BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Quebec Writers' Federation - ECPv6.15.20//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:Quebec Writers' Federation
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://qwf.org
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Quebec Writers' Federation
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/New_York
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20240310T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20241103T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20250309T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20251102T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20260308T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20261101T060000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251027T174500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251027T194500
DTSTAMP:20260503T081034
CREATED:20250819T160000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250812T170933Z
UID:10004476-1761587100-1761594300@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Deep Story Design: Story-Craft Essentials for Longer Form Narratives
DESCRIPTION:Ten Mondays\, Oct 6-Dec 15\, 5:45-7:45pm (No session on October 13)        Open to allLimited to 12 participantsOnline Workshop* \n\n\n\nThis workshop delves into the five fundamental elements of story-making—structure\, plot\, character\, theme\, and scene building. Whether you’re writing a novella\, novel\, screenplay\, or memoir\, the skillful use of these elements allows all writers to create powerful stories that are meaningful and satisfying. \n\n\n\nAfter introducing a basic three-act story structure that’s foundational for most stories\, the workshop will progress through aspects of character\, theme\, and plot so that you can feel confident about completing fiction or nonfiction of any kind or length. We also touch on scene construction so your stories feel dynamic and alive on the page. \n\n\n\nWeekly homework exercises help writers at different stages of your story-making process\, whether you’re gathering material for a new story\, drafting an existing work\, or revising a project that is nearly ready to share with others. (Completed homework will receive instructor feedback and some in-class discussion.) \n\n\n\nIn addition to the focus on craft essentials\, this workshop invites writers to make personal discoveries about what matters most deeply to them and how this connects with their writing. This connection between self and story is integral to Deep Story Design\, because writers who know who they are\, and what they care about most\, are better able to access their unique creative voice. \n\n\n\nWeekly meetings will look something like this: \n\n\n\n\na 90-minute lesson\, including 15-30 mins of in-class exercises\n\n\n\na 10-minute break\n\n\n\n20 minutes for Q&A/homework discussion\n\n\n\n\nCompleted homework assignments will be due 4 days after the meeting at which they are assigned. \n\n\n\n*This workshop will take place online via Zoom. A Zoom link will be sent to all registered participants a week or so prior to the first session.  \n\n\n\nApril Bosshard is a respected workshop facilitator and story coach who’s helped hundreds of writers develop and complete their projects. Sometimes called a “story whisperer” or “story genie\,” she has a background in film and television and has written fiction and non-fiction for traditional and independent markets\, which include publications in the US\, UK\, and Canada. April teaches at conferences and leads workshops internationally and online\, while also working with individual clients as a story coach and developmental editor.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/deep-story-design-story-craft-essentials-for-longer-form-narratives/2025-10-27/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://qwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251028T174500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251028T194500
DTSTAMP:20260503T081034
CREATED:20250819T160000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250812T171936Z
UID:10004488-1761673500-1761680700@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Poetry in Concert: Composition\, Voice\, Performance
DESCRIPTION:Eight Tuesdays\, Oct 7-Nov 25\, 5:45-7:45pm        Open to poets and writers with some writing experienceLimited to 12 participantsHybrid Workshop* \n\n\n\nThe workshop Poetry in Concert: Composition\, Voice\, Performance is intended for poets or writers with some writing experience who are interested in pushing their poetic imagination and expanding their vocal and performative abilities. No previous public performance experience is required\, but participants need to be willing to experiment and vocalize their work in front of each other. As everyone will be producing new writing\, no advance submission is necessary. \n\n\n\nIn this poetry workshop\, participants will focus on composing a poetic work or suite that draws inspiration from the oral and performing arts\, including forms such as theatrical dialogue\, prose monologue\, performance art\, sound poetry\, spoken word\, and vocal improvisation. In the first half of the workshop\, participants will engage in various writing and listening exercises in order to generate work\, listen to diverse poets and sound artists\, discuss and respond to each others’ writing\, and gradually compose a poetic work inspired by various aspects of performance that are not only translated onto the page but also imagined for the stage. Ideas related to composition\, movement\, pacing\, and embodiment will be explored. \n\n\n\nThe second part of the workshop will focus on the vocalization and performance of this work. Participants will learn about range\, volume\, dynamics\, timing; how to warm up their voices and prepare for a performative reading; how to properly use a microphone; and how to explore multiple ways that their unique voices can embody their work. Depending on interest\, the workshop could culminate in a performance event of the work produced. \n\n\n\n*This workshop will take place at the QWF Office (Room 3\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Westmount\, Quebec) with up to 2 virtual spots for participants who are unable to attend in-person because of distance or disability. By default\, all workshop registrations are for in-person spots. If you would like to request a virtual slot\, contact Riley at riley@qwf.org stating the reason for which you would need the virtual spot\, then wait for a response before registering. Please do not register until you receive confirmation of a virtual spot for you. \n\n\n\nOana Avasilichioaei has created many performance/sound works that mix electronics\, ambient textures\, noise\, and vocal play\, published seven collections of poetry hybrids\, including Chambersonic (Talonbooks\, 2024) and award-nominated Eight Track (Talonbooks\, 2019)\, and written a libretto for the one-act opera Cells of Wind (FAWN Chamber Collective\, 2022–24). Based in Montreal\, she has been a writer- or artist-in-residence at Green College\, UBC (Vancouver\, 2009)\, University of Calgary (2010–11)\, Simon Fraser University (Vancouver\, 2018)\, OBORO (Montreal\, 2021)\, and Rhizome (Quebec City\, 2024)\, and is currently nominated for the Bernard Heidsieck Centre Pompidou International Literature Prize for her intermedia work.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/poetry-in-concert-composition-voice-performance/2025-10-28/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://qwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2.png
GEO:45.4886431;-73.5864377
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=QWF Office 1200 Atwater Avenue Room 3 Westmount QC H3Z 1X4 Canada;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3:geo:-73.5864377,45.4886431
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251028T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251028T220000
DTSTAMP:20260503T081034
CREATED:20250819T160000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250812T173259Z
UID:10004496-1761681600-1761688800@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Turning Your Story Into a Book
DESCRIPTION:Five Tuesdays\, Oct 7-Nov 4\, 8-10pm        Open to allLimited to 12 participantsHybrid Workshop* \n\n\n\nYou have a great story\, maybe something you published in a magazine or a newspaper. But how can you turn that into a book? A book is not just a much longer version of what you have already written\, it’s a different beast altogether. Over five weeks\, this workshop with Julian Sher\, investigative journalist and author of nine books\, takes you through the steps to make your next project a success. From making sure you have the right topic to building the best narrative arc\, developing your characters\, the best techniques for writing\, and how to do research. Not to forget the agents\, publishers\, and legal issues.  \n\n\n\nYou don’t have to have published anything to take this workshop\, and you can come with any ideas\, proposals\, or dreams of that book you want to write. To prepare\, think of a book (or movie\, TV show\, song\, or poem) that really moved you. Write down two things: what made it such good story-telling and what journey did the characters go on that made them so compelling. \n\n\n\nThough based on non-fiction writing\, this course is also suitable for fiction writers since the basic principles of story-telling are the same. \n\n\n\n*This workshop will take place at the QWF Office (Room 3\, 4023 Tupper Street\, Westmount\, Quebec) with up to 2 virtual spots for participants who are unable to attend in-person because of distance or disability. By default\, all workshop registrations are for in-person spots. If you would like to request a virtual slot\, contact Riley at riley@qwf.org stating the reason for which you would need the virtual spot\, then wait for a response before registering. Please do not register until you receive confirmation of a virtual spot for you. \n\n\n\nJulian Sher is an award-winning story-teller as the author of nine books\, a documentary writer\, a director\, and an accomplished trainer around the world. His film Ghosts of Afghanistan won the top Canadian Screen Award for Best Documentary. He was also the Senior Producer of CBC’s the fifth estate\, Canada’s premier investigative TV program for five years. Julian also works to tell the stories of people fighting for human rights. He has written numerous articles for the Montreal Gazette\, the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail and he is a Senior Fellow with the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/turning-your-story-into-a-book/2025-10-28/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://qwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/3.png
GEO:45.4886431;-73.5864377
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=QWF Office 1200 Atwater Avenue Room 3 Westmount QC H3Z 1X4 Canada;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3:geo:-73.5864377,45.4886431
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251029T174500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251029T194500
DTSTAMP:20260503T081034
CREATED:20250827T174338Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250827T175103Z
UID:10004553-1761759900-1761767100@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Deep Story Design: Story-Craft Essentials for Longer Form Narratives (Wednesday Cohort)
DESCRIPTION:Ten Wednesdays\, Oct 8-Dec 17\, 5:45-7:45pm (No session on October 15)        Open to allLimited to 12 participantsOnline Workshop* \n\n\n\nThis workshop delves into the five fundamental elements of story-making—structure\, plot\, character\, theme\, and scene building. Whether you’re writing a novella\, novel\, screenplay\, or memoir\, the skillful use of these elements allows all writers to create powerful stories that are meaningful and satisfying. \n\n\n\nAfter introducing a basic three-act story structure that’s foundational for most stories\, the workshop will progress through aspects of character\, theme\, and plot so that you can feel confident about completing fiction or nonfiction of any kind or length. We also touch on scene construction so your stories feel dynamic and alive on the page. \n\n\n\nWeekly homework exercises help writers at different stages of your story-making process\, whether you’re gathering material for a new story\, drafting an existing work\, or revising a project that is nearly ready to share with others. Completed homework will receive instructor feedback and some in-class discussion. \n\n\n\nIn addition to the focus on craft essentials\, this workshop invites writers to make personal discoveries about what matters most deeply to them and how this connects with their writing. This connection between self and story is integral to Deep Story Design\, because writers who know who they are\, and what they care about most\, are better able to access their unique creative voice. \n\n\n\nWeekly meetings will look something like this: \n\n\n\n\na 90-minute lesson\, including 15-30 mins of in-class exercises\n\n\n\na 10-minute break\n\n\n\n20 minutes for Q&A/homework discussion\n\n\n\n\nCompleted homework assignments will be due 4 days after the meeting at which they are assigned. \n\n\n\n*This workshop will take place online via Zoom. A Zoom link will be sent to all registered participants a week or so prior to the first session. Please note that this is the Wednesday iteration of the workshop; there is also a group meeting on Mondays. The material covered will be the same\, but note that due to limited spots\, we cannot facilitate transfers between groups.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/deep-story-design-story-craft-essentials-for-longer-form-narratives-wednesday-cohort/2025-10-29/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://qwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251030T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251030T220000
DTSTAMP:20260503T081034
CREATED:20250819T160000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250814T150551Z
UID:10004525-1761854400-1761861600@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Building a Better Short Story Collection
DESCRIPTION:Eight Thursdays\, Oct 9-Nov 27\, 8-10pmOpen to allLimited to 12 participantsOnline Workshop* \n\n\n\nThis workshop takes as its premise that any writer can throw together a bunch of good or even great stories to publish as a collection\, but questions whether great stories alone make a great manuscript\, a great book.  \n\n\n\nIn looking at what binds a story collection\, we’ll consider: \n\n\n\n\na few writers (like Alice Munro\, Raymond Carver\, Edward P. Jones\, Amy Sands Brodoff\, Zalika Reid-Binta\, and Kaie Kellough)\n\n\n\ncritiques/reviews of their collections/books\n\n\n\nparticipants’ own work/stories.\n\n\n\n\nWe’ll also look at excerpts from a journal that participants will be asked to keep during the workshop (and hopefully beyond). The journal will contain thoughts\, such as story ideas\, outlines for their collections\, story order and contents\, frustrations\, and illuminations\, on the evolution of their manuscript. \n\n\n\n*This workshop will take place online via Zoom. A Zoom link will be sent to all registered participants a week or so prior to the first session.  \n\n\n\nRobert Edison Sandiford is the author of several books\, among them the story cycle Fairfield\, the novel And Sometimes They Fly\, and graphic novels with NBM Publishing.  He has been shortlisted for The Frank Collymore Literary Award and is a recipient of Barbados’s Governor General’s Award of Excellence in Literary Arts.  In 2003\, he founded with the poet Linda M. Deane the Barbadian cultural resource ArtsEtc Inc.  He has worked as a publisher\, teacher\, and producer with Warm Water Productions.  His stories have appeared in journals\, magazines\, newspapers\, and anthologies.  Currently\, he’s busy with another novel\, this time about fathers\, sons\, and dementia. 
URL:https://qwf.org/event/building-a-better-short-story-collection/2025-10-30/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://qwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/7.png
GEO:45.4886431;-73.5864377
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=QWF Office 1200 Atwater Avenue Room 3 Westmount QC H3Z 1X4 Canada;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3:geo:-73.5864377,45.4886431
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251101T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251101T163000
DTSTAMP:20260503T081034
CREATED:20250819T160000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250814T154110Z
UID:10004533-1761993000-1762014600@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Writing for Young(er) Readers\, age 12 to 20
DESCRIPTION:Three Saturdays\, Oct 18-Nov 1\, 10:30am-4:30pm       Open to allLimited to 12 participantsIn-Person Workshop* \n\n\n\nThis workshop is designed to provide a supportive framework for discussing and engaging in the process of writing for middle grade and young adult readers. (We will not be covering picture books or chapter books for younger kids.) Participants will be encouraged to bring a work-in-progress or idea-in-progress and optionally share up to 20 pages of their writing. We will cover topics such as… \n\n\n\n\nthe author’s responsibility when writing for young readers\n\n\n\nassessing the target audience\n\n\n\nchoice of material\n\n\n\ntechnical tricks of the trade\n\n\n\npopular genres\n\n\n\npitfalls\n\n\n\ndifficult subject matter\n\n\n\nediting\n\n\n\nillustrations / graphic novels\n\n\n\nindividual goals.\n\n\n\n\nThough not the main focus of the workshop\, information about publishing will be included. I will also send out a suggested reading list as soon as registration closes and will be interested in hearing about everyone’s favourite books. \n\n\n\n*This workshop will take place exclusively in-person at the QWF Office (Room 3\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Westmount\, Quebec). \n\n\n\nEdeet Ravel has written twelve novels for adults and young readers. She has been a Governor General’s Award and Giller finalist and has won various prizes for her work. Her book A Boy is Not a Bird and its sequel\, A Boy is Not a Ghost\, are based on the true story of an East European boy who is exiled to Siberia during World War II.  Her most recent book\, Miss Matty\, tells the story of a Montreal teenager in the post-Depression years who dreams of being a Hollywood star. 
URL:https://qwf.org/event/writing-for-younger-readers-age-12-to-20/2025-11-01/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://qwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/9.png
GEO:45.4886431;-73.5864377
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=QWF Office 1200 Atwater Avenue Room 3 Westmount QC H3Z 1X4 Canada;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3:geo:-73.5864377,45.4886431
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR