Quebec Writers' Federation

Read for The Cure 2021
2021-11-04 21:30 - 22:30, 2021-11-10 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Online
Read for the Cure is an inspiring, annual literary event series, presented by Penguin Random House Canada. This year’s conversations will connect book lovers across the country with bestselling authors in support of the Environment-Cancer Fund at the Cancer Research Society. Tickets available at ReadfortheCure.ca
NOVEMBER 4, 2021
9:30 PM EST / 6:30 PM PST
Our first event for the season welcomes some of Canada’s best-loved authors who are household names thanks to their iconic storytelling. Billy-Ray Belcourt became the youngest winner of the illustrious Griffin Poetry Prize, and has since captivated readers with his electrifying memoir. Eden Robinson’s Trickster series has become one of the most popular in modern literature, offering a powerful perspective on Indigenous life and Indigenous storytelling. Meanwhile, Giller Prize-winner and former Fifth Estate host Linden MacIntyre writes page turners that speak to human nature. They’ll speak with CTV’s Mi-Jung Lee about their recent works and answer YOUR questions.
NOVEMBER 10, 2021
7:00PM EST / 4:00PM PST
Tune in for this virtual conversation between Giller Prize nominee Kim Echlin, world champion athlete Perdita Felicien, and celebrated novelist Mary Lawson.
Read for the Cure’s legacy began with four women harnessing their collective passion to make a difference. We’re thrilled to continue the tradition with three Penguin Random House Canada authors who have each created their own inspiring path. Kim Echlin’s internationally bestselling books explore the biggest challenges we face, and women’s strength to thrive despite them. Perdita Felicien is a World Champion hurdle sprinter who shares her story of beating the odds—with her mother—in her new memoir. Also a bestseller, Mary Lawson has become synonymous with riveting storytelling about families—and the experiences that bind them. The three authors will speak with Lucy Van Oldenbarneveld.
NOVEMBER 18, 2021
8pm EST / 5pm PST
We’ve brought together an all-star panel of authors for our closing event, revered for their page-turning, suspenseful domestic thrillers. Ashley Audrain’s debut novel, The Push, was one of the most anticipated books of 2021 and an instant bestseller, challenging readers to rethink the complicated expectations of motherhood. Joy Fielding has been writing since 1972 and has since become a name synonymous with thrillers. And Karma Brown’s emotional, gripping novels highlight the risks women navigate as they take control of their own lives. They’ll speak to Globe & Mail Columnist Johanna Schneller in this event that will have you turning pages long into the night.

APP Online - Ashley Obscura & Tara McGowan-Ross
2021-11-05 19:00 - 20:00 | Atwater Library Auditorium, 1200 Atwater Avenue, 2nd floor, Westmount, QC
APP Online with Ashley Obscura & Tara McGowan-Ross
Friday, 5 November
7 – 8pm (ET) online at Crowdcast
AND
in person at the Atwater Library 7 – 8pm (doors 645pm; book signing till 830pm)
Crowdcast link: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/app-online-ashleyobscura-taramcgowanross
Two of Montreal’s finest. Come hear new work from ASHLEY OBSCURA (I am here, Ambient Technology) and TARA MCGOWAN-ROSS (Girth, Scorpion Season), reading and in discussion with APP curator Rachel McCrum. This will be a filmed in-person event broadcast online – we love a hybrid! More details on the live event coming soon. In the meantime, please feel free to register on the Crowdcast now.
This event is run in partnership with the Atwater Writers’ Exhibition. Tara McGowan-Ross will be running a writing workshop ‘Poetry and the Document’ on Saturday, November 6, 11am – 2pm. More details below.
Events Listings

Perfecting Your Pitch
2021-11-06 10:00 - 12:00, 2021-11-13 10:00 - 12:00 | Online via Zoom
Perfecting Your Pitch is a three-session intensive workshop designed to bring out the best in your film, television, or web-series idea and present it in a concise, eﬀective, and catchy 1-pager, presentation paragraph, log-line, or “Elevator” pitch to potential producers. Whether you’re interested in fine-tuning only one of the above or all four, this workshop will identify the “hook” of your idea and make sure it is placed front and centre in your presentation.

Through the use of examples, basic notions of storytelling and cinematic structure, eﬀective oral communication, and feedback, Perfecting Your Pitch will focus on originality and appeal, simplicity, and delivery in an eﬀort to better acquaint and arm participants with their own work, ready to pitch eﬀectively at a moment’s notice.

Additionally, the workshop will explore notions of confidence in pitching and identify diﬀerent avenues available to get your idea in front of industry professionals and decision-makers.

Participants should bring an original fiction or documentary idea for a feature or short film, and/or a TV or web series to the workshop.
Matt Holland is a screenwriter, story editor, and script consultant from Montreal. His writing credits include short films (Drop Off, Whistleblowers Anonymous), episodic television (Moose TV, Toi & Moi), and feature film (Gone Dark). He has also worked extensively as a development executive for television, serving as a content analyst for Telefilm Canada and as a manager of development and production for the CTV network, where he fielded many pitches. He is a Creative Writing graduate of Concordia University and attended both the Writer’s Lab and the Professional Screenwriting Programme at The Canadian Film Centre in Toronto.

Write Here, Write Now! Local Journalism: A Special Workshop
2021-11-06 13:30 - 15:30 | Online – Please RSVP
Write Here, Write Now! special workshops focus on techniques to be used in poetry, fiction, and many types of non-fiction.
Ever wonder what goes into writing the daily news? This workshop will explore the different processes and styles of writing that go into traditional print news reporting and offer participants opportunities to work on writing to inform an audience. Inquiry is a key part of journalism, so come with questions in mind, whether they relate to the specific experiences of a community journalist or to broader issues of journalistic ethics and practice.
About the facilitator
Gordon Lambie was reluctantly pulled into the world of community news close to a decade ago and never left. Through his work with “The Record” in Sherbrooke, Quebec, he regularly writes on issues ranging from elections to the local bake sale.
Write Here, Write Now! is supported by Bishop’s University Lifelong Learning Academy.
Bishop’s University is located on the Traditional and Unceded Territory of the Abenaki People.
For more information, please e-mail us at bulla@ubishops.ca.

Poetry and the Document: A Workshop
2021-11-06 20:00 - 22:00 | Atwater Library Auditorium, 1200 Atwater Avenue, 2nd floor, Westmount, QC
Our lives are ruled by paper: birth certificates. Leases. Contracts. Yet, strangely, these documents are so dry. They can make us feel as much as a poem—but they don’t have the spark of life in them.
In this workshop for all ages, Montreal-area poet Tara McGowan-Ross takes emerging writers through the process that she developed to write her document-poem STRIKE MOTION —a resistance poem layered on the actual document her university department used to go on strike in 2015. By injecting humour, imagery, beauty, and metaphor into the documents that shape our lives, we have an endless supply of writing material—and a truer archive for our brief and precious life on Earth.
**This workshop will follow the November 5, 2021 Atwater Poetry Project featuring Tara McGowan-Ross and Ashley Obscura, 7:00-8:00 pm in the Atwater Library Auditorium.
Tara McGowan-Ross is an urban Mi’kmaw multidisciplinary artist and writer. She is the author of the poetry collections Girth and Scorpion Season, and the nonfiction collection Nothing Will Be Different, forthcoming in fall 2021. She hosts the Drawn and Quarterly’s Indigenous Literatures Book Club and reviews experimental and independent Montreal theatre for Broadwayworld.
To register: awe@atwaterlibrary.ca.
Co-presented with the Atwater Poetry Project.

Storytelling-In Your Own Voice, In Your Own Words
2021-11-08 18:00 - 20:00, 2021-11-15 18:00 - 20:00 | Online via Zoom
Open to all
Limited to 12 participants

Tell us a story of your hopes, dreams and fears.

Whether yours is a love story or an adventure, a true-life story or one that’s totally imagined, you will be free to improvise and adapt as you are guided through the creative process of bringing a story to life and telling it In Your Own Voice and Your Own Words.

This six-week online workshop is an invitation to explore not only the process of creative writing, but also a brief introduction to the essential elements of oral and nonverbal communication necessary to assimilate (as opposed to memorizing) an original story for a traditional style oral transmission, i.e., a telling vs. a reading.

Unleashing the imagination

Using images and working within allotted time limits, your will be guided through the basic steps and elements of creative story writing (these elements being the key to any storytelling project, written or oral).

The writing sessions will include exercises in creative thought, improvisation, situation, and character motivation as well as the ongoing transition and adaptation of your story.

Throughout the workshop, you will continue to experiment and improvise, and the ongoing transition and adaptation of your written text (Your Words) will gradually evolve into a story made to tell (Your Voice).

Storytelling exercises will cover creating the storyboard, incorporating senses and emotions, and using both voice and gesture to bring the story to life.

Freedom of creative voice and individual style are encouraged!

Through the sharing of stories, we may see past our differences; stimulate interaction between generations, languages, and cultures; strengthen our confidence, identity, and sense of community.
With laughter and tears, participants will share their thoughts and ideas, memories and emotions, in a positive, enjoyable, and non-judgmental environment designed to encourage growth and well-being. . . simply for the pleasure of it!

Patti Warnock, aka La Contesse, travels the globe, collecting and sharing her stories. She has participated in festivals and cultural activities throughout Quebec, Canada, the Caribbean, France, Iran, and China,
receiving commendations for her storytelling and writing work. Her repertoire (for the young at heart of all ages) consists not only of traditional style tales, but also of her own creations, where reality and fiction walk hand in hand, and which are based on the reality of everyday life events, and on her own childhood in rural Quebec and in northern Canada.

W.R.I.T.E.® Workshops: Culture in the Schools – ELAN ArtistsInpire – QWF programs.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/patti-warnock-13a7a83b/

Creating Compelling Non-Fiction
2021-11-08 20:00 - 22:00, 2021-11-15 20:00 - 22:00 | Online via Zoom
Open to all
Limited to 12 participants

Creative non-fiction has been breaking out of its niche to become an increasingly central component of the literary scene. For those wishing to enter this vibrant and thriving field, having one’s work read and constructively critiqued by an established writer and a group of one’s peers is an invaluable experience. Creating Compelling Non-Fiction is precisely such an opportunity.

Our workshopping will be done from the ground up. Analysis will be rigorous, readings will be close, group feedback will be thorough, supportive, and respectful. As workshop leader I will provide advice and critique that is both pertinent to the type of non-fiction being addressed and applicable to the genre as a whole. I’ll strive to provide practical and creative tips drawn from my extensive experience with short- and long-form journalism and book-length non-fiction.

Along the way, numerous questions will be confronted and addressed:

What are the qualities and writing options unique to this form?
What are the lines between non-fiction, creative non-fiction, and fiction?
Are some subjects and narrative strategies better suited to a non-fiction treatment than others?
What distinguishes memoir from autobiography?
What is the writer’s responsibility to factual rigour in non-fiction?
How much research is too much research?
What are some of the ways to invest non-fiction writing with the narrative pull of good fiction?
Precisely what story does the writer wish to tell?
What are the choices—sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, page by page—that will best serve that story, and lead to effective and engaging non-fiction?
Finally, how do writers know when their piece is done?

Throughout the workshop I will stress the mutual, collective nature of our undertaking. Offering one’s work to the eyes of others is an essential step in the journey of all writers, and attaining a degree of comfort with that process is its own reward.

To complement and underpin our workshopping, a short list of works by some of the contemporary masters of the form will be read and discussed. I will emphasize the general importance of reading as deeply as possible, especially in the area in which one wishes to write; where useful, I will provide personally tailored suggestions-for-further-reading lists for participants. A guest appearance by a prominent Montreal-based writer and journalist will be incorporated.
Ian McGillis has been writing about books and visual arts for the Montreal Gazette for more than twenty years. His critically acclaimed novel A Tourist’s Guide to Glengarry was shortlisted for the QWF’s Hugh MacLennan Prize For Fiction and McAuslan First Book Prize, and was a finalist for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.

Your Creative Family History
2021-11-09 12:00 - 14:00 | Online via Zoom
It’s possible to construct a “creative” family history by weaving together facts and suppositions. Creative writing gives you the license to assign specific words, thoughts and emotions to an individual although the reality is lost to history. But, to do this, you need a decent base of research to make the story plausible and important to your family. This class will help tell you where to start and how to conduct your research, give you some creative writing practice and feedback, and help you fashion your creative family history.
Schedule: Tuesdays, November 9, 16, 23, 30, from 12 pm – 2 pm.
Jodi Crawford is a writer and podcast producer from Toronto. With Print and Broadcast Journalism diplomas and a Creative Writing/Psychology double major Honours B.A. under her belt, she worked in television for more than a decade and has written for a number of periodicals and websites, but also ran her own tour company and recently created, produced, and hosted a podcast on movie musicals called Sing & Be Happy, Dammit! In her free time, Jodi enjoys writing plays and delving into genealogical research.

Poetry: An Act of Mischief
2021-11-09 18:00 - 20:00, 2021-11-16 18:00 - 20:00 | Online via Zoom
Open to all
Limited to 12 participants

American poet Theodore Roethke (1908-1963) once called poetry ‘an act of mischief.’ In this online, hands-on workshop participants will be encouraged to ‘play’ outside the boxes they habitually construct for themselves, to venture into dubious territory, to be mischievous. Sessions will be tailored to meet the needs and interests of the group, with writing triggers designed to coax out your dormant little ‘gems.’ Some of the topics we will explore include imagery, line breaks, and poetic language. What makes a good poem? What are some practical ways of incorporating this knowledge into your own writing? Roughly half of each class will be devoted to theoretical concerns and/or writing exercises; the second half, to workshopping the pieces produced in class and tweaked at home. No texts are specifically required, but you are strongly encouraged to read poetry and/or essays on poetics outside class time and share materials that might be of interest to the group. Beginning, emerging, and intermediate poets welcome.
Carolyn Marie Souaid is the author of eight poetry books and an award-winning novel. She has performed at festivals and literary events in Canada and abroad, and her work has been featured on CBC Radio and in a variety of national and international publications. Her controversial videopoem, Blood is Blood, won a top prize at the 2012 Zebra International Poetry Film Festival in Berlin. Other books have been shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the QWF’s A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry. Carolyn has been guest faculty in creative writing at Bishop’s University and has led several previous QWF workshops.

Suspended Meaning: Making Filmpoems
2021-11-09 20:00 - 22:00, 2021-11-16 20:00 - 22:00 | Online via Zoom
Open to all
Limited to 12 participants

What happens when image and sound and poetry collide? The experience of a filmpoem is suspended somewhere between what is seen, what is heard, and what is ‘read.’ Learn how to create your own filmpoems with Rachel McCrum, from conception to writing to filming to editing to production.

This 8-week workshop is suitable for both beginners and those with some experience in writing poetry and/or making films. Support will be tailored to whatever participants already have access to, and to their needs.

We’ll set the foundation by introducing the basics of filming, video-editing, soundtracks, post-production, and writing poems suitable for short films. Along the way, we will explore and discuss examples of filmpoems, from the Surrealist experiments of the 1920s to videopoetry of the 1980s, to performance, animation, and digital art in the 1990s and 2000s. By the end of the workshops, each participant will have their own original DIY, guerilla-style filmpoem to showcase.

Over the workshop, we will cover

Introduction to the genre, exploring how filmpoetry has evolved since the start of the 20th century, and how to break down elements of text, image and sound.
Critiques to explore how each element influences our perceptions of the finished piece, including pacing, framing etc.
Exploring the types of poems that make good filmpoems (and those that do not).
Developing your own visual language.
Writing original poems.
Use of archival footage and sound (including rights).
Introduction to various editing suites.
Editing techniques and post-production work.
Sound effects and soundtracks; use of music.
Finishing a film.

Equipment requirements: There is no need for expensive technology or software, although those with access to more sophisticated equipment are welcome to use it. The basic requirements will be a digital camera or cameraphone (a basic cameraphone is enough); a PC or Mac computer with basic editing software installed, and a good Wifi connection. We will use WeTransfer and Google Drive to share documents, resources, and large video files. There will be some homework set between sessions (no more than 2 hours per week).

If you are curious about the genre ahead of signing up for the website, you could check out https://movingpoems.com/ and http://motionpoems.org/ for examples.
Rachel McCrum is a poet, performer, event organizer, and workshop facilitator. Originally from Northern Ireland, between 2010 and 2016 she lived in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she was the first BBC Scotland Poet in Residence and recipient of a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship. Her debut collection The First Blast to Awaken Women Degenerate was published in a bilingual edition with Mémoire d’encrier in Fall 2020. She has produced filmpoems in Scotland, Ireland, and Canada, and coordinated the international collaborative projects ‘cinepoems Quebec-UK’ (2016) and ‘Moving Pictures and Borders’ (2017) – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkKtEfsozu9cZELX6QO8KCQ

Life Writing: An Introductory Memoir Workshop
2021-11-10 18:00 - 20:00, 2021-11-17 18:00 - 20:00 | Online via Zoom
Open to all
Limited to 12 participants

“Part of the art of memoir is seeing and recognizing the story itself. Life is messy. Art gathers up the chaos and gives it form.” Dani Shapiro.

Our lives are filled with stories—experiences of joy, heartbreak, or transformative change. If you’ve always wanted to write down true stories from your life, here’s a place to begin. Whether you’re writing family tales for the next generation or describing life-changing moments for a wider audience, this workshop will help you find your voice and polish your prose.
Building a writer’s toolbox of basic narrative techniques helps shape personal episodes into stories that engage readers. Sessions will include discussion of short readings and tips for getting stories from your head and heart onto the page. Each week, two or three participants will be asked to email their drafts of a life-based story for peer feedback the following session. You will learn how to offer supportive feedback to your fellow writers in accordance with workshop guidelines. The workshop leader will provide written comments on submissions to help writers lift their first drafts to the next level.

Karen Zey’s creative nonfiction stories, personal essays and craft articles have been widely published in literary magazines. Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, and featured in Getting to the Truth: The Craft and Practice of Creative Nonfiction (Hippocampus Books, 2021). Karen has led writing workshops and hosted literary events at her local West Island library. She belongs to a monthly writing group whose members first met in 2013 at a QWF workshop. Karen believes that emergent writers thrive by finding community in which they can explore craft and share writerly talk.
Visit: www.karenzey.com
(Twitter @zippyzey) http://twitter.com/zippyzey

Write Like a Pro
2021-11-10 18:00 - 20:00 | Online via Zoom
Writing can be an act of catharsis, a way of processing experiences during difficult times. Now, more than ever, we need to write our stories.
The Write Like a Pro workshop is designed to guide participants through the stylistic and technical elements that make a great piece of writing. It draws heavily from the art and craft of narrative non-fiction, but is relevant for anyone who wants to communicate more effectively through the written word. The nut of it is: How do you make your truth compelling to others?
Over the course of the workshop, we’ll cover: shaping ideas; planning and organising material; elements of storytelling; wordcraft and style; finding your voice; tough-love editing; and, finally, putting your work out there.
Now in its TENTH run, the Write Like a Pro workshop puts special focus on practising techniques we learn in class through the process of developing, writing, and polishing a short (500- to 1000- word) non-fiction piece by the end of the workshop. For most people, this requires setting aside an additional hour or so per week to write at home.
In each workshop, we’ll spend part of the time reviewing techniques and examples, and part of the time writing, sharing work, and providing feedback to others. Think of it like part writing class, part writing circle.
So, if you’ve been feeling the urge to write now more than ever, don’t hesitate to sign up.
Schedule: Wednesdays, November 10, 17, 24, December 1, from 6 pm – 8 pm.

Jewish Book Month (it's more than books!) - award winning writers, lectures, Russian culture, workshops- livestreamed until Nov. 30
2021-11-10 19:30 - 2021-11-30 00:00 | Zoom, https://bit.ly/35akIGi
Far from being only about books, this entertaining and thought-provoking series of multilingual, eclectic events brings together some of today’s top literary minds in interviews and inspiring lectures, along with workshops, concerts and Russian dance & culture.
From Boston, Steven Pinker continues his exploration on the genealogy of reason with insight and humour with his new work, “Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters” (Nov. 17); live from France, Valerie Zenatti is a Francophone author grounded in the European and Middle Eastern romantic traditions in conversation with Chantal Ringuet (Nov. 14); the 16th annual Evening of Russian Culture- “Our Hearts Are Holding Hands” stars poets, musicians, vocalists and dancers bringing famous Russian bard Bulat Okudzhava to life, in English and Russian. Tickets available to watch live in person at the Segal Centre or livestreamed (Nov. 13); and Chanie Ehrentreu, host of The Boss Maidel Podcast, is in conversation with author Fiona Davis in the new series, Boss Maidel Conversations with Female Writers from California and New York (Nov. 30).
Livestreamed from cities around the world, Q&A follow each event. Presented by the Jewish Public Library.

Story Technique – A Hands-on Investigation
2021-11-10 20:00 - 22:00, 2021-11-17 20:00 - 22:00 | Online via Zoom
Open to all
Limited to 12 participants

“The only way … to learn to write short stories is to write them, and then to try to discover what you have done.” Flannery O’Connor

This eight-week workshop will investigate the short story form. Using five truly great realist and speculative short stories as reference, we’ll do a quick review of the basic building blocks of story-writing: things like detail, narrative point of view, and elements of time and place. Then we’ll investigate technical innovations with an eye to attempting something new in our own fiction. Workshop time will be split between discussing technique in published models, and reading and discussing our own stories.

As soon as you have registered for this workshop, please submit a single WORD document containing the following information to workshops@qwf.org with the subject line “For Claire Rothman”:

A short paragraph about yourself.
A sentence about what you hope to get from this workshop.

Story Technique will be taught online on Zoom. You’ll need a computer and a decent online connection. We will keep things interactive, with participants pairing up in break-out rooms for one-on-one exchanges, and also giving short presentations to the group.

You will receive links to the five stories we’ll be using as models. Reading them before our start date is strongly recommended.

Claire Holden Rothman is a Montreal writer, translator, and fiction editor, whose third novel, Lear’s Shadow (2018) won the 2019 Vine Award for Jewish Canadian Fiction and was short-listed for the 2020 Jacob Isaac Segal Award. Other novels include My October (2014), shortlisted for a Governor General’s Award and nominated for a Scotiabank Giller prize, and The Heart Specialist (2009), also nominated for the Giller. She has taught fiction workshops at McGill and Bishop’s Universities. For many years, she taught English literature and creative writing at Marianopolis College in Montreal.

www.claireholdenrothman.com

Teen Spirit: Writing YA
2021-11-11 18:00 - 20:00, 2021-11-18 18:00 - 20:00 | Online via Zoom
Young adult fiction is a genre that has exploded in popularity in the last few decades, but it is a genre that is often hard to define. Many people want to write stories about adolescence, with teenaged protagonists. Does that automatically make the work YA? What exactly is YA? That is one of the questions we will seek to answer in this workshop as we look at the genre and talk about what makes it great. YA is exciting, explorative, and highly creative, allowing writers to experiment with novel structure and narrative voice. It is also challenging, in that the story must be engaging to young readers and speak to them in a way that is never condescending or pedantic. The writer must do all this with plots that are fast-paced and original, and with characters that are believable and never clichéd.
In this workshop, we will look at the components of the YA novel, including character, voice, plot, structure, setting, dialogue and figurative language. We will also discuss how to generate ideas, the writing and editing process, marketing and working with editors. Participants will learn how to deal appropriately with sensitive topics such as sex, violence and profanity. We will explore various forms of the YA novel, such as traditional narrative, journal form and the verse novel. We will also talk about different sub-genres, such as fantasy, historical, mystery, reluctant reader, and others. We will use John Truby’s book, The Anatomy of Story, as a support and guide to the process of storytelling. It is recommended that participants purchase this book.
Participants will have the opportunity to workshop their own writing on a designated night by sharing up to 20 double-spaced pages with the group. Fellow participants will read the work in advance and offer critiques in a supportive round table forum. Writers can then ask questions on their work and gain valuable advice for revision.
The schedule below shows the main topic of each session. Writing exercises, examples taken from published works, and discussion will be also part of each session.
Week 1: Introductory session Participants will introduce themselves and their work; they can also share their expectations for the workshop. Lori will introduce herself and her work to the group and provide an overview of the units that will be covered during the upcoming sessions. We will also lay out the workshopping schedule.
Week 2: Plot, structure, pacing.
Week 3: Character and voice.
Week 4: Setting, symbolism and figurative language.
Week 5: Dialogue.
Week 6: Publishing, submissions, expectations etc.
Week 7: Workshopping.
Week 8: Workshopping. Wrapping up loose ends, final questions.
Lori Weber is a native Montrealer who has written eight young adult novels, including Deep Girls and Yellow Mini; a middle grade novel called Lightning Lou; and one picture book, My Granny Loves Hockey. A ninth young adult novel, The Ribbon Leaf, is forthcoming with Red Deer Press in 2022. She has also published poetry, short fiction, and essays in various Canadian journals. She taught English Literature and Creative Writing at John Abbott College for twenty-six years, and has been a QWF mentor five times, as well as workshop leader several times. She lives in Dorval, Quebec.

Spinning Worlds
2021-11-11 19:00 - 21:00 | Online via Zoom
This four-session online workshop offers techniques for the creation of essential story elements to help writers bring their sci-fi worlds to life. The course focusses on the development of character and environment profiles, methods for inventing a speculative Universe, and honing your style as a writer of science fiction and fantasy.
Course Breakdown
In Spinning Worlds, participants will create and develop the essential elements of a speculative world (or worlds), including building character and environment profiles, world elements, and plot/story elements. Sessions will involve in-class writing exercises, live discussion, and short take-home assignments. Participants will construct the elements of a speculative/sci-fi/fantasy world and bring them together in a final piece.
WEEK ONE – Characters and Creatures – The first class will focus on creating and developing characters and creatures, and exploring how to build relationships between them.
WEEK TWO – Building a Universe – In Week Two we will look at creating and developing environments, planets, and whole universes for sci-fi stories.
WEEK THREE – Systems – In Week Three we will examine potential social and political systems for speculative worlds, and look at building a compelling premise and plot.
WEEK FOUR – Bringing It Together – Participants will use some or all of the elements created throughout the workshop to construct a final piece set in a speculative world. The fourth class will focus on these pieces.
Schedule: Thursdays, November 11, 18, 25, December 2, from 7 pm – 9 pm

Way Out: Developing Long-Form Fiction Already in Progress
2021-11-11 20:00 - 22:00 | Online via Zoom
Open by application to writers with a novel or novella in progress
Limited to 10 participants

This workshop is intended for writers who are looking for guidance and encouragement while working on a novel or novella already in progress. Ideally, you’ll have a significant portion (about 30–50 pages) of your novel or novella already completed, as well as a solid grasp of the story you’re working on.

Writing long-form fiction on your own or with few readers can be exhilarating, but can also leave you with abandoned drafts, half-written chapters, and the sinking feeling that there’s no way out. Gaining insight from unbiased readers—myself and the other members of the group—in a supportive, creative atmosphere will help you identify issues, clarify your intent, and find real ways to improve your manuscript. To this end, our primary focus will be on workshopping sections of each participant’s novel or novella. Each week, one or two participants will be invited to submit 10–15 pages from their work-in-progress in order to receive feedback and notes from each person in the group. You’ll also be encouraged to include one or two questions about your work with your submission, and will have the opportunity to engage in informal question and answer sessions in each workshop.

Workshopping will be combined with lectures and writing exercises to help you gain new insight to constructing and completing your novel or novella. We’ll explore ways to reinforce the structure of your existing manuscript, gain deeper understanding of characters, fix plot holes, tie up storylines, and approach publishers and editors. We’ll also work on developing another skill invaluable to any writer: The ability to pinpoint what might not be working—and cut or rework if need be. Because writing a novel or novella takes as long as it takes, this workshop is designed to help you stay motivated and focused through the difficult parts of writing a long piece and aims to give you the tools to finish your manuscript in your own time.

Please submit the following to workshops@qwf.org, with the subject line “For Maya Merrick,” by Monday, September 13.

A short summary of your novel or novella (about one or two lines).

A maximum of 10 pages from your novel or novella, double-spaced (if these are not the opening pages, please include a brief note to let me know where we are in the story).

One or two questions about your novel, the process of completing a long work, and/or what to do with it once you’ve finished.

You will be notified about whether you’ve been selected for the workshop by Monday, November 20.
Maya Merrick’s novel, Sextant (Conundrum Press), was released to critical acclaim in 2005, followed by The Hole Show (Conundrum Press) in 2007. She works with the Quebec Writers’ Federation as a mentor and workshop/master-class facilitator, has been an instructor at Concordia University’s Centre for Continuing Education, and has served as the editorial and administrative assistant at Conundrum Press. She is an active writing coach/mentor, editor, copyeditor, and manuscript consultant. Maya is currently completing her third novel, Colour Radio, and is working on The Ride, a book of microfiction.

Writing Outside the Box: a Workshop on Edgy Fiction
2021-11-15 18:00 - 20:00 | Online via Zoom
Interested in examining unsettling or edgy themes but don’t know how to get started? Nervous about writing outside the usual rules of CanLit? This workshop series is designed to help writers of any medium, genre or experience level learn to start pushing boundaries with their work.
Full of provocative exercises and frank discussion, these fun and interactive sessions will provide participants with tips and techniques that will help build confidence in working with the unusual, the taboo and the experimental.
Students will be asked to read aloud from their work and to provide feedback to other participants. Students will also receive written feedback from the instructor as the course progresses.
Please note: due to the content in some of the exercises, this workshop is 18+.
Tracey Waddleton is a Newfoundland writer living in Montréal. Her work has been published in Riddle Fence, NQ, the Cuffer Anthology and elsewhere. A finalist for the NLCU Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers and recipient of the 2015 Lawrence Jackson Writers’ Award, Waddleton’s work has been described as weird and wonderful minimalist dark realism. Her first book, Send More Tourists… the Last Ones Were Delicious, was published in July of 2019. She is the inaugural recipient of the Quebec Writers’ Federation Max Margles Writing Residency and is scheduled to spend a month writing in Dublin in 2021.
Schedule: Mondays, November 15 ,22, 29, December 6, from 6 pm – 8 pm

Naked and Dreaming Forward: Reimagining Indigenous Masculinities Through Story
2021-11-16 19:00 - 20:30 | Bishop’s University, 2600 College Street, Sherbrooke, Quebec, J1M 1Z7, Canada
In this public lecture, settler scholar Sam McKegney draws from his recent book Carrying the Burden of Peace to elaborate why discussions of Indigenous masculinities in Canada have become fraught, and yet, he argues, they remain vital to Indigenous resurgence. Using Heiltsuk/Mohawk filmmaker Zoe Leigh Hopkins’ brilliant short film Mohawk Midnight Runners as a case study, McKegney reflects on its depictions of masculinities that precede, succeed, and exceed colonial limitations. Hopkins’ film, McKegney contends, gifts its viewers with depictions of masculinities that are embodied yet spiritual, empowered yet vulnerable, hilarious yet deadly serious, masculinities that nurture the full humanity of Indigenous persons and the empowered futures of Indigenous nations.
