Intermediate Memoir: The Art of Truth
2022-05-02 18:00 - 20:00, 2022-05-09 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
8 Mondays, 6 to 8 p.m.
March 21 to May 9, 2022
Open to those who have taken at least one writing workshop
Limited to 12 participants.

Memoir, a sub-specialty of autobiography, is a hugely popular form of personal writing. Whereas autobiography is the preserve of celebrities and public figures, memoir usually highlights one period or theme from the life of an ordinary individual, someone with little or no claim to fame. Its special currency is the universality of human experience; its value is what may be learned from a so-called ordinary person.
This workshop on memoir is designed for people who already have some experience of workshop settings and would like to embark or have already begun to embark on a memoir project of their own. Don’t be daunted by the “intermediate” label: you need not necessarily be working on a book-length narrative. If you’re open to learning from a professional practitioner of the genre as well as from your peers, you will almost certainly find this workshop helpful and motivating.
As in any workshop, there is a great emphasis on student input. Participants will not only be presenting their own work to the group but will also be expected to give careful reading of each other’s pieces in order to provide vital critical feedback. This element of the program is equally important to the writing. About half of each session will be devoted to in-class exercises and discussion of selected material from the text named below. The rest of the time will be spent discussing participants’ submissions.
The text for the course is This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett, a work that operates both as a how-to book on writing and as an exemplary series of linked memoirs/personal essays. I expect you to have purchased it ahead of time and to come to the first session prepared to discuss “Nonfiction, an Introduction,” and “How to Read a Christmas Story,” the first two chapters.
I also encourage participants to buy my Bible of clear writing: William Zinsser’s On Writing Well, to which I refer all the time.
To apply, please send an email with the following components to workshops@qwf.org no later than February 24, 2022:
1) a 3-5-page double-spaced writing sample (non-fiction or fiction) that you feel is representative of your abilities.
2) a paragraph introducing yourself and your writing history.
The subject line of the message should read “For Elaine Kalman Naves.”
QWF will notify you whether you’ve been accepted into the workshop the week of March 7.
Elaine Kalman Naves is a long-time literary journalist and the author of seven non-fiction titles, and of a novel. She is a two-time recipient of the Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction, the winner of two Canadian Jewish Book Awards, and of a Canadian Literary Award for Personal Essay. Her memoir Journey to Vaja: Reconstructing the World of a Hungarian-Jewish Family has been made into a documentary film. Elaine’s novel, The Book of Faith, was nominated for the Leacock Prize for Humour. She has led workshops at the QWF since their inception in 1998. To find out more about Elaine, visit her website at http://www.elainekalmannaves.com/

Translating Quebec
2022-05-02 20:00 - 22:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
8 Mondays, 8 to 10 p.m.
March 14 to May 2, 2022

Open to all.
Limited to 12 participants.

This workshop is aimed at anyone interested in exporting Quebec French to an English audience. Using the translator’s own experiences in the field as a springboard, the workshop will address the challenges—and fun!—of translating both a language and a culture. Participants will be encouraged to draw on their own well of cultural knowledge, and discussions are expected to be lively. We’ll tackle translation theory with a comparative reading of published translations; we’ll talk about the role of the church in contemporary Quebec French; we’ll take a look at media content and dip into the art of subtitling. Each week, participants will be given short selections to translate and workshop together. The focus of the workshop will be on translating what people speak, so don’t be afraid to make yourself heard!

Participants will be asked to reflect upon their own relationship to English and Quebec French as they develop the linguistic flexibility to navigate the challenges of translating from one to the other. Knowledge of both languages is mandatory, but participants are not required to have any formal translation experience.

Arielle Aaronson has published nine translations including titles of fiction, nonfiction, young adult fiction, and children’s literature. Her translation of Marie-Renée Lavoie’s Autopsy of a Boring Wife was longlisted for the 2021 Canada Reads book of the year. She has subtitled feature films shown across Quebec as well as content currently available on Netflix. She lives in Montreal with her husband and three children.

Facebook: Arielle Aaronson
https://www.arielleaaronson.com/

A Journey into Spoken Word
2022-05-03 18:00 - 20:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
8 Tuesdays, 6 to 8 p.m.
March 15 to May 3

Open to all
Limited to 12 participants

In this workshop, participants will step out of their comfort zones and onto the stage.

Objectives include learning about the history of spoken word and its place within the wider world of poetry, understanding some of the stigma surrounding spoken word and slam, and increasing appreciation for the craft of writing for performance.

Resource materials include but will not be limited to text, audio, and video from some of the best known and most beloved poets in Canada and the U.S. Participants will be expected to watch and/or listen to poems, discuss form and poetic devices, create original work, and share with the group.

Poetry as creative catharsis, democratization, and act of rebellion will be examined.

Performance tips such as mic use and engagement with the audience will also be discussed.

Deanna (DNA) Smith is a poet, performer, teaching artist, and social-justice advocate. Her artistic work is rooted in her experience as a fifth-generation Canadian who thinks in two languages and her exploration of identity as the descendent of kidnapped and exploited Africans. Deanna is a former Montreal Slam Champion and is currently the VP of the Throw Poetry Collective. She is eagerly anticipating a return to the stage with the Kalmunity Vibes Collective. Deanna has a background in Linguistics and Speech-Language Pathology. She has a Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing, and is currently pursuing another in Social Justice, Diversity, and Inclusion.

Mining Personal History to Enrich Our Short Fiction
2022-05-03 20:00 - 22:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
8 Tuesdays, 8 to 10 p.m.
March 15 to May 3

Open to all
Limited to 12 participants

“Some of these stories are closer to my own life than others are, but not one of them is as close as people seem to think.” — Alice Munro, from her Introduction to The Moons of Jupiter

When we write fiction, it seems inevitable that we will, at one point or another, be asked a certain, probing question: How much of that story is true?
Often, we deflect rather than answer, and make some great show of asserting our story is fiction and, therefore, not true. But by this time we are already squirming inside, feeling caught out. But caught out at what? That we have committed some sort of fraud? As if writing fiction from personal experience were cheating, like peeking at the answers we’ve scrawled on the palm of our hand in advance of the test?
In this workshop, seeking out kernels of truth from our own lives will be encouraged. We will embrace personal history for what it is: a fruitful mine for our short fiction. This is not, however, a study in autobiography. Personal experience can be a jumping-off point, the spark that sets our fictional stories in motion. It can also serve as adornment; a place from which to extract vivid details that enhance our fiction, to help our made-up stories feel alive. Yes, sometimes we write about what happened, but we strive to write about what could have happened.
We will explore writing exercises that, through examination of objects, activities, places, and time, can help us draw from our personal experiences and observations for the enrichment of our stories. We will also workshop one another’s short fiction in a respectful and supportive environment.
Recommended reading: Prior to our first session, please read “The Turkey Season” by Alice Munro, from her short story collection The Moons of Jupiter. The story can also be found online with a Google search, on the website of The New Yorker.

Mark Paterson is the author of the short story collections Dreamers and Misfits of Montclair, A Finely Tuned Apathy Machine, and Other People’s Showers, all from Exile Editions. His work has won the 3Macs carte blanche Prize, Geist magazine’s Literal Literary Postcard Story Contest, and the Atwater Library’s 150 Words for 150 Years contest. In 2020, his story “To Disappear Around Here” was runner-up for The Puritan’s Thomas Morton Prize.
www.markpaterson.ca
https://twitter.com/apathymachine
https://www.instagram.com/paterson.mark/
https://www.facebook.com/mark.paterson

Narrative Non-Fiction: Creating Scenes
2022-05-04 20:00 - 22:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Wednesdays, 8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
March 16 to May 4

This workshop is open to writers who have already taken a writing workshop or published at least one short piece of prose fiction or non-fiction.

Limited to 12 participants

Narrative non-fiction took off in the 1960s, when writers like Tom Wolfe, Joan Didion, and Gay Talese started using the techniques of fiction writers to tell true stories. Sometimes called New Journalism, the genre exploded when fiction writers like Truman Capote and Norman Mailer switched over to non-fiction, attaining major critical and popular praise. The ever-increasing demand for non-fiction writing highlights readers’ desire to connect with stories that make sense of their surroundings.

Narrative non-fiction blends reporting, research, and storytelling. In this workshop we’ll learn about how to write scenes that are true to life. Instead of simply stating what happened, we’ll explore how to create a scene, as a screenwriter or novelist might. Your task will be to impose a narrative on reality – and make it interesting to readers. We’ll talk about the techniques behind writing about your own experience, and about documenting other people’s lives. We’ll discuss what constitutes non-fiction – and what doesn’t. We’ll speak about how to get access to places off-limits to most civilians, how to approach interesting characters, and how to interview them. We’ll also speak about mining rich veins of source material from dusty old books, or weird scientific studies, or unusual academic treatises.

Each of you will be asked to present one piece of writing to the group, which will be workshopped by the group. (Participants will read and discuss each other’s writing.) I will also hand out some examples of narrative non-fiction to illustrate what it is we’re speaking about. These will also inform and inspire your own work in the workshop. No advance work is required for the workshop, but do have an idea of what you’d like to work on in our time together. In our second session, we’ll be discussing what each student plans on workshopping.

Adam Leith Gollner is the author of The Book of Immortality, The Fruit Hunters, and Working in the Bathtub: Conversations with the Immortal Dany Laferrière. The former editor of Vice Magazine, his writing has appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Paris Review, Travel + Leisure, and The New Yorker online.

Write to Thrill
2022-05-05 18:00 - 20:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
8 Thursdays, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
March 17-May 5

Open to all.
Limited to 12 participants

Have you always wanted to write a thriller? Need help completing one you’ve already started? This is the workshop for you! Whether it’s a domestic noir or the CIA is chasing down your main character, we’ll spend eight weeks together working on plot, characterization, twists, dialogue, prose, and pacing. By the end of the workshop you’ll have a solid foundation for your novel. Participants should come to the workshop with a premise for their thriller in mind. After the first session, two participants a week, if they’re comfortable, will receive feedback on their writing from the instructor and the other class participants

Catherine McKenzie is the Globe & Mail Bestselling author of 13 novels, including I’ll Never Tell, Fractured, and The Good Liar. She lives in Montreal, Quebec, where she writes full time after having retired from practicing law after twenty years.

Forms and Frames – A Poetry Workshop
2022-05-05 20:00 - 22:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
8 Thursdays, 8:00 to 10:00 p.m.
March 17-May 5

Open to all.
Limited to 12 participants

What’s the difference between poetry and prose? One big difference is form—the shapes and sounds a poem makes using line breaks, rhyme, alliteration, and a whole host of other devices. But while it’s a defining component of poetry, form can seem complex and intimidating. Even the most experienced poets may still struggle to distinguish a Pantoum from a Villanelle or accurately parse the metre of a poem.

Thankfully, a complete mastery of form is not necessary to enjoy—or write!—poetry. A basic understanding of form, however, can give the poet a whole new set of tools with which to make their meaning clear.

For many poets, the artificial and sometimes arbitrary rules of formal poetry signal a loss of choice. This workshop aims to show that, on the contrary, the adoption of a form reveals several private decisions around values, preferences, and intent. The “rules” of a form can be followed faithfully, but they can also be rejected, subverted, or broken completely. Those decisions are matter of personal expression, not unlike subject or image, and allow the poet another layer of individuality and disclosure.

Forms and Frames focuses on artificial forms as a means of expression, subversion, and creative generation. Particpants will discuss and practice a small selection of artificial forms from a diverse range of traditions, including the Pantoum, the Haibun, and the Pas-de-Deux. These forms have been chosen specifically because they have (in the Anglo-Canadian context, at least) no set metre. While some small discussion of metre may be necessary during the course of the workshop, no prior knowledge of, or experience with, forms or metres is necessary! Through discussion of these and other artificial forms, guided exercises, free-writing, and voluntary critique, participants of all experience and skill-levels will discover how to make the frame work for them.

Patrick O’Reilly is a writer from Renews, NL, now living in Montreal. A former poetry editor of The Antigonish Review, his poetry and criticism has appeared in Numéro Cinq, untethered, Maisonneuve and others, as well as In/Words Press’s 30 under 30 anthology. Patrick’s first chapbook, A Collapsible Newfoundland, was released by Frog Hollow Press in 2020.

Literature in the Age of Anti-Racism (AR), Anti-Oppression (AO) and Decolonization (DC)
2022-05-08 13:00 - 13:30 | Hotel 10, 10 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec, H2X 4C9, Canada
Rana Bose, Tawhida Tanya Evanson, and Yves Sioui Durand in conversation with Deborah Forde.

This panel explores the relationship between literature and AR/AO/DC movements. How do writers from Indigenous, diasporic, and other marginalized backgrounds reflect elements of AR/AO/DC in their works? Beyond revealing the impact of colonialist power, can literature itself play a role in dismantling it?

This free event will be held on May 8, 1:00 pm on the Terrace of Hotel 10.

Parliament of Owls
2022-05-09 08:00 - 2022-05-27 12:00 | online
The Biophilium will be hosting a two week online seminar for artists and writers to learn about birds. We will hear from 9 International ornithologists and serious birders about what it’s like to be a bird and what it’s like to be a bird nerd.

The QWF Playwriting Prize Q&A
2022-05-10 14:45 - 15:45 | Online via Zoom
Join QWF’s Lori Schubert and Infinithéâtre’s Zach Fraser for a Q&A session about the QWF Playwriting Prize with a guest appearance from Gabriel Safdie.

The QWF Playwriting Prize is awarded in even-numbered years. This is your chance to ask all the questions you have about the prize before the June 1 deadline.

Please view the call for submissions before the event.

Participants need to use the Zoom link to register and join the session.

Facebook Event

An Evening of Haiku
2022-05-13 19:30 - 21:00 | Online – Please RSVP
Greet the spring with new haiku from Eastern Townships poets.
Bishop’s University’s Lifelong Learning Academy, Write Here, Write Now! and Coaticook’s Yarrow Press are pleased to announce the distance launch of three new books: Angela Leuck’s Last Summer Pear, Phyllis Sise’s Spring to Lips and Bernice Sorge’s Ditch Walker. Join the poets for readings and conversations.
ABOUT THE POETSOwner and senior editor at Yarrow Press, Angela Leuck, was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and grew up in the village of Lillooet along the Fraser Canyon. She presently makes her home in Coaticook. Angela Leuck is the author of six books of poetry and her articles and stories have appeared in numerous publications.
A visual artist, painter, and print-maker, Bernice Angeline Sorge relates the experience of writing haiku to being “like a two-year-old trying to put into words exciting discoveries, like how to lace up a shoe. It never quite expresses the whole story, but you have to believe your listener has the ability to hear and see with all her/his senses.”
Phyllis Sise was a contractor in Toronto, a house inspector in the Townships, and is now proud to be Granny Muffin when she isn’t writing. She is grateful that writing has taught her to be so much more aware of all that surrounds us. Phyllis Sise’s new book Spring to Lips adds a certain quirkiness to the classic art of Haiku.
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.

Commentary Camp: Frame It. Write It. Publish It.
2022-05-14 10:00 - 13:00, 2022-05-28 10:00 - 13:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Two Saturdays, May 14 and May 28
10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m

Open to all.
Limited to 12 participants.
Commentaries provide a critical forum for influencing public opinion, impacting policy, and exercising leadership. Through this workshop you will be guided, step-by-step, on how to clearly and persuasively craft publishable commentaries — including how to develop and master that proverbial ‘hook,’ which will enable your submission to stand out above all others.
As a trained professional on the intersection between psychology and the media, Lori Sokol will help you take your commentaries to the next level. You will learn how to establish your unique voice, why it matters, and how readers can learn from you.
You will learn:

How to choose a topic worth writing about.
How to know if your topic if of interest to a wide audience.
How to develop trust with your reader.
How to find research/evidence to support your claims.
How to find a ‘hook’ to attract editors’ attention.
How, where and when to submit.

Lori will provide critiquing of each finished submission privately via email.

Lori Sokol, Ph.D., is the Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief of Women’s eNews, an award-winning, global news organization that reports on the most crucial issues impacting women and girls around the world.
Lori’s op-eds/commentaries have been published in the Baltimore Sun, The NY Times, The Huffington Post and on Slate.com. She has also been interviewed on numerous television news programs including MSNBC, CNBC, WPIX, and most recently in the Wall Street Journal and Forbes Magazine.
Her latest book, She Is Me: How Women Will Save The World (SheWrites Press 2020) received The Ben Franklin Award from the Independent Book Publishers Association and was a Finalist in the International Book Awards
https://womensenews.org
https://www.sheismebook.com
https://lorisokolphd.com
https://www.facebook.com/WomenseNews
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Womens_eNews
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womens_enews/

The Lawn Chair Soirée
2022-05-17 19:00 - 21:00 | Quebec
Monthly Literary Evening with Invited Guests and Open Mic

How Objects Speak: A Workshop on Ekphrastic Poetry
2022-05-18 15:30 - 17:30 | Quebec
Please join Poetry Matters for “How Objects Speak”: an in-person workshop on ekphrastic poetry with poet Medrie Purdham, University of Regina. Please find attached the event poster for more details.

Wednesday, May 18, 3:30-5:30Birks Building, Senior Common Room, McGill University downtown campus3520 Rue University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2A7

Drawing from her recent book, Little Housewolf (Véhicule Press, 2021), Purdham will share insights about her poetry and lead a workshop on poetry inspired by objects.

Medrie Purdham is Associate Professor of English at the University of Regina. Her work has appeared in publications such as The Fiddlehead, The Antigonish Review, and The New Quarterly. Research interests include prosody, twentieth-century drama, and modern and postmodern Canadian literature. She is currently at work on another collection, provisionally entitled Miniatures.

Please register by completing the “Contact Us” form on the Poetry Matters website here: https://www.mcgill.ca/poetrymatters/contact-us.

In case of any queries or issues, please feel free to reach out to me at anushree.joshi2@mcgill.ca.

We look forward to seeing you at the workshop!

https://www.mcgill.ca/poetrymatters/https://www.facebook.com/PoetryMattersMcGill

THE GREAT ABSQUATULATOR Book Launch
2022-05-18 19:00 - 21:00 | Zoom: get info from FB event page
Join Frank Mackey and Webster who will discuss the life and relevance of A. T. Wood, a.k.a. the Absquatulator, who roved through the momentous mid-19th-century events from Halifax to Liberia, Montreal, Britain, Germany and the US Midwest and South.
***Please RSVP at LitEventRSVP@gmail.com
***Frank Mackey is a Montreal writer whose recent books include Black Then: Blacks and Montreal 1780s-1880s and Done with Slavery: The Black Fact in Montreal, 1760-1840. He has worked as a journalist throughout Canada and in England and taught journalism at Concordia University.
Webster (Aly Ndiaye) is a Senegalo-Québécois rap artist who has pioneered hip-hop in Quebec. He speaks widely on the history of Africans and slaves in Quebec. He lives in Montreal.

BOOK LAUNCH - SLOW REVEAL BY MELANIE MITZNER
2022-05-19 19:00 - 20:30 | Quebec
Along with Author Ken Harvey and his novel Book of Casey Adair, Montreal author Melanie Mitzner will launch her novel Slow Reveal at Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, New York City, 7 pm on May 19th with financial assistance from the Canada Council of the Arts and the Writers Union of Canada. Free registraton for the live and live streamed event on Eventbrite – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/launch-melanie-mitzners-slow-reveal-ken-harveys-book-of-casey-adair-tickets-327512267007?aff=ebdssbdestsearch .
Set in 1990s New York, Slow Reveal paints a portrait of artists who defy the arbiters of culture and challenge social norms. Art, addiction and family dynamics capsize the Kanes when they discover the parallel life of Katharine, film editor, mother, lover and wife.
In an open marriage, after a decade-long affair with Naomi, a lesbian poet, Katharine’s marriage to Jonathan collapses in his struggle with sobriety when he’s ostracized for politicizing art and abandons his career for advertising. Faced with confrontations from her two grown daughters, an installation artist and an aspiring writer, Katharine hangs onto her former life. When unforeseen tragedy strikes, devotion and commitment are not the guardrails that keep their work or relationships on track but rather a form of entrapment.
A captivating story about relevance at the end of the 20th century, the novel questions the voracious demands of contemporary society through a riveting portrayal of turbulent family life, impacted by art shaped by the media and influenced by social and political injustice. Success is redefined by the courage to embark on the artistic process, as risky, messy and unpredictable as building intimacy and trust in love.

Inspiration and Idea Creation
2022-05-21 14:00 - 16:00 | Online – Please RSVP
Join Chris Brandon in a workshop about inspiration and idea creation. A long-time art teacher, Chris spends his days helping people figure out what they like, what they want to say, and how they can express it. We will explore the maxim of “inspiration comes from work” and different ways to generate ideas when it seems like there are no more ideas to have.
ABOUT THE FACILITATOR
Since his banishment from the distant and exotic Prairies, Chris Brandon has become a part-time adventurer, full-time visual artist and teacher in the Eastern Townships of Québec.
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.

Melanie Mitzner
2022-05-24 19:00 - 20:00 | Virtual
VIRTUAL BOOK LAUNCH: Hosted by Ken Harvey on Glad Day TV!Join us on Glad Day’s zoom platform for a reading and Q & A featuring Melanie Mitzner and Ken Harvey!
https://zoom.us/my/gladday
PW: [REDACTED]
gladdaylit/gdtv
About the book:
Set in 1990s New York, Slow Reveal paints a portrait of artists who defy the arbiters of culture and challenge social norms. Art, addiction and family dynamics capsize the Kanes when they discover the parallel life of Katharine, film editor, mother, lover and wife.
“A poem is never finished, only abandoned,” wrote Paul Valéry, an outcome echoed in her decade-long affair with Naomi, a lesbian poet. Katharine’s marriage to Jonathan collapses in his struggle with sobriety when he’s ostracized for politicizing art and abandons his career for advertising. Faced with confrontations from her two grown daughters, an installation artist and an aspiring writer, Katharine hangs onto her former life. When unforeseen tragedy strikes, devotion and commitment are not the guardrails that keep their work or relationships on track but rather a form of entrapment.
A captivating story about relevance at the end of the 20th century, the novel questions the voracious demands of contemporary society through a riveting portrayal of turbulent family life, impacted by art shaped by the media and influenced by social and political injustice. Success is redefined by the courage to embark on the artistic process, as risky, messy and unpredictable as building intimacy and trust in love.

Lunch and Learn: Language Portal of Canada
2022-05-25 12:00 - 13:00 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
Get the most out of the Language Portal of Canada

As a writer, you have access to a myriad of language resources.

But are you aware of the wealth of information the Language Portal of Canada offers?

You are invited to a short presentation during which you will:

– become more familiar with the Portal and know when to use each of its tools;

– understand functions and filters used in TERMIUM Plus®;

– learn how to use the Language Navigator to find quick answers to your translation and writing questions;

– discover how you can get involved by becoming an ambassador or a guest blogger.

About the Language Portal of Canada

The Portal is a highly useful website for writers and translators alike. It houses TERMIUM Plus®, the Government of Canada’s terminology data bank, which offers millions of terms in English and French, more than 200 000 terms in Spanish and more than 20 000 terms in Portuguese, plus abbreviations and definitions, in a wide variety of specialized fields. Also, with its flagship search engine, the Language Navigator, the Portal allows you to search its expansive bank of language articles and quizzes on subjects like grammar, spelling and vocabulary. When you have a translation or writing question, the Portal has your answer!

Eager to discover the website? Take the virtual tour of the Portal!

Writing for Local Journalism
2022-05-28 14:00 - 16:00 | Online – Please RSVP
Take a look at some of what goes into writing the news with Gordon Lambie, the Associate Editor of The Record. This workshop will offer the chance to explore some of the different forms of writing commonly encountered in traditional print news reporting as well as looking into the processes of information gathering, fact-checking, and revision that go into the work on a daily basis. 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 is the Associate Editor and senior writer for The Record and has now been reporting on all aspects of life in the Eastern Townships for close to 10 years. He has also previously served as Editor of the Townships Sun magazine, and has written for Life in Quebec magazine and the Telegraph-Journal in Saint-John, New Brunswick.
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.

Greenwood and QWF welcome Martha Wainwright as StoryFest’s 2022 season launches
2022-05-29 14:00 - 16:00 | Stephen F. Shaar Community Centre, 394 Main, Hudson, Quebec, J0P 1H0, Canada
Greenwood is delighted to announce that StoryFest 2022 will welcome, in partnership with the Quebec Writers’ Federation’s Writers Out Loud series, the internationally renowned singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright to open the literary festival’s 21st season on May 29.

At this in-person event at Hudson’s Stephen F. Shaar Community Centre, Martha Wainwright will be present to discuss her just released, critically acclaimed memoir, Stories I Might Regret Telling You, a book The Guardian has hailed as “hilariously candid.”

In her searing memoir, Wainwright recounts her life growing up in the multi-talented family of music royalty with mother, the late Kate McGarrigle, father Loudon Wainwright III, brother Rufus Wainwright, and a wide circle of influential and star-powered friends and family.

“We are honoured to have Martha Wainwright as our first guest of StoryFest’s 2022 season,” said Executive Director Genevieve Grenier.

“It will be such a pleasure to welcome this multi-talented singer-songwriter who will grace us with a heartfelt and honest memoir of her life. Montrealers of any age will surely be enticed to come out to Hudson for what is certain to be a memorable afternoon.”

StoryFest is an annual literary festival that takes place in Hudson, Quebec, bringing the best of Canadian writing to avid audiences for more than 20 years. The festival is the centrepiece of a season of events held yearly by the Greenwood Centre for Living History, an almost 300-year-old historic house and property on the shores of the Lake of Two Mountains.

The full roster of StoryFest events—most of which take place in the fall—will be announced this summer.

“While our committee is still in the planning stages, we’re very excited about the authors potentially already in the mix for the upcoming season,” said Grenier. “It all gets started––and in a big way—when we welcome Martha Wainwright to Hudson this May 29.”

This in-person event will be held on May 29 at 2 p.m. at Hudson’s Stephen F. Shaar Community Centre at 394 Main, Hudson, Quebec J0P 1H0. Tickets are $20 and will be available soon online and at Que de Bonnes Choses, 484-D Main, Hudson.

For more information, go to: greenwoodstoryfest.com

The QWF Spoken Word Prize Launch
2022-06-03 19:00 - 21:00 | Conseil des Arts De Montreal, 1210 Sherbrooke St E, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
You are invited to the QWF Spoken Word Prize Launch event.The following spoken word artists will be performing at the event hosted by Tawhida Tanya Evanson:

Liana CusmanoBlxck CxsperRoen HigginsDeanna RadfordTaylor Tower

– First-come, first-served seating– Limited capacity (55 seats)– Wheelchair accessible venue and arrangements– Masks strongly encouraged

– Doors open at 6.30 pm; Event starts at 7:00 pm

——About the Spoken Word PrizeWinners to be announced at the QWF Awards Gala: November 14, 2022Up to three prizes of $1,000 will be awarded.All winners will be featured at the Words & Music Show in 2023.All finalists will be invited to perform at AELAQ’s Holiday Book Fair in November 2022 and their performances will be preserved online via the SpokenWeb Archive of the Present.For details about the prize please visit: https://qwf.org/the-qwf-spoken-word-prize-2022/

QWF Mentorship Reading
2022-06-05 14:00 - 15:30 | Quebec
The QWF Mentorship Reading is scheduled for June 5, 2022 at 2 pm. This event will happen in-person–venue announcement coming soon!

The QWF Mentorships are designed to help promising emerging writers make the transition to the next stage of their careers. Over a period of four months, each mentee received one-on-one guidance and support from a professional writing mentor. Now, their journey culminates in a public reading where the mentees present an excerpt of their works-in-progress.

This year’s cohort features:

Laurel Páez Brave, mentored by Cora Siré in FictionEilis Quinn, mentored by Catherine McKenzie in FictionSteven Stowell, mentored by Edeet Ravel in FictionSal Eigh, mentored by Gerald Wexler in ScreenwritingBarbara Kelly, mentored by stephanie roberts in PoetryAlex Boos, mentored by Jessica Moore in Translation (Karin Montin LTAC/QWF Translation Mentorship)Nancy Webb, mentored by Lise Weil in NonfictionChanel Sutherland, mentored by Tara McGowan-Ross in Nonfiction (Mairuth Sarsfield Mentorship)

Note: Tickets will be available at the door for cash only.

Lunch and Learn with Creative Edge
2022-06-08 12:00 - 13:00 | Online – Please RSVP
Join us for a lunch-and-learn session with Creative Edge Publicity, an independent literary publicity firm whose purpose is to support authors and get them exposure for their books by leveraging all types of traditional publicity connections.In this session, three authors who are represented by Creative Edge will share their experiences and what they’ve learned about working with a publicist. You’ll gain meaningful insights into how publicity works and how independent authors can leverage it. You’ll have a chance to ask questions, and you’ll leave with a clearer understanding of the advantages–and challenges–of signing with a publicist.

Tracing Time in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Poetry 200 Years Later: A Conversation with Professor Jonathan Sachs
2022-06-08 19:00 - 21:00 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
The summer of 2022 marks 200 years since the death of British Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Why does Shelley’s poetry still resonate with readers today? Explore the hidden depths and moments in his “Ode to the West Wind” as we consider the presence of time in the poem. How does the poem articulate decay and geography? Does Charles Darwin’s concept of “slow time” help us understand how Shelley envisions nature?

The Thomas More Institute is pleased to announce our upcoming webinar, an evening of conversation with Jonathan Sachs, Professor in the Department of English at Concordia University. Professor Jonathan Sachs will be interviewed by members of the Thomas More Institute on Wednesday the 8th of June from 7 to 9 p.m. ET on Zoom.

Registration is required, and the event is free of charge. A Q&A with the audience will follow the interview. All are welcome to attend.

View the readings that will be discussed here.

Jonathan Sachs is Professor of English at Concordia University, Montreal. He is the author of The Poetics of Decline in British Romanticism (Cambridge, 2018), Romantic Antiquity: Rome in the British Imagination, 1789-1832 (Oxford, 2010) and, with the Multigraph Collective, Interacting with Print: Elements of Reading in the Era of Print Saturation (Chicago, 2018). Most recently he has co-edited, with Professor Andrew Stauffer, a new critical edition, Lord Byron: Selected Works, for the 21st Century Oxford Authors Series. Sachs has held fellowships at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and the National Humanities Center (US).

Register here.

Two Spring Poetry Launches
2022-06-09 18:30 - 20:30 | Christ Church Cathedral
Two Susans Poetry Circle Chapbook and Montreal’s new poetry press: Turret House.

This double launch will take place on June 9th, 2022 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at Hollis Lounge, Christ Church Cathedral, 1444 Union Ave. 2nd Floor, Across from La Baie. McGill Metro.

Refreshments will be served. Copies of What Lasts will be on sale for $12. Masks, though not obligatory, are recommended.

Authors will be on hand to read from What Lasts and the debut Turret House chapbook from publisher James Hawes.

Just A Note (a workshop reading at the Fringe!)
2022-06-11 15:30 - 16:30, 2022-06-12 19:30 - 20:30 | Le Ministère, venue #8, 4521 St-Laurent Blvd, Montreal, QC, H2T1R2, Canada
Kalianore productions/Christine ML Lee is proud to present the workshop reading of “Just a Note”, a gentle and funny musical based on lived experience about identity, immigration and mother and daughter relationships, at the St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival from June 11th to 19th at Le Ministère (venue #8)!
In “Just a Note” , Leah almost gets away with lying to her parents by pursuing her passion in music at McGill University without her family knowing until her mom shows up at her doorstep with a bowl of black bean noodles! This surprise visit turns into a permanent problem when her mom moves in with her – Leah must now find a way to graduate without her mom finding out that she lied about being in med school..!
TICKETS – ON SALE MAY 17, 2022!Box office: montrealfringe.ca / 514-849-FEST (3378)More information visit: www.christinemllee.com/just-a-note
