. He is the winner of numerous literary contests\, including the 2025 Conger Beasley Jr. Award for Nonfiction\, the 2024 McNally Robinson Booksellers Creative Nonfiction Prize\, and the 2023 Constance Rooke Creative Nonfiction Prize. \nView syllabus. \nTo register\, or if you have questions\, email Siavash Saadlou at siavash.saadlou@gmail.com.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/writing-contemporary-short-fiction-with-siavash-saadlou-online-course/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Workshops
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SUMMARY:Book Launch: Spying on America
DESCRIPTION:Join us in store for the Montreal launch of Spying on America! We will be welcoming Bill Gaston and his son\, Vaughn Gaston\, for a reading and discussion. This event is free\, but space is limited\, so please RSVP on TicketSource. \nMasks are not required\, but will be provided for free at the door. \nPlease contact us at least a day in advance for elevator access to the store. \nPlease also note that the street in front of the store is under construction. The store is accessible on foot\, but not by car\, and parking in the vicinity is consequently limited. \nABOUT THE BOOK \nOn a June morning in 2022\, Bill Gaston drives off the Victoria–Port Angeles ferry in a rented Dodge Charger with his two sons. Born in the USA but “Canadian through and through\,” Gaston is on a road trip to Tabor\, Iowa\, the town founded by his great\, great\, great-grandparents as the westernmost hub of the Underground Railroad. \nThe Gastons’ eleven-day trip to Tabor and back takes them up and down and across a swathe of rural red states. Motivated equally by a curiosity to find out what really makes Americans tick and the motto ya gotta stop\, the Gastons explore the American west\, navigate unmapped dirt roads\, eat too many French fries\, overnight in clapped-out motels\, visit a Buddhist mountain monastery\, marvel at spectacular landforms\, and enjoy unlikely conversations with real Americans. \nBoth a sideways glance at contemporary American culture and a mordant yet tender account of the true meaning of ancestry\, Spying on America is an unpredictably insightful exploration of family\, Canada’s neighbour\, and the “American bald ego.” \nABOUT THE AUTHOR \nBill Gaston was born in Tacoma\, Washington\, and grew up in Canada\, becoming a Canadian citizen as a teenager to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War. He has lived and worked\, mostly as an itinerant scholar\, all across Canada\, in Nova Scotia\, New Brunswick\, Toronto\, Vancouver and\, finally\, Victoria. Gaston is the author of numerous books of fiction\, non-fiction\, and poetry\, including The World\, winner of the Ethel Wilson Prize for Fiction; Gargoyles\, winner of the Victoria Book Prize and finalist for a Governor General’s Award; Mount Appetite\, finalist for the Giller Prize; and the memoir Just Let Me Look at You\, finalist for the RBC Taylor Prize. He lives\, grows food\, and writes\, with the writer Dede Crane\, on Gabriola Island\, in the Salish Sea.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/book-launch-spying-on-america/
LOCATION:Argo Bookshop\, 1841A Ste-Catherine St. West\, Montreal\, Quebec\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Book Launch
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