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SUMMARY:Picture Book Spyglass: Writing through the Lens of Children’s and YA Literature
DESCRIPTION:Why every writer should know picture books: in this workshop\, emerging and experienced writers will return to the source and hone their skills through a selection of outstanding picture books. We will learn wisdom\, gain inspiration\, and rediscover the joy of word-sounds and word play. We’ll find eye-popping object lessons in voice\, character\, plot\, and surprise—while renewing our delight in language.  \n\n\n\nBe prepared to articulate your own writing goals for this session to receive personalized prompts. Or feel free to just explore\, through collaborative and individual writing time and assignments. Whether you are casting for new reveries\, or seeking to push forward on a particular project\, let the concise brilliance of picture books light your way. \n\n\n\n——————————————– \n\n\n\nRaquel Rivera is a two-time winner of the QWF Prize for Children’s and YA Literature; her books were selected for CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens (starred selection)\, USBBY Outstanding International Books (Grades 3-5)\, Quill & Quire’s “Best of 2007” (Children’s)\, and more. \n\n\n\nRaquel has lived and worked in Washington DC\, Kuala Lumpur\, Singapore\, Barcelona\, and Toronto (where she was born and raised as a first-generation Canadian). These experiences\, and her own mixed heritage\, engender her deep interest in history\, culture\, social roles\, and norms. Cultures in cooperation is the theme that runs through her writing.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/picture-book-spyglass-writing-through-the-lens-of-childrens-and-ya-literature/2023-03-20/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230320T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230320T203000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20230328T145347Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230328T145350Z
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SUMMARY:Counter Offence
DESCRIPTION:Set in 90’s Montreal\, Counter Offence tells the story of Shazia\, an Indo-Quebecois woman who finds herself caught in an abusive marriage with Shapoor\, an Iranian man grappling with complex parental problems\, and challenges of immigration. Things take a turn when Shapoor is arrested on domestic violence charges by Sgt. Galliard\, a white officer staunchly dedicated to preventing violence against women. Moolchand\, an Indo-Canadian anti-racist activist\, comes to Shapoor’s defense\, by accusing Galliard and the entire SPVM of racial bias. Clarinda Keith\, a Black social worker\, defends Galliard despite the police’s undeniable racism against people of colour\, in order to support the voices of vulnerable women. When suddenly a body is found\, everyone is a suspect as lines between what is right and wrong become blurred. Counter Offence explores multiple realities existing simultaneously\, and asks the question: how can one discover truth through conflicting narratives?
URL:https://qwf.org/event/counter-offence/2023-03-20/
LOCATION:Quebec
CATEGORIES:Community Events,Performance
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230320T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230320T200000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20221214T191418Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221214T210450Z
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SUMMARY:Poetic Conversations
DESCRIPTION:Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) is known to have said\, “A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it.” Put differently\, a reader’s personal response offers an added dimension to a book. In this workshop\, participants will select a published poetry collection whose world resonates with them\, one that includes poems they would like to “dialogue with” for the remainder of the workshop.* Weekly writing prompts will initiate a “conversation” with a chosen text from their book\, an opportunity to engage with the source material on a deeper level. Topics covered will include imagery\, line breaks\, and poetic language\, and we will attempt a variety of poetic forms. Roughly half of each session will be devoted to theoretical concerns and/or writing exercises; the second half to workshopping the pieces produced in class and tweaked at home. Aside from the selected poetry book\, no texts are required\, but participants are strongly encouraged to read poetry and/or essays on poetics outside class time and share materials/information that might be of interest to the group. \n\n\n\n*A list of suggested poets and/or titles will be provided after the first class\, upon request. \n\n\n\nAuthor of nine poetry books and an award-winning novel\, Carolyn Marie Souaid has performed at literary events in Canada and abroad; her work has been featured on CBC-Radio and in a variety of national and international publications. Her videopoem\, Blood is Blood\, won a top prize at the 2012 Zebra Poetry Film Festival in Berlin. Other books have been shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry. Carolyn has been guest faculty at Bishop’s University and has led several previous QWF workshops. Her literary papers are housed at Rare Books and Special Collections of the McLennan Library (McGill University).
URL:https://qwf.org/event/poetic-conversations/2023-03-20/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230319T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230319T203000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
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LAST-MODIFIED:20230328T145350Z
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SUMMARY:Counter Offence
DESCRIPTION:Set in 90’s Montreal\, Counter Offence tells the story of Shazia\, an Indo-Quebecois woman who finds herself caught in an abusive marriage with Shapoor\, an Iranian man grappling with complex parental problems\, and challenges of immigration. Things take a turn when Shapoor is arrested on domestic violence charges by Sgt. Galliard\, a white officer staunchly dedicated to preventing violence against women. Moolchand\, an Indo-Canadian anti-racist activist\, comes to Shapoor’s defense\, by accusing Galliard and the entire SPVM of racial bias. Clarinda Keith\, a Black social worker\, defends Galliard despite the police’s undeniable racism against people of colour\, in order to support the voices of vulnerable women. When suddenly a body is found\, everyone is a suspect as lines between what is right and wrong become blurred. Counter Offence explores multiple realities existing simultaneously\, and asks the question: how can one discover truth through conflicting narratives?
URL:https://qwf.org/event/counter-offence/2023-03-19/
LOCATION:Quebec
CATEGORIES:Community Events,Performance
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://qwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20230324_115943_0000.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230318T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230318T203000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20230328T145347Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230328T145350Z
UID:10003342-1679167800-1679171400@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Counter Offence
DESCRIPTION:Set in 90’s Montreal\, Counter Offence tells the story of Shazia\, an Indo-Quebecois woman who finds herself caught in an abusive marriage with Shapoor\, an Iranian man grappling with complex parental problems\, and challenges of immigration. Things take a turn when Shapoor is arrested on domestic violence charges by Sgt. Galliard\, a white officer staunchly dedicated to preventing violence against women. Moolchand\, an Indo-Canadian anti-racist activist\, comes to Shapoor’s defense\, by accusing Galliard and the entire SPVM of racial bias. Clarinda Keith\, a Black social worker\, defends Galliard despite the police’s undeniable racism against people of colour\, in order to support the voices of vulnerable women. When suddenly a body is found\, everyone is a suspect as lines between what is right and wrong become blurred. Counter Offence explores multiple realities existing simultaneously\, and asks the question: how can one discover truth through conflicting narratives?
URL:https://qwf.org/event/counter-offence/2023-03-18/
LOCATION:Quebec
CATEGORIES:Community Events,Performance
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230318T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230318T130000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20230220T172455Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230228T192307Z
UID:10003296-1679133600-1679144400@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Writers & CALQ
DESCRIPTION:Limited to 20 participants: 10 in-person and 10 online \n\n\n\nIn this hybrid workshop\, Tawhida Tanya Evanson and David Bradford provide an overview of best practices for writers with projects for print\, spoken word\, or storytelling looking to write strong literary arts grant applications for the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ). The workshop will focus on grants for professional development\, creation\, production and travel with emphasis on the project description\, budget\, support materials\, assessment criteria\, risk\, impact\, and cultural appropriation. This workshop will include time for Q&A and is intended for Quebec-based English-language writers at all stages of their practice with priority given to emerging\, BIPOC\, LGBTQ2+ and disabled artists. \n\n\n\nAccess to MS Word or similar writing software will be necessary. \n\n\n\nPresented in partnership with the Blue Metropolis Festival \n\n\n\nThis workshop will take place at the QWF Office (Room 3\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Westmount\, Quebec) with up to 10 virtual spots for participants who are unable to attend in-person. 
URL:https://qwf.org/event/writers-calq/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230318T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230318T123000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20230301T190414Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230316T151925Z
UID:10003309-1679133600-1679142600@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Shut Up & Write! with QWF
DESCRIPTION:Looking for some dedicated\, quiet writing space? \n\n\n\nRegister below to do all that writing you’ve been meaning to do. Using the Pomodoro technique\, participants write in 25 minute bursts\, with 5 minutes break in between. \n\n\n\nThis event is for QWF members only. Not a member? Learn about becoming a member. Please note that you have to be logged in for the registration link to show up. A Zoom link will be sent out a few days before the session. \n\n\n\nPlease note as well that these sessions are designed for silent writing\, rather than discussing or getting feedback on work. \n\n\n\n1000 – 1025: Writing 11025 – 1030: Break1030 – 1055: Writing 21055 – 1100: Break1100 – 1125: Writing 31125 – 1130: Break1130 – 1155: Writing 41155 – 1200: Break1200 – 1225: Writing 5
URL:https://qwf.org/event/shut-up-write-with-qwf-22/
LOCATION:Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
CATEGORIES:Community Events,QWF Events,Shut Up & Write!
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230316T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230316T220000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20221215T182413Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221215T182414Z
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SUMMARY:Biography\, Autobiography\, and Ghostwriting
DESCRIPTION:The basic tools of biography and autobiography are the same\, and this workshop will show how you can write any life in a meaningful and engaging way. \n\n\n\nThe first challenge is learning how to put lives in a larger context. This means researching the times and places the subject lived in\, then weaving their individual narratives with all of their complex personal relationships\, into the larger world. We will learn how to do this with the use of the illuminating details that bring people and places to life. \n\n\n\nWe will also look at the sub-category of ghostwriting\, where you are writing a first-person biography and\, in a sense\, become the person you are writing for\, internalizing their thoughts and feelings as you use all of the tools at your disposal to tell their story as if was your own. \n\n\n\nGhostwriting also happens to be a field where a writer can make a decent living in Canada\, and at the end of the course\, we will look at the business side and what goes into a ghostwriting contract. \n\n\n\nOne thing you soon discover in writing biographies of any kind\, including ghosting an autobiography\, is the truth of the cliché that everyone has a book in them. At least in the sense that all of our stories—following our lives along the trajectories of time and space and meeting and beating challenges—are worth telling. As a writer you discover that it is a privilege to write someone else’s life. \n\n\n\nIdeally\, you will be working on biographical or autobiographical material of your own in the class\, but this is not necessary. If you are working on a text now or if you are simply planning one for the future\, I look forward to meeting you in the spring of 2023 and exploring the writing of lives together. \n\n\n\nPeter McFarlane has written 4 nonfiction books of his own and five ghostwritten books\, as well as more than 100 newspaper and magazine features. He has specialized in Indigenous history and politics and has worked on several CBC radio programs as a researcher and on-air contributor. He is currently completing another ghostwritten book and a new work of his own nonfiction.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/biography-autobiography-and-ghostwriting/2023-03-16/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230316T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230316T203000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20230328T145347Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230328T145350Z
UID:10003341-1678995000-1678998600@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Counter Offence
DESCRIPTION:Set in 90’s Montreal\, Counter Offence tells the story of Shazia\, an Indo-Quebecois woman who finds herself caught in an abusive marriage with Shapoor\, an Iranian man grappling with complex parental problems\, and challenges of immigration. Things take a turn when Shapoor is arrested on domestic violence charges by Sgt. Galliard\, a white officer staunchly dedicated to preventing violence against women. Moolchand\, an Indo-Canadian anti-racist activist\, comes to Shapoor’s defense\, by accusing Galliard and the entire SPVM of racial bias. Clarinda Keith\, a Black social worker\, defends Galliard despite the police’s undeniable racism against people of colour\, in order to support the voices of vulnerable women. When suddenly a body is found\, everyone is a suspect as lines between what is right and wrong become blurred. Counter Offence explores multiple realities existing simultaneously\, and asks the question: how can one discover truth through conflicting narratives?
URL:https://qwf.org/event/counter-offence/2023-03-16/
LOCATION:Quebec
CATEGORIES:Community Events,Performance
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://qwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20230324_115943_0000.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230316T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230316T200000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20221215T181429Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221215T181432Z
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SUMMARY:Writing the TV Pilot
DESCRIPTION:In this eight-week workshop\, Montreal-based screenwriter Allen Markuze will give you the tools to be able to write a TV pilot. He’s going to do so by asking and helping answer the following… \n\n\n\n\nWhat is your TV series about?\n\n\n\nIs your idea sustainable?\n\n\n\nWhat happens episode to episode?\n\n\n\nWhat’s the theme of your show?\n\n\n\nWhat are some similar shows?\n\n\n\nWho are your characters?\n\n\n\nIs your pilot going to be a premise episode or an episodic episode?\n\n\n\nWhat is a three-act structure and five-act structure?\n\n\n\n\nThese intimate sessions will involve a mixture of group discussion\, critical analysis of TV pilots and shows\, and workshopping participants’ own ideas with the goal of completing their own TV pilot. Ideas will be workshopped in groups as well as one-on-one with the workshop leader and fellow participants. \n\n\n\nAllen Markuze is an award-winning screenwriter who has taken part in writers rooms and has written for a variety of live-action and animation TV shows that have aired on the likes of Netflix\, Disney\, Nickelodeon\, Hulu\, and CBC. Before embarking on a screenwriting career\, Markuze spent several years working in LA at Dan Halsted’s company\, Manage-ment\, where he helped manage a roster of writers from shows such as Mad Men and Breaking Bad\, and on feature films like Friday Night Lights and Wall Street. Prior to that\, he worked as an assistant to screenwriter Janus Cercone (Leap of Faith with Steve Martin). Markuze’s foray into the entertainment industry began as a development intern in LA at Underground Films (FX’s Snowfall) where he read countless scripts\, books\, and plays\, and eavesdropped on A LOT of conversations.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/writing-the-tv-pilot/2023-03-16/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230315T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230315T220000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20221215T172340Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221215T172545Z
UID:10003227-1678910400-1678917600@qwf.org
SUMMARY:The Ghost at the Heart of a Short Story
DESCRIPTION:A man down on his luck has moved everything he owns out onto his lawn\, and for no reason anybody can articulate\, he pawns some of it to two young passersby; in northern Ontario\, a woman whose cancer is in remission lets a teenaged boy\, half her age\, kiss her on a floating bridge—she doesn’t know why; in a hotel room in Wenatchee\, a man has a strange\, galvanizing sexual encounter with a bare-knuckle boxer\, and it leaves him more sure of himself\, or more sure of his past\, or more sure of who he might yet become. But if you asked him what had changed\, he wouldn’t be able to tell you. \n\n\n\nThere is something ineffable in every good short story\, something that cannot bepinned down\, a question—perhaps insignificant—whose answer is not merely unknown\, but unknowable\, and whose presence haunts us long after we’ve put a story down. \n\n\n\nThis workshop is a guided discussion about the plot\, characters\, point of view\, structure\, and language (the mechanics or “craft”) of participants’ short stories\, as well as an investigation of each story’s aboutness\, patterns\, emotional plot\, and central question(s)—that is\, all those hard-to-define elements that make fiction what it is. \n\n\n\nAdditionally\, the workshop aims to foster community among the attendees\, to bring together \n\n\n\nwriters of similar skill and drive\, and to encourage the kind of creative energy that crackles \n\n\n\nbetween new practitioners. \n\n\n\n Some Learning Objectives \n\n\n\n\nCritical reading\, and the ability to identify the roots of a story’s problems\, particularly with regard to dramatic structure and conflict. Conversely: the ability to identify the roots of a story’s successes\, especially when it seems intangible or difficult to pin down.\n\n\n\nClose reading\, even of your own work\, for strongest possible sentences. (They are\, after all\, the building blocks of fiction.)\n\n\n\nImmersing yourself in\, and engaging with\, literature among a cohort of people who are similarly immersed and engaged in literature; enjoying it.\n\n\n\n\nIn our first meeting\, we will establish a schedule\, review workshop etiquette\, spend some time meeting each other\, and do a few writing exercises. From then on\, each session will consist of detailed discussion and feedback of participants’ stories. The goal\, always\, is to offer the writer of each story constructive suggestions to help them improve the story and their craft. We are\, I always say\, in this together. \n\n\n\nIn preparation: Please bring a short story you’ve written of no more than 2500 words to the first session. \n\n\n\nD. W. Wilson is the author of Once You Break a Knuckle\, a collection of short stories\, and Ballistics\, a novel. His work has appeared in lit mags across the globe\, and in 2011 he won the BBC National Short Story Award for “The Dead Roads.” Since then he has been shortlisted for numerous fiction prizes\, and has won the CBC Short Story Prize and the Manchester Fiction Prize. He taught creative writing at the University of Victoria and Brandon University\, as well at literary festivals such as the London Short Story Festival and Wordfest.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/the-ghost-at-the-heart-of-a-short-story/2023-03-15/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230315T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230315T203000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20230328T145347Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230328T145350Z
UID:10003340-1678908600-1678912200@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Counter Offence
DESCRIPTION:Set in 90’s Montreal\, Counter Offence tells the story of Shazia\, an Indo-Quebecois woman who finds herself caught in an abusive marriage with Shapoor\, an Iranian man grappling with complex parental problems\, and challenges of immigration. Things take a turn when Shapoor is arrested on domestic violence charges by Sgt. Galliard\, a white officer staunchly dedicated to preventing violence against women. Moolchand\, an Indo-Canadian anti-racist activist\, comes to Shapoor’s defense\, by accusing Galliard and the entire SPVM of racial bias. Clarinda Keith\, a Black social worker\, defends Galliard despite the police’s undeniable racism against people of colour\, in order to support the voices of vulnerable women. When suddenly a body is found\, everyone is a suspect as lines between what is right and wrong become blurred. Counter Offence explores multiple realities existing simultaneously\, and asks the question: how can one discover truth through conflicting narratives?
URL:https://qwf.org/event/counter-offence/2023-03-15/
LOCATION:Quebec
CATEGORIES:Community Events,Performance
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://qwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20230324_115943_0000.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230315T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230315T200000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20230109T170626Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230109T170629Z
UID:10003268-1678903200-1678910400@qwf.org
SUMMARY:The Joys and Pitfalls of Memoir
DESCRIPTION:This workshop will explore the hazards and rewards of writing a personal memoir. Throughout the eight weeks\, we will look at ways to produce a compelling narrative out of the chaos of the past. We’ll discuss the tremendous value of research\, but we’ll also consider whether research can sometimes handicap a project. We will explore the creation of a narrative voice. And we will ask if and how a writer knows that a memoir has achieved its ideal focus and shape. \n\n\n\nEach participant will be expected to produce one or two finished (or near-finished) pieces of writing. They could be either stand-alone essays or excerpts from a longer work. I will provide a detailed response to these pieces\, and other participants in the workshop will be asked to give their feedback too. A good portion of time each week will be spent on a discussion of the work submitted by participants. Throughout the workshops\, I plan to emphasize the crucial importance not just of remembering but of rethinking and rewriting.  \n\n\n\nIn the remainder of each session\, we will examine and debate issues that memoir-writing brings to the fore. We will delve into some thorny issues that memoirs often raise: the unreliability of memory\, an author’s urge to justify\, and the sense of hurt and betrayal that a memoir may provoke in other people. I will ask the participants to read selected materials (none of them too lengthy) as a basis for discussion.   \n\n\n\n“Memoir\,” for the purposes of this workshop\, can include small-scale personal essays as well as longer\, more ambitious texts. The participants may choose to focus on a particular relationship\, place\, or time. But the pieces they submit for discussion should all be personal in nature\, and unless there are unusual reasons to the contrary\, they should make use of the first-person pronoun. Memoir can be a demanding form; it allows the author no place to hide. Yet it can be immensely rewarding to write. \n\n\n\nThe overall aim is to equip participants with more awareness\, more skills\, and more confidence in their own work.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/the-joys-and-pitfalls-of-memoir-2/2023-03-15/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230314T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230314T220000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
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LAST-MODIFIED:20221215T171056Z
UID:10003219-1678824000-1678831200@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Tell Your Story as a Graphic Novel!
DESCRIPTION:You don’t need to be an artist to enjoy this graphic novel workshop. All you need is a story you want to tell and the courage to put it down on paper. Drawings can be formal and detailed or simple and expressive. Comic making bridges storytelling and picture making\, and this workshop will explore both. Through dynamic exercises that combine simple drawing experiments and story brainstorming\, each participant will develop their own personal style and hone the story they wish to tell. \n\n\n\nPeople will share their work and give feedback on each other’s pieces and end the workshop with a comic of their own! \n\n\n\nKate Lavut is the author and illustrator of the graphic novel Chico\, a true tale of the time she dressed as a boy\, jumped on a bus\, and went to Mexico. Chico was featured at TCAF\, Toronto Comics Arts Festival\, and was a finalist for the Quebec Writers’ Federation Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature. Lavut has recently produced her play A Little Bit Pregnant at Fringe Montreal and was a finalist for the Most Promising Emerging Artist award. She is currently at work on a new graphic novel\, about her experience having breast cancer\, called Content Removed.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/tell-your-story-as-a-graphic-novel/2023-03-14/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230314T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230314T200000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20221215T165441Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221215T165444Z
UID:10003211-1678816800-1678824000@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Deep Story Design
DESCRIPTION:Deep Story Design depends on a divine trine of three elements: character\, plot\, and theme. \n\n\n\nNovelists\, screenwriters\, and memoirists who learn to harmonize these elements are able to create stories with depth and resonance. \n\n\n\nThis 8-week online course is for the longer form narrative writer who wants to: create structurally sound and engaging plots; craft characters whose inner and outer conflicts captivate readers; and develop impactful themes that linger after the story is over. \n\n\n\nUsing April’s Deep Story Design method of combining basic three-act structure\, the seven stepping stones that uphold a narrative arc\, and the four stages of authentic character development\, writers will be guided to create a cohesive story that is greater than the sum of its parts. \n\n\n\nWeekly lessons\, homework assignments\, and in-class exercises and conversations will focus on the essential story elements that need to be in place to ensure a compelling and meaningful narrative. \n\n\n\nNote: Handouts will be provided digitally. Live weekly Zoom calls will be recorded and available for review for up to two weeks after the workshop finishes. Homework assignments\, shared with and reviewed by participants\, will receive light feedback from April during class time. \n\n\n\nApril Bosshard has been called a “story whisperer” and “story genie” for her keen awareness of story principles and deep understanding of the writer’s craft\, which allows her to help writers deal with the complex issues of story-creating and sticking to the writing process. She’s led workshops in Canada\, the US\, France\, and Mexico\, including at the internationally recognized San Miguel Writers Conference. She’s written novels\, short stories\, poems\, and non-fiction essays for traditional and independent markets\, which include publications in the US\, UK\, and Canada. Most recently\, she contributed a chapter to the newly released The Great Book of Journaling\, How Journal Writing Can Support a Life of Wellness\, Creativity\, Meaning\, and Purpose\, (Conari\, June 2022). April develops and maintains online courses and writing programs while also working with individual clients as a writing coach and developmental editor.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/deep-story-design/2023-03-14/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230314T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230314T200000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20221214T210152Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221214T210154Z
UID:10003195-1678816800-1678824000@qwf.org
SUMMARY:The Joys and Pitfalls of Memoir
DESCRIPTION:This workshop will explore the hazards and rewards of writing a personal memoir. Throughout the eight weeks\, we will look at ways to produce a compelling narrative out of the chaos of the past. We’ll discuss the tremendous value of research\, but we’ll also consider whether research can sometimes handicap a project. We will explore the creation of a narrative voice. And we will ask if and how a writer knows that a memoir has achieved its ideal focus and shape. \n\n\n\nEach participant will be expected to produce one or two finished (or near-finished) pieces of writing. They could be either stand-alone essays or excerpts from a longer work. I will provide a detailed response to these pieces\, and other participants in the workshop will be asked to give their feedback too. A good portion of time each week will be spent on a discussion of the work submitted by participants. Throughout the workshops\, I plan to emphasize the crucial importance not just of remembering but of rethinking and rewriting.  \n\n\n\nIn the remainder of each session\, we will examine and debate issues that memoir-writing brings to the fore. We will delve into some thorny issues that memoirs often raise: the unreliability of memory\, an author’s urge to justify\, and the sense of hurt and betrayal that a memoir may provoke in other people. I will ask the participants to read selected materials (none of them too lengthy) as a basis for discussion.   \n\n\n\n“Memoir\,” for the purposes of this workshop\, can include small-scale personal essays as well as longer\, more ambitious texts. The participants may choose to focus on a particular relationship\, place\, or time. But the pieces they submit for discussion should all be personal in nature\, and unless there are unusual reasons to the contrary\, they should make use of the first-person pronoun. Memoir can be a demanding form; it allows the author no place to hide. Yet it can be immensely rewarding to write. \n\n\n\nThe overall aim is to equip participants with more awareness\, more skills\, and more confidence in their own work.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/the-joys-and-pitfalls-of-memoir/2023-03-14/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230313T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230313T220000
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SUMMARY:Picture Book Spyglass: Writing through the Lens of Children’s and YA Literature
DESCRIPTION:Why every writer should know picture books: in this workshop\, emerging and experienced writers will return to the source and hone their skills through a selection of outstanding picture books. We will learn wisdom\, gain inspiration\, and rediscover the joy of word-sounds and word play. We’ll find eye-popping object lessons in voice\, character\, plot\, and surprise—while renewing our delight in language.  \n\n\n\nBe prepared to articulate your own writing goals for this session to receive personalized prompts. Or feel free to just explore\, through collaborative and individual writing time and assignments. Whether you are casting for new reveries\, or seeking to push forward on a particular project\, let the concise brilliance of picture books light your way. \n\n\n\n——————————————– \n\n\n\nRaquel Rivera is a two-time winner of the QWF Prize for Children’s and YA Literature; her books were selected for CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens (starred selection)\, USBBY Outstanding International Books (Grades 3-5)\, Quill & Quire’s “Best of 2007” (Children’s)\, and more. \n\n\n\nRaquel has lived and worked in Washington DC\, Kuala Lumpur\, Singapore\, Barcelona\, and Toronto (where she was born and raised as a first-generation Canadian). These experiences\, and her own mixed heritage\, engender her deep interest in history\, culture\, social roles\, and norms. Cultures in cooperation is the theme that runs through her writing.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/picture-book-spyglass-writing-through-the-lens-of-childrens-and-ya-literature/2023-03-13/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230313T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230313T200000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
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LAST-MODIFIED:20221214T210450Z
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SUMMARY:Poetic Conversations
DESCRIPTION:Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) is known to have said\, “A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it.” Put differently\, a reader’s personal response offers an added dimension to a book. In this workshop\, participants will select a published poetry collection whose world resonates with them\, one that includes poems they would like to “dialogue with” for the remainder of the workshop.* Weekly writing prompts will initiate a “conversation” with a chosen text from their book\, an opportunity to engage with the source material on a deeper level. Topics covered will include imagery\, line breaks\, and poetic language\, and we will attempt a variety of poetic forms. Roughly half of each session will be devoted to theoretical concerns and/or writing exercises; the second half to workshopping the pieces produced in class and tweaked at home. Aside from the selected poetry book\, no texts are required\, but participants are strongly encouraged to read poetry and/or essays on poetics outside class time and share materials/information that might be of interest to the group. \n\n\n\n*A list of suggested poets and/or titles will be provided after the first class\, upon request. \n\n\n\nAuthor of nine poetry books and an award-winning novel\, Carolyn Marie Souaid has performed at literary events in Canada and abroad; her work has been featured on CBC-Radio and in a variety of national and international publications. Her videopoem\, Blood is Blood\, won a top prize at the 2012 Zebra Poetry Film Festival in Berlin. Other books have been shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry. Carolyn has been guest faculty at Bishop’s University and has led several previous QWF workshops. Her literary papers are housed at Rare Books and Special Collections of the McLennan Library (McGill University).
URL:https://qwf.org/event/poetic-conversations/2023-03-13/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230312T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230312T170000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20230130T173431Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230130T175613Z
UID:10003289-1678608000-1678640400@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Pitch\, Plan\, and Lead: How to Get and Give a Workshop for Writers
DESCRIPTION:Are you ready to share your knowledge of your chosen literary field? Need a hand getting started on your pitch\, or polishing your workshop-leading skills? Together with other emerging and established literary folk\, we’ll talk about how to conceive\, plan\, and lead a successful workshop\, whether on an aspect of craft\, a literary genre\, or an angle on the business of writing – just in time for QWF’s spring call for workshop proposals. \n\n\n\nOver two Sunday mornings\, we’ll explore possibilities for bringing as much creativity to your workshop design as you do to your art. You’ll develop and refine your workshop idea and transform it into a solid pitch. We’ll talk about how to plan a workshop that’s fun and effective for you and the participants\, whether it lasts one afternoon or ten weeks\, including how to manage a diverse group of participants with differing goals\, skill levels\, and workshop experience. \n\n\n\nIn the first session we’ll talk about: \n\n\n\n\nchoosing your topic\n\n\n\nhow to design a format (one day\, four afternoons\, two hours a week for eight weeks?) and plan your activities across that time frame\n\n\n\nhow to add readings\, videos\, or reference materials\n\n\n\nhow to describe your teaching experience and approach to leading a workshop – what will you lead participants to accomplish\, and how?\n\n\n\nwhat to include in a “more detailed workshop description (up to two pages)”\n\n\n\n\nBetween sessions you’ll create a clean draft of your pitch using this form: https://qwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/QWF-2022-2023-Proposal-Form-for-Workshop-Leaders.pdf and share it with the group by email. In the second session\, we’ll consider the drafts and help each other make them even clearer\, more powerful\, more engaging. \n\n\n\nWe will also discuss: \n\n\n\n\nhow to manage workshop time to strike a good balance between the various elements\, such as in-class writing\, group discussion\, and homework tasks\n\n\n\nmaking sure everyone in a diverse group gets what they need (even the difficult ones)\n\n\n\naccounting for – and celebrating – each participant’s distinct individuality\n\n\n\ncultivating a sense of community\n\n\n\nsharing information about the writing life – how to get published\, how to get paid\, do you need an agent\, doing public readings/open mics\, etc.\n\n\n\nmodeling and fostering respect\, warmth\, honesty and generosity in your workshop\n\n\n\n\nIn this context we’ll discuss the Guidelines for QWF Workshop Participants and Workshop Leaders. Please have a look at these before we meet: https://qwf.org/activities/programs/workshops/guidelines-for-qwf-workshop-participants-and-workshop-leaders/ \n\n\n\nThe workshop leader will wear a mask during meetings. Participants are encouraged\, but not required\, to do so as well\, which will increase the accessibility of the workshop to anyone with increased vulnerability. \n\n\n\n*Note: Professional literary credentials vary depending on the type of workshop you plan to offer. If you aren’t sure whether your credentials make you a candidate for leading a QWF workshop\, please contact Lori Schubert at admin@qwf.org. \n\n\n\nElise Moser has published short stories\, a novel for adults\, a YA novel\, and a nonfiction book for kids. She has edited anthologies\, been literary editor of online arts and culture magazine Rover\, and sat on the boards of Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal\, PEN Canada\, the QWF\, and the English-language Arts Network. She has twice been a mentor and has led workshops on the short story\, on having a successful writing group\, and on combining the practices of writing and walking. At least two of her workshop groups became writing groups\, and continue to meet and write together.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/pitch-plan-and-lead-how-to-get-and-give-a-workshop-for-writers/2023-03-12/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230311T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230311T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20230228T185422Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230228T185424Z
UID:10003306-1678564800-1678570200@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Confabulation presents: Accomplices
DESCRIPTION:Stories of best friends\, co-conspirators and partners in crime.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/confabulation-presents-accomplices/
LOCATION:Centre Phi\, 315 rue St. Paul O\, Montreal\, Quebec\, H2Y 2M3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Storytelling
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230310T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230310T190000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20230227T165005Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230227T165008Z
UID:10003303-1678471200-1678474800@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Canadian Parents for French Bilingual Virtual Story Time with Candace Amarante
DESCRIPTION:Join author Candace Amarante for a Bilingual Virtual Story time Session on Friday\, March 10th Participants will listen to a story about Ottawa and learn about the Bilingualism that exists all around us. They will also listen to “The Pheasant’s Tale… Or was it its Tail?” written by Candace Amarante. \nPDF/virtual access to the books read as well as other recommended stories will be emailed to all participants following the session. There will be opportunities to ask questions as well a creative drawing activity so please tune in with some paper and crayons or pencils. The content is most appropriate for ages 5-10\, but all are welcome to listen to these fantastic stories. Participants will receive a zoom link by email prior to the event. Register for free now! \nPlease email mhawley@cpf.ca with any questions or concerns pertaining to the event. \nAbout Candace  \nCandace Amarante writes short stories\, plays and children’s books. “Le ciel me sourit/ The Sky Smiles at Me” is Candace’s first bilingual book for children. Her most recent work includes: a dialogue\, “Let’s not talk about it anymore” (Questions: Philosophy for Young People Fall 2022); The Dream Machine (in collaboration with Dr. Argerie Tsimicalis and Shriners Hospitals for Children-Canada; Tellwell Publishers\, forthcoming); “The Blunder Family: Now where’d I put the pork?” (East of the Web 2020); The Pheasant’s Tale or … was it its Tail? (Green Bamboo Publishing 2017).  Candace holds a doctorate in political science from Columbia University\, NY. She lives in Montreal\, where she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children. When she is not writing\, she loves skiing with her husband and reading with her daughter. For more information\, please visit her website: https://sites.google.com/site/candaceamarante/
URL:https://qwf.org/event/canadian-parents-for-french-bilingual-virtual-story-time-with-candace-amarante/
LOCATION:Zoom\, https://bit.ly/35akIGi
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230309T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230309T220000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20221215T182413Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221215T182414Z
UID:10003242-1678392000-1678399200@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Biography\, Autobiography\, and Ghostwriting
DESCRIPTION:The basic tools of biography and autobiography are the same\, and this workshop will show how you can write any life in a meaningful and engaging way. \n\n\n\nThe first challenge is learning how to put lives in a larger context. This means researching the times and places the subject lived in\, then weaving their individual narratives with all of their complex personal relationships\, into the larger world. We will learn how to do this with the use of the illuminating details that bring people and places to life. \n\n\n\nWe will also look at the sub-category of ghostwriting\, where you are writing a first-person biography and\, in a sense\, become the person you are writing for\, internalizing their thoughts and feelings as you use all of the tools at your disposal to tell their story as if was your own. \n\n\n\nGhostwriting also happens to be a field where a writer can make a decent living in Canada\, and at the end of the course\, we will look at the business side and what goes into a ghostwriting contract. \n\n\n\nOne thing you soon discover in writing biographies of any kind\, including ghosting an autobiography\, is the truth of the cliché that everyone has a book in them. At least in the sense that all of our stories—following our lives along the trajectories of time and space and meeting and beating challenges—are worth telling. As a writer you discover that it is a privilege to write someone else’s life. \n\n\n\nIdeally\, you will be working on biographical or autobiographical material of your own in the class\, but this is not necessary. If you are working on a text now or if you are simply planning one for the future\, I look forward to meeting you in the spring of 2023 and exploring the writing of lives together. \n\n\n\nPeter McFarlane has written 4 nonfiction books of his own and five ghostwritten books\, as well as more than 100 newspaper and magazine features. He has specialized in Indigenous history and politics and has worked on several CBC radio programs as a researcher and on-air contributor. He is currently completing another ghostwritten book and a new work of his own nonfiction.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/biography-autobiography-and-ghostwriting/2023-03-09/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230309T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230309T200000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20221215T181429Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221215T181432Z
UID:10003234-1678384800-1678392000@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Writing the TV Pilot
DESCRIPTION:In this eight-week workshop\, Montreal-based screenwriter Allen Markuze will give you the tools to be able to write a TV pilot. He’s going to do so by asking and helping answer the following… \n\n\n\n\nWhat is your TV series about?\n\n\n\nIs your idea sustainable?\n\n\n\nWhat happens episode to episode?\n\n\n\nWhat’s the theme of your show?\n\n\n\nWhat are some similar shows?\n\n\n\nWho are your characters?\n\n\n\nIs your pilot going to be a premise episode or an episodic episode?\n\n\n\nWhat is a three-act structure and five-act structure?\n\n\n\n\nThese intimate sessions will involve a mixture of group discussion\, critical analysis of TV pilots and shows\, and workshopping participants’ own ideas with the goal of completing their own TV pilot. Ideas will be workshopped in groups as well as one-on-one with the workshop leader and fellow participants. \n\n\n\nAllen Markuze is an award-winning screenwriter who has taken part in writers rooms and has written for a variety of live-action and animation TV shows that have aired on the likes of Netflix\, Disney\, Nickelodeon\, Hulu\, and CBC. Before embarking on a screenwriting career\, Markuze spent several years working in LA at Dan Halsted’s company\, Manage-ment\, where he helped manage a roster of writers from shows such as Mad Men and Breaking Bad\, and on feature films like Friday Night Lights and Wall Street. Prior to that\, he worked as an assistant to screenwriter Janus Cercone (Leap of Faith with Steve Martin). Markuze’s foray into the entertainment industry began as a development intern in LA at Underground Films (FX’s Snowfall) where he read countless scripts\, books\, and plays\, and eavesdropped on A LOT of conversations.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/writing-the-tv-pilot/2023-03-09/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230308T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230308T220000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150037
CREATED:20221215T172340Z
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SUMMARY:The Ghost at the Heart of a Short Story
DESCRIPTION:A man down on his luck has moved everything he owns out onto his lawn\, and for no reason anybody can articulate\, he pawns some of it to two young passersby; in northern Ontario\, a woman whose cancer is in remission lets a teenaged boy\, half her age\, kiss her on a floating bridge—she doesn’t know why; in a hotel room in Wenatchee\, a man has a strange\, galvanizing sexual encounter with a bare-knuckle boxer\, and it leaves him more sure of himself\, or more sure of his past\, or more sure of who he might yet become. But if you asked him what had changed\, he wouldn’t be able to tell you. \n\n\n\nThere is something ineffable in every good short story\, something that cannot bepinned down\, a question—perhaps insignificant—whose answer is not merely unknown\, but unknowable\, and whose presence haunts us long after we’ve put a story down. \n\n\n\nThis workshop is a guided discussion about the plot\, characters\, point of view\, structure\, and language (the mechanics or “craft”) of participants’ short stories\, as well as an investigation of each story’s aboutness\, patterns\, emotional plot\, and central question(s)—that is\, all those hard-to-define elements that make fiction what it is. \n\n\n\nAdditionally\, the workshop aims to foster community among the attendees\, to bring together \n\n\n\nwriters of similar skill and drive\, and to encourage the kind of creative energy that crackles \n\n\n\nbetween new practitioners. \n\n\n\n Some Learning Objectives \n\n\n\n\nCritical reading\, and the ability to identify the roots of a story’s problems\, particularly with regard to dramatic structure and conflict. Conversely: the ability to identify the roots of a story’s successes\, especially when it seems intangible or difficult to pin down.\n\n\n\nClose reading\, even of your own work\, for strongest possible sentences. (They are\, after all\, the building blocks of fiction.)\n\n\n\nImmersing yourself in\, and engaging with\, literature among a cohort of people who are similarly immersed and engaged in literature; enjoying it.\n\n\n\n\nIn our first meeting\, we will establish a schedule\, review workshop etiquette\, spend some time meeting each other\, and do a few writing exercises. From then on\, each session will consist of detailed discussion and feedback of participants’ stories. The goal\, always\, is to offer the writer of each story constructive suggestions to help them improve the story and their craft. We are\, I always say\, in this together. \n\n\n\nIn preparation: Please bring a short story you’ve written of no more than 2500 words to the first session. \n\n\n\nD. W. Wilson is the author of Once You Break a Knuckle\, a collection of short stories\, and Ballistics\, a novel. His work has appeared in lit mags across the globe\, and in 2011 he won the BBC National Short Story Award for “The Dead Roads.” Since then he has been shortlisted for numerous fiction prizes\, and has won the CBC Short Story Prize and the Manchester Fiction Prize. He taught creative writing at the University of Victoria and Brandon University\, as well at literary festivals such as the London Short Story Festival and Wordfest.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/the-ghost-at-the-heart-of-a-short-story/2023-03-08/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230308T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230308T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150038
CREATED:20230223T213847Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230426T202117Z
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SUMMARY:Carolyn Guillet's "Seventeen [Anonymous] Women": Public Reading and Book Launch
DESCRIPTION:Seventeen women gather around the metaphorical fire of a lit theatrical stage to tell their stories\, to dip their ladles into the bubbling stew-pot of humanity’s collective tales\, some new\, some old. They sing\, they suffer\, they laugh\, they cry. Feisty\, angry\, whimsical\, and forgiving\, they obey the ancient dramatic imperative to act out life’s most challenging obstacles\, crises\, revelations\, and transformations\, for their benefit and for ours. In the same way a painter moves towards the light\, they stumble and grope and feel their way towards joy\, taking us with them. Seventeen women\, seventeen stories\, seventeen juicy spiritual journeys for hungry souls. The premiere production of this vibrant\, playful and evocative theatrical text has been described by Ray Conlogue (former theatre critic Globe & Mail) as “Brilliant… Funny & Sexy”\, and by Jim Burke (theatre critic for Montreal’s Gazette) as “sublime”.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/carolyn-guillets-seventeen-anonymous-women-public-reading-and-book-launch/
LOCATION:Theatre Rouge\, 4750 avenue Henri-Julien\, Montreal\, Quebec\, H2T 2C8\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Storytelling
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230308T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230308T200000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150038
CREATED:20230109T170626Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230109T170629Z
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SUMMARY:The Joys and Pitfalls of Memoir
DESCRIPTION:This workshop will explore the hazards and rewards of writing a personal memoir. Throughout the eight weeks\, we will look at ways to produce a compelling narrative out of the chaos of the past. We’ll discuss the tremendous value of research\, but we’ll also consider whether research can sometimes handicap a project. We will explore the creation of a narrative voice. And we will ask if and how a writer knows that a memoir has achieved its ideal focus and shape. \n\n\n\nEach participant will be expected to produce one or two finished (or near-finished) pieces of writing. They could be either stand-alone essays or excerpts from a longer work. I will provide a detailed response to these pieces\, and other participants in the workshop will be asked to give their feedback too. A good portion of time each week will be spent on a discussion of the work submitted by participants. Throughout the workshops\, I plan to emphasize the crucial importance not just of remembering but of rethinking and rewriting.  \n\n\n\nIn the remainder of each session\, we will examine and debate issues that memoir-writing brings to the fore. We will delve into some thorny issues that memoirs often raise: the unreliability of memory\, an author’s urge to justify\, and the sense of hurt and betrayal that a memoir may provoke in other people. I will ask the participants to read selected materials (none of them too lengthy) as a basis for discussion.   \n\n\n\n“Memoir\,” for the purposes of this workshop\, can include small-scale personal essays as well as longer\, more ambitious texts. The participants may choose to focus on a particular relationship\, place\, or time. But the pieces they submit for discussion should all be personal in nature\, and unless there are unusual reasons to the contrary\, they should make use of the first-person pronoun. Memoir can be a demanding form; it allows the author no place to hide. Yet it can be immensely rewarding to write. \n\n\n\nThe overall aim is to equip participants with more awareness\, more skills\, and more confidence in their own work.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/the-joys-and-pitfalls-of-memoir-2/2023-03-08/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230308T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230308T173000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150038
CREATED:20230228T191403Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230307T181655Z
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SUMMARY:Writers Out Loud: Woman\, Life\, Freedom
DESCRIPTION:March 8\, 2023\, 4:00–5:30 EST\n\n\n\nFree\, open to all.Online via Zoom. Registration required.Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4c6qj4lXRDmGR2kaIkbAQQ \n\n\n\nOn International Women’s Day\, authors Baharan Baniahmadi (Prophetess\, winner of the 2022 Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction) and Anahita Jamali Rad (for love and autonomy and still) come together in a panel discussion about their writing practice and the Woman\, Life\, Freedom protest movement in Iran.  \n\n\n\nThe event will feature both writers in conversation with a moderator followed by an audience-led Q&A. \n\n\n\nPart of QWF’s Writers Out Loud series. \n\n\n\nPlease feel free to share the Facebook event with friends or family. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout the Panelists\n\n\n\nBaharan Baniahmadi is an Iranian-Canadian artist based in Montreal. After attaining a BA in theatre from Tehran’s Art University\, a BA in Paris\, and an MA in philosophy and art from Paris-8 University\, Baharan began her acting career in France\, where she collaborated with numerous prominent stage directors. She moved to Canada in 2018\, and in 2019 she was named Greatest Actor of Colour in Montreal by Diversité artistique Montréal (DAM).  \n\n\n\nIn 2006\, Baharan released her first collection of short tales\, published in Iran. Her English-language debut\, Prophetess\, was published in Montreal in 2022 and won the 2022 Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAnahita Jamali Rad is a text-forward artist currently living\, working\, and making on the traditional territory of the Anishnaabeg people of the Three Fires Confederacy (Ojibwe\, Potawatomi\, and Odawa). Jamali Rad’s work is founded on techno-materialist histories of dominant ideologies\, class struggle\, desire\, place\, displacement\, silence\, negation\, and the void. They have published two full-length books of poetry: for love and autonomy (Talonbooks\, 2016) and still (Talonbooks 2021). Their most recent work is the chapbook\, WHAT I WANT\, published by Model Press.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/writers-out-loud-woman-life-freedom/
LOCATION:Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
CATEGORIES:QWF Events,Writers Out Loud
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230307T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230307T220000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150038
CREATED:20221215T171053Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221215T171056Z
UID:10003218-1678219200-1678226400@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Tell Your Story as a Graphic Novel!
DESCRIPTION:You don’t need to be an artist to enjoy this graphic novel workshop. All you need is a story you want to tell and the courage to put it down on paper. Drawings can be formal and detailed or simple and expressive. Comic making bridges storytelling and picture making\, and this workshop will explore both. Through dynamic exercises that combine simple drawing experiments and story brainstorming\, each participant will develop their own personal style and hone the story they wish to tell. \n\n\n\nPeople will share their work and give feedback on each other’s pieces and end the workshop with a comic of their own! \n\n\n\nKate Lavut is the author and illustrator of the graphic novel Chico\, a true tale of the time she dressed as a boy\, jumped on a bus\, and went to Mexico. Chico was featured at TCAF\, Toronto Comics Arts Festival\, and was a finalist for the Quebec Writers’ Federation Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature. Lavut has recently produced her play A Little Bit Pregnant at Fringe Montreal and was a finalist for the Most Promising Emerging Artist award. She is currently at work on a new graphic novel\, about her experience having breast cancer\, called Content Removed.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/tell-your-story-as-a-graphic-novel/2023-03-07/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230307T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230307T200000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150038
CREATED:20221215T165441Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221215T165444Z
UID:10003210-1678212000-1678219200@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Deep Story Design
DESCRIPTION:Deep Story Design depends on a divine trine of three elements: character\, plot\, and theme. \n\n\n\nNovelists\, screenwriters\, and memoirists who learn to harmonize these elements are able to create stories with depth and resonance. \n\n\n\nThis 8-week online course is for the longer form narrative writer who wants to: create structurally sound and engaging plots; craft characters whose inner and outer conflicts captivate readers; and develop impactful themes that linger after the story is over. \n\n\n\nUsing April’s Deep Story Design method of combining basic three-act structure\, the seven stepping stones that uphold a narrative arc\, and the four stages of authentic character development\, writers will be guided to create a cohesive story that is greater than the sum of its parts. \n\n\n\nWeekly lessons\, homework assignments\, and in-class exercises and conversations will focus on the essential story elements that need to be in place to ensure a compelling and meaningful narrative. \n\n\n\nNote: Handouts will be provided digitally. Live weekly Zoom calls will be recorded and available for review for up to two weeks after the workshop finishes. Homework assignments\, shared with and reviewed by participants\, will receive light feedback from April during class time. \n\n\n\nApril Bosshard has been called a “story whisperer” and “story genie” for her keen awareness of story principles and deep understanding of the writer’s craft\, which allows her to help writers deal with the complex issues of story-creating and sticking to the writing process. She’s led workshops in Canada\, the US\, France\, and Mexico\, including at the internationally recognized San Miguel Writers Conference. She’s written novels\, short stories\, poems\, and non-fiction essays for traditional and independent markets\, which include publications in the US\, UK\, and Canada. Most recently\, she contributed a chapter to the newly released The Great Book of Journaling\, How Journal Writing Can Support a Life of Wellness\, Creativity\, Meaning\, and Purpose\, (Conari\, June 2022). April develops and maintains online courses and writing programs while also working with individual clients as a writing coach and developmental editor.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/deep-story-design/2023-03-07/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230307T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230307T200000
DTSTAMP:20260403T150038
CREATED:20221214T210152Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20221214T210154Z
UID:10003194-1678212000-1678219200@qwf.org
SUMMARY:The Joys and Pitfalls of Memoir
DESCRIPTION:This workshop will explore the hazards and rewards of writing a personal memoir. Throughout the eight weeks\, we will look at ways to produce a compelling narrative out of the chaos of the past. We’ll discuss the tremendous value of research\, but we’ll also consider whether research can sometimes handicap a project. We will explore the creation of a narrative voice. And we will ask if and how a writer knows that a memoir has achieved its ideal focus and shape. \n\n\n\nEach participant will be expected to produce one or two finished (or near-finished) pieces of writing. They could be either stand-alone essays or excerpts from a longer work. I will provide a detailed response to these pieces\, and other participants in the workshop will be asked to give their feedback too. A good portion of time each week will be spent on a discussion of the work submitted by participants. Throughout the workshops\, I plan to emphasize the crucial importance not just of remembering but of rethinking and rewriting.  \n\n\n\nIn the remainder of each session\, we will examine and debate issues that memoir-writing brings to the fore. We will delve into some thorny issues that memoirs often raise: the unreliability of memory\, an author’s urge to justify\, and the sense of hurt and betrayal that a memoir may provoke in other people. I will ask the participants to read selected materials (none of them too lengthy) as a basis for discussion.   \n\n\n\n“Memoir\,” for the purposes of this workshop\, can include small-scale personal essays as well as longer\, more ambitious texts. The participants may choose to focus on a particular relationship\, place\, or time. But the pieces they submit for discussion should all be personal in nature\, and unless there are unusual reasons to the contrary\, they should make use of the first-person pronoun. Memoir can be a demanding form; it allows the author no place to hide. Yet it can be immensely rewarding to write. \n\n\n\nThe overall aim is to equip participants with more awareness\, more skills\, and more confidence in their own work.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/the-joys-and-pitfalls-of-memoir/2023-03-07/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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