Quebec Writers' Federation

Intermediate Memoir: The Art of Truth
2022-04-18 18:00 - 20:00, 2022-04-25 18:00 - 20:00, 2022-05-02 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
2022-04-18 20:00 - 22:00, 2022-04-25 20:00 - 22:00, 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
2022-04-19 18:00 - 20:00, 2022-04-26 18:00 - 20:00, 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
2022-04-19 20:00 - 22:00, 2022-04-26 20:00 - 22:00, 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

Pitching on Paper: Creating a TV Series Proposal
2022-04-20 18:00 - 20:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Six Wednesdays, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
March 16 to April 20

Open to all
Limited to 12 participants

You’re armed with a great elevator pitch for a new television, documentary or digital series idea, and your friends, family and colleagues have encouraged you to pitch it to a broadcaster. The challenge is to move that idea from the confines of your creative imagination and into a well-structured and detailed concept.

In this 6-week workshop participants will expand, develop, structure, break down, and build up show ideas into full-blown proposals, ready to present to a network or production executive.

For those who don’t have a show idea at the ready, the first workshop will help you get those creative juices flowing to take a concept through the development process.

Week 1 – Elevator Pitch
The idea.

Week 2 – First Page
The beginning is crucial.

Week 3 – Structure
How it works.

Week 4 – Writing
Giving it life.

Week 5 – Rewriting
The perfect life.

Week 6 – The Full Pitch
It’s showtime.

Jennifer McAuley has produced and written hundreds of hours of television for over 30 years and developed new series and concepts for production companies throughout North America. Her most recent credits include Restoration Garage, My Worst Nightmare and Million Dollar Genius. She is currently working with Cineflix Montreal on Patrick Ayree’s Wild World for Love Nature.

As past head of production and development with various companies in Toronto, and executive producer with CBC and TVO, Jennifer has received and evaluated hundreds of pitches, and consulted on numerous TV show ideas. She has a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Journalism.

www.filltheframe.org

Narrative Non-Fiction: Creating Scenes
2022-04-20 20:00 - 22:00, 2022-04-27 20:00 - 22:00, 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
2022-04-21 18:00 - 20:00, 2022-04-28 18:00 - 20:00, 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
2022-04-21 20:00 - 22:00, 2022-04-28 20:00 - 22:00, 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.

Writeaway in New Mexico
2022-04-23 19:00 - 2022-04-30 11:00 | Tesuque, Tesuque, NM, United States
Writeaways in New Mexico offer writers an opportunity to spend a week in the Land of Enchantment immersed in their craft. Anyone who has been to New Mexico knows what a magical place it is — and the profound effect it can have on your writing.
The Spring 2022 Writeaway in New Mexico takes place in a modern adobe in the village of Tesuque, just north of Santa Fe, and promises a week of great food, delightful company, and supportive workshops in an enchanted landscape.
Space is limited.

Storied Words & Music LIVE at Mainline!!￼
2022-04-23 20:00 - 22:30 | Mainline Theatre, 3997 St Laurent Blvd, Montreal, Quebec, H2W 1Y4, Canada
Our first LIVE show this spring!

The best kind of event you can join for $10.Grab a beer, wine, or soda, and encounter:

-top musician Sam Shalabi on guitar,-engaging storyteller Nisha Coleman-absorbing storyteller John Arthur Sweet-music by Dark Sky Preserve (Louise Campbell & Ian Ferrier)-special guest, poet Alasdair Rees

Each of these artists is a CLASSIC!!!

2022 Annual General Meeting
2022-04-25 19:00 - 21:00 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
The Annual General Meeting of the Quebec Writers’ Federation will be held
DATE/TIME: Monday, April 25, 2022 at 7:00 p.m.
PLACE: Zoom (register to receive link)
At the meeting, the President will review the year’s activities and the Executive Director will present the financial report. An election will be held for the Board of Directors for the coming year – April 2022 to April 2023. If you wish to nominate someone for a position on the Board, or to put your own name forward, please contact Riley Palanca (riley@qwf.org) and request the Introduction for Potential Board Members document and a nomination form. Completed nomination forms, including the signatures of two other QWF members, must be submitted to Riley by Monday, April 11, 2022.
Please note that you must be a member in good standing to be eligible to run for the board, nominate someone for the board, or vote at the AGM.

On the agenda:

7:00-7:15: Schmoozing
7:15: Call to order
Report from the QWF President, Julie Barlow
Financial report, presented by the Executive Director
Election or acclamation of new Board of Directors

Registration:
To register, please send an email to riley@qwf.org with “AGM” in the subject line. Be sure to include your full name in the body of the message. You will receive a Zoom link to participate in the week before the meeting.

Blue Metropolis International Festival 2022
2022-04-28 10:00 - 2022-05-08 19:00 | Hotel 10, 10 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec, H2X 4C9, Canada
What age is this ?
Earth, Society, People
The Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival will present its 24th edition April 28 to May 8, 2022. Subject to the epidemiological situation and the safety measures in effect, this edition will in large part feature a renewed in-person format, all while proposing a targeted selection of virtual events. Once more, public discussions, roundtables, debates, readings, master classes, and podcasts will provide a rich display for both authors and the public to relish.
Blue Metropolis is one of North America’s most important multilingual literary festivals.
The TD-Blue Metropolis Children’s Festival now runs all year long, with events in schools, libraries and bookstores near you, or online. A few meet and greet with children’s authors will be offered during the 2022 Spring Edition of the Festival.
Discover our 2022 programming, as well as our wide range of online content at: bluemetropolis.org/youth

Writers Out Loud – On Ukraine
2022-04-28 12:00 - 13:30 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
Photo Credits (L-R) Kateryna Lashchykova, Joyce Valbuena, Andriy Kuzmin

Thursday, April 28, 12:00 noon ET via Zoom

Yuri Andrukhovych, Norman Nawrocki, and Bohdana Neborak in conversation with Kate TsurkanAn extraordinary group of writers, three of whom are based in Ukraine, sit down for a conversation about their literary work and the current situation. Yuri Andrukhovych has published seven novels, five poetry collections, a cycle of short stories, and two volumes of essays, as well as literary translations from English, German, Polish and Russian.

Norman Nawrocki is a Montreal-based author, poet, playwright, and musician. Much of his recent work focuses on the Ukrainian-Canadian immigrant experience.Bohdana Neborak is the Editor at “The Ukrainians,” a cultural manager, and a podcast host.

Kate Tsurkan is an American writer, editor, and translator. She is the co-founder of Apofenie Magazine and lives in Ukraine.

Mazel Tov
2022-04-29 20:00 - 2022-05-08 14:00 | Kin Experience, 397 Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2G3, Canada
TICKETS TO MAZEL TOV ARE NOW ON SALE!
Get your tickets: https://bit.ly/MazelTovTix
Running from April 29th – May 8th
Synopsis: Isabelle is Jewish… Patrick isn’t. They are getting married. During the ceremony, Patrick’s best friend, Philip, makes a gesture that is perceived to be anti-Semitic. Several guests are angry, as well as Isabelle, the bride. Chaos ensues…and things fall apart. Mazel Tov is a dark comedy that crosses the line as it divides and conquers our understanding of loyalty, friendship and family. Surprising us at every turn, it questions the politically correct times we are living in, and asks us to examine how far is too far.
Written by Marc-André Thibault
Directed by Ellen David
Use promo code PREVIEW for 50% off General Admission, applicable to the April 29th preview only.
Contact the box office at (514)-987-1774 ext 104 or email box-office@infinitheatre.com for more information!
infinitheatre.com

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.
