Quebec Writers' Federation

Shut Up & Write! with QWF (Virtual)
2023-11-25 10:00 - 12:30 (America/New_York) | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
Saturday, November 25, 10:00 am–12:30 pmOnline via Zoom—RSVP below to receive the Zoom link

Looking for some dedicated, quiet writing space?

Register 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.

This event is for QWF members only. Not a member? Learn about becoming a member.

The Zoom link will be sent out a day or two before the session.

Please note that these sessions are designed for silent writing, rather than discussing or getting feedback on work.

10:00–10:25: Writing 110:25–10:30: Break10:30–10:55: Writing 210:55–11:00: Break11:00–11:25: Writing 311:25–11:30: Break11:30–11:55: Writing 411:55–12:00: Break12:00–12:25: Writing 5

To receive the Zoom link, RSVP below.

Note: RSVPs will close 24 hours before the event starts. If there is no option to RSVP, RSVPs are closed.

Grand Translation Slam in the Age of AI
2023-11-26 12:15 - 13:15 | QC
November 26, 202312:15-1:15 PM ESTAgora, Palais des congrès de Montréal

Two pairs of literary translators head into a bookish battle of words, against each other and against an AI translation tool. How does each translation choice bend meaning and tone to create the final effect? Can AI capture the nuance necessary in literary translation or in any translation? Hear the texts morph from one language to the next, as the translators delve into the subtleties of translating fiction. Followed by a Q&A with the audience. (Presented in French & English).

Featuring:

Sean Michaels, Author

Éric Fontaine, Translator

Catherine Ego, Translator

J.D. Kurtness, Author

Pablo Strauss, Translator

Nicola Danby, Translator

Shelley Pomerance, Host

Free Entry for QWF Members

QWF members can enter the Salon du livre for free on presentation of their membership card at the ticket office. If you do not have a physical QWF membership card, you can print or show a digital version, which was emailed to you when you registered or last renewed your membership.

If you can’t find your membership card, email Riley, QWF Membership Services Coordinator, at riley@qwf.org.

For more information, visit the Salon du livre’s Horaire et tarifs webpa

Advanced Memoir: Maintaining Momentum
2023-11-27 08:00 - 17:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
This workshop on memoir is designed for people who have already studied at the intermediate or advanced level with Elaine Kalman Naves. Please don’t be daunted by the “advanced” label. All of you are at a level to benefit from this workshop if you’re interested in writing, reading, and talking about memoir!

Though you need not be working on a book- length narrative, you will be expected to have a specific project in mind. It can be something you were working on in a previous workshop or something entirely new.

During the course of the workshop, you will have the opportunity to submit a piece of up to 3000 words, and with luck you will have a chance to present a second time. (More details about this once we get rolling.)

Instead of a text, you will have the opportunity of reading some fine memoirs and the long lead-up to this fall workshop will give you a chance to do some advance reading. Please give priority in your summer reading to the terrific memoirs by the three writers who will be guest lecturers over the course of the session. (See below.) Once we have established who the actual workshop participants will be, I will also supply you with a list of suggested optional works to enjoy over the course of the summer.

The emphasis is – as always in any workshop – 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. As in the past there will also be in-class exercises and discussion of topics of writerly interest. In a new departure, we will start critiquing participants’ pieces at the very first session. Participants who volunteer to present early in the session will be much appreciated! Getting a head start will make it possible to present second drafts. Again, we will work out these details ahead of time once the class list is established.

Here are the names of the guest lecturers and their respective titles:

Charles Foran, Just Once, No More

Harriet Alida Lye, Natural Killer

Merrily Weisbord, The Strangest Dream; Our Future Selves; Love Queen of Malabar

And please don’t forget that William Zinsser’s On Writing Well is a great resource for matters of grammar and style!

To apply, please send an email to Riley@QWF.org with the subject line “Advanced Memoir Application” no later than June 30, 2023. Your email must include:

1. a 3-5-page double-spaced writing sample (non-fiction or fiction) that you feel is representative of your abilities.

2. a paragraph or two outlining the writing project you plan to pursue in the workshop.

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/.

Playwriting Circle: Do Be So Dramatic
2023-11-29 18:00 - 20:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Eight Wednesdays, Oct 4-Nov 22, 6-8pmOpen to allLimited to 12 participantsIn-Person Workshop

This will be a Learn-by-Doing-as-You-Go, anecdotal (in a theatre history way), ease-you-into-it experience that’s not scary or overwhelming and will result in the participants having something dramatic to show for it at the end of the session. If you have always wanted to write a play or already have a play idea in the works, this is the workshop for you. I’m quite motivational, coach-like and pushy in a good way. I will get that play out of you if you’re willing to try. I am all for deadlines, discipline, and contests. Since I have more of a comic bent, there could be more emphasis on comedy at times. The workshop will evolve as it goes, based on what everyone hopes to accomplish. I am often surprised and quite happy to see what happens when I throw ideas and writing games at writers in the workshop. I am very careful about how feedback is given because everything is so new. This does not mean that there won’t be plenty of opportunity to share your work or prove that you are indeed writing. One of my past QWF workshops resulted in Picturesque: Voices from Beaver Hall, which saw productions at Redpath Museum and Dawson Theatre as well as museums in Hamilton and Calgary.

Colleen Curran is an award-winning playwright, novelist, actor, and teacher. Her comedy Cake-Walk premiered at the Blyth Festival in 1984 and has had more than 50 productions across North America. It was brought to the attention of Showtime Network by Whoopi Goldberg. Curran’s many plays include Villa Eden, Sacred Hearts (winner of the International Gabriel Award and most recently done by Zeitgeist Stage in Boston), Maple Lodge (Winner Best Canadian Play, Samuel French Inc. Competition), Another Labour Day (Best New Play QDF 1984), El Clavadista, A Brave Girl, Sybil and Sylvia, Casa de Mary Margaret, Ceili House, and Ireland’s Own Carmel O’Reilly Tonite! Her three novels about Montreal singing waitress Lenore Rutland are Something Drastic, Overnight Sensation, and Guests of Chance. Her stage adaptation of Something Drastic premiered in 2002 and has been seen in Winnipeg, Toronto, Athens, and Melbourne. Her True Nature launched the 2011-2012 season at Centaur Theatre. Out for Stars, her latest novel, made the Long List for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. During the pandemic, Colleen created Kitty Calling starring Debra Hale and Lorna Wilson, it won best Canadian web series in Toronto’s Now magazine.

So You've Written a Novel - Now What?
2023-11-29 20:00 - 22:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Eight Wednesdays, Oct 4-Nov 22, 8-10pm

Open to writers who have completed, or are close to completing, a fiction manuscript. There is no submission required prior to the first session, but participants will be expected to write loglines and query letters and share them with the group as the workshop progresses. They will also be expected to read and critique one another’s work.

Limited to 12 participants

Hybrid Workshop

The first time I typed THE END on a manuscript, I didn’t know what to do next. There’s a lot of information and encouragement on HOW to write a book, but not a lot on what to do after you’ve written the thing. And the advice you find online can be woefully misleading, confusing, or at its very worst, fraudulent.

This 8-week workshop aims to fully lay out the roadmap to traditional publishing for someone who’s finished, or is close to finishing a fiction manuscript. The journey of getting your story from your laptop to an actual book you can pick up at !ndigo follows a very specific series of steps. From landing an agent, to signing with a publisher, to contract details, this course will take you, in minute detail, through every step, with a centerpiece intensive workshop formulating your all-important Query Letter, along with details on crafting your logline, your synopsis, and your pitch kits.

Designed for absolute newbies to the world of publishing, this workshop will offer you tips and tactics to maximize your chances at every step, and by its end you should have the knowledge and confidence to approach this perilous enterprise knowing exactly what you need to do next. Because typing THE END is only the start.

—

Toronto-born, Montreal-based writer and illustrator Sherwin Sullivan Tjia has written many odd and eclectic books. Their 2005 collection of pseudohaikus, The World is a Heartbreaker, was a finalist for the Quebec Writers’ Federation’s A. M. Klein Poetry Award. Their 2010 graphic novel, The Hipless Boy, was a finalist for the Doug Wright Award for best emerging talent, as well as being nominated for 4 Ignatz Awards. Their 2011 Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style book from the POV of a housecat named Holden Catfield titled You Are a Cat! won that year’s Expozine Award for best English-language book and spawned a sequel, and a prequel. Their latest graphic novel, from 2019, entitled Plummet, is about a woman who wakes up one day to find herself in literal, perpetual freefall.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inconsolablecat/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inconsolablecat/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/inconsolablecat

SpeakUp: The Montreal Inter-Active Poetry Exchange
2023-11-30 07:00 - 21:00 | Phoenix Books, 5928 Sherbrooke Street West, 5928 Sherbrooke St W, Montreal, QC, H4A 1X7, Canada
The Montreal Inter-Active Poetry Exchange
Poets : Sarah Wolfson, Mary Dean Lee
​Join us at Phoenix Books in NDG (5928 Sherbrooke St W, Montreal, Quebec H4A 1X7)
on Thursday, November 30 @ 7 PM
​for a poetry reading with a difference, AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT
Each audience member receives a copy of the poems.
Each poet reads their poem, followed by a 15 to 20-minute discussion.
The poet reads their poem a final time.
​For more info or details contact us by
email MTLSpeakUp@gmail.com or on Facebook @MtlSpeakUp

Mille-Feuille: Writing Layered Nonfiction
2023-11-30 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-12-07 18:30 - 20:30 | Online via Zoom
Eight Thursdays, Oct 5-Dec 7 (no meeting Oct 26 and Nov 23), 6:30-8:30pmOpen to allLimited to 12 participantsOnline via Zoom

The Book of Delights, by Ross Gay. Ongoingness, by Sarah Manguso. Persephone’s Children, by Rowan McCandless. Citizen, by Claudia Rankine. Safekeeping, by Abigail Thomas. What these and many other contemporary memoirs and book-length essays share is that they build in fragments. Each fragment may be less than a page long, and the one that follows may or may not appear to be related. Yet somehow, layer upon layer, the fragments cohere into a rich and satisfying whole. In this online generative workshop, we’ll take a cue from books like these. We’ll practice writing as a process of accretion, starting small and layering, adding texture and depth to our memoirs or personal and lyric essays.

Each class will begin with a warm-up invitation, followed by conversation about a short reading related to the technique or form of the day. A second writing invitation will give you the chance to practice what we’ve discussed. You’ll also get opportunities to share your work.

You’ll come away with one or more short essays (in draft) and/or the beginning of a longer piece.

This workshop is suitable for participants at all levels. Poets wanting to move to prose and fiction writers may also enjoy it, because the exercises will be adaptable to these genres. Come prepared to write, to read, to experiment, to share.

Week 1: The Fragment and the Flash.

Week 2: Collage. Contrast, juxtaposition, the unexpected.

Week 3: The Braid. Parallel narratives.

Week 4: The Hermit Crab. The borrowed form.

Week 5: The Hermit Crab. More borrowings.

Week 6: Diptych or Triptych.

Week 7: Visual Essay.

Week 8: Accretion as Method and Aesthetic.

Note: Participants might wish to read one or more of the books mentioned above before the course begins, but there’s no requirement to do so. I’ll provide reading material before or during each class, and a list of suggested resources at the end.

Susan Olding is the author of Big Reader: Essays, a finalist for the Canadian Authors Association Fred Kerner Award and the Alberta Publishing Awards Trade Nonfiction Book of the Year, and Pathologies: A Life in Essays, selected by 49th Shelf and Amazon.ca as one of 100 Canadian books to read in a lifetime. She mentors writers through the Vancouver Manuscript Intensive and holds the 2023 Southam Residency in Personal Journalism at the University of Victoria. You can find her at www.susanolding.com.

Violet Hour: Suzette Mayr, Daniel Allen Cox, Katia Grubisic
2023-11-30 19:00 - 20:30 | Casa d’Italia, 505 Rue Jean-Talon Est, Montreal, Quebec, H2R 1T6, Canada
Violet Hour is back this fall with a new format and venue! Three writers, three readings, three interviews. Join us at the Casa D’Italia (505 Rue Jean-Talon E.) for an evening celebrating queer literature with writers Suzette Mayr, Daniel Allen Cox, and Katia Grubisic. This event is co-presented with The Équipe de recherche en études queer au Québec (ÉRÉQQ), VersUs Centre de recherche – Université de Sherbrooke, and Fierté Montréal. Suzette Mayr will be joining us to discuss The Sleeping Car Porter, her 2022 novel about the life of Baxter, a queer black man working as sleeping car porter on a Canadian train crisscrossing the country in 1929. The book won the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Daniel Allen Cox will be speaking about his recent book, I Felt the End Before It Came: Memoirs of a Queer Ex-Jehovah’s Witness, a collection of riveting essays about growing up in, and leaving, the religion. And Katia Grubisic will be joining us to discuss her translation of the legendary Marie-Claire Blais’s work, including, most recently, Nights Too Short To Dance, which is being published posthumously this fall, as Blais passed away in November 2021.

Temporarily Stairs: Developing and Refining Long-Form Fiction
2023-11-30 20:00 - 22:00, 2023-12-07 20:00 - 22:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Ten Thursdays, Oct 5-Dec 7, 8-10pmOpen via application to those with a novel-in-progress

Limited to 10 participants

Hybrid Workshop

As Mitch Hedberg pointed out, escalators are never broken—if they stop running, they still work just fine as stairs. In the same way, a story of any length is never broken, even if it sometimes feels that way. If you’ve been working on a novel or novella and are feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or just plain lost, this workshop is here to help you look at your manuscript anew and get things moving again.

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

Writing long-form fiction on your own or with few readers can be exhilarating, but can also leave you with incomplete drafts, discarded chapters, and the feeling that things have stalled. If you have pages of text, a cast of fantabulous characters, an amazing idea, and a story no one else can tell, but you sometimes want to call it a day and throw the whole thing out the window—don’t! I’ve been there, and I’m here to help.

Gaining insight from unbiased readers—myself and the other members of the group—in a supportive, creative atmosphere will help you identify issues, clarify your intent, and find real ways to improve your manuscript. To this end, our focus will be on crafting outlines and workshopping sections of each participant’s novel or novella. You will be invited to submit pages from your work in progress to receive feedback and notes from your fellow writers (including me!). You’ll also be encouraged to include one or two questions about your work with each submission, and you will have the opportunity to engage in informal question-and-answer sessions in each workshop.

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

To apply for a spot in this workshop, please submit the following to Riley at QWF (riley@qwf.org) by Wednesday, September 13 :

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

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

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

Sextant (Conundrum Press), Maya Merrick’s first novel, was released to critical acclaim in 2005, followed by The Hole Show (Conundrum Press) in 2007. She works with the Quebec Writers’ Federation as a mentor and workshop/master class facilitator, was an instructor at Concordia University’s Centre for Continuing Education, and served as the editorial and administrative assistant at Conundrum Press. She is an active writing coach, mentor, editor, copyeditor, and manuscript consultant. Maya is currently completing The Ride, a collection of microfiction.

Shut Up & Write! with QWF (In Person)
2023-12-01 12:30 - 15:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Friday, December 1, 12:30 pm–3:00 pmFree, In PersonQWF Office (Room 3, 1200 Atwater Ave., Westmount)

Register for the session by filling out the RSVP form below.

Looking for some dedicated, quiet writing space?

Join us for another in-person Shut Up & Write session at the QWF Office!

Do all that writing you’ve been meaning to do, and meet a few of your fellow QWF members. Using the Pomodoro technique, participants write in 25 minute bursts, with 5-minute breaks in between.

This event is for QWF members only. Not a member? Learn about becoming a member.

Please note that these sessions are designed for silent writing, rather than discussing or getting feedback on work.

12:30–12:55: Writing 112:55–1:00: Break1:00–1:25: Writing 21:25–1:30: Break1:30–1:55: Writing 31:55–2:00: Break2:00–2:25: Writing 42:25–2:30: Break2:30–2:55: Writing 5

To register, RSVP below.Note: If there is no option to RSVP, registration has closed.

Getting to the QWF Office

Our office is located on the top floor of the Atwater Library and Computer Centre, in Room 3.

Address: 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3Westmount, QC H3Z 1X4

Closest Metro: Atwater Station

Closest Bus lines: 24, 63, 90, 104, 138, 144, 150

Accessibility:

The QWF Office is fully accessible by wheelchair from the side entrance on Tupper Street. Once inside, there is an elevator to the second floor, where the QWF office is.

Learn more about the office location and accessibility.

ELAN x QDF x QWF Solstice Schmoozer
2023-12-04 08:00 - 17:00 | QC
Mon, Dec 4, 5:00-7:00 pmTeesri Duniya Theatre 251 avenue des Pins W, #148Open to all

Calling all community members! QWF is excited to invite you to our first “Partner Organization Schmoozer” in over a year! We’ll be gathering together with ELAN, QDF, and QWF members to make connections, learn about each other’s work, and, most importantly, schmooze! Hosted by Teesri Duniya, we’re thrilled to gather in person to wrap up the year together. Everyone welcome, and we hope to see you there!

This is a free event and open to all, so bring friends and fellow arts lovers! While an RSVP is not required, we ask interested people to do so via this link so we have a good estimate of the number of attendees.

Featuring the Minute Market: Promote your work! The first ten ELAN, QDF, and QWF members to sign up for the Minute Market will be given one minute during the event to promote their latest work (project, album, exhibition, publication, etc.) to an audience of artists and art lovers. Market participants are asked to contribute a door prize such as tickets, copy of your work, discount, book, etc., to be raffled off at the end of the event. (Note: Registration for the Minute Market is now full.)

RSVP on Facebook

Getting to the Event:

Teesri Duniya Theatre is located in the La Cité-des-Hospitalières complex on Pine Avenue.At the southwestern entrance of La Cité-des-Hospitalières (251 avenue des Pins Ouest, just east of avenue du Parc), you’ll see an arched entrance to a parking a lot. Go through there and walk past the parking lot. Enter the building on your right and proceed upstairs to the second floor.

Shut Up & Write! with QWF (Virtual)
2023-12-09 10:00 - 12:30 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
Saturday, December 9, 10:00 am–12:30 pmOnline via Zoom—RSVP below to receive the Zoom link

Looking for some dedicated, quiet writing space?

Register 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.

This event is for QWF members only. Not a member? Learn about becoming a member.

The Zoom link will be sent out a day or two before the session.

Please note that these sessions are designed for silent writing, rather than discussing or getting feedback on work.

10:00–10:25: Writing 110:25–10:30: Break10:30–10:55: Writing 210:55–11:00: Break11:00–11:25: Writing 311:25–11:30: Break11:30–11:55: Writing 411:55–12:00: Break12:00–12:25: Writing 5

To receive the Zoom link, RSVP below. You will receive the Zoom link a few days before the session.

Note: RSVPs will close 24 hours before the event starts. If there is no option to RSVP, RSVPs are closed.

Michael Tolliver Lives (Violet Hour Book Club)
2023-12-09 15:00 - 16:30 | Les Archives gaies du Quebec,, 1000 Atateken #201-A, Montreal, Quebec, H2L 3K4, Canada
Join us for the next meeting of the Violet Hour Book Club, a reading group devoted to classic and contemporary works of LGBTQ literature. The book we will be discussing is Michael Tolliver Lives (2007) by Armistead Maupin, the seventh book in the classic Tales of the City series (a stand-alone novel).

Townships Holiday Book Fest
2023-12-10 10:00 - 16:00 | Amédée-Beaudoin Community Centre, 10 Samuel-Gratham Street, Lennoxville (Sherbrooke), Quebec, J1M 2J4, Canada
Sunday, December 10, 10 am to 4 pm ESTAmédé-Beaudoin Community Centre10 Samuel-Grantham (Lennoxville)

Book Fest! The Townships Sun Holiday Book Fest invites all book lovers to meet with an exciting line-up of 25 or more recent Townships authors who will display and talk about their books. Enjoy a program of short readings, panel discussions, videos, and music throughout the day. A free pancake breakfast will be served until 1 p.m., and tea and treats all day.

The Book Fest is on Sunday, December 10, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Amédée-Beaudoin Community Centre, 10 Samuel-Grantham, Lennoxville. Free admission. All are welcome! The Book Fest is sponsored by the Townships Sun as part of its 50th Anniversary Celebrations, partnering with the Quebec Writers’ Federation and Townshippers’ Association.

The Words & Music Show: Enkonkaratonhase—Let Me Tell You a Story...
2023-12-11 20:00 | Casa del Popolo, 4873 boul. St-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec, H2T 1R6, Canada
Monday, December 11, 20238:00 PM EST (Doors open 7:30 PM)Casa del Popolo (4873 Saint-Laurent Blvd.)$10 (or pay what you can) at the door

The Indigenous people of Turtle Island were born from stories, live through sharing them, and celebrate them together through words, music, and dance. On Dec 11, four Indigenous artists welcome you to experience some of their stories with them in the spirit of respect and peace.

About the Performers

âpihtawikosisâniskwêw (Métis / Norwegian / French / British) multidisciplinary artist Moe Clark is a 2Spirit singing thunderbird. She works across diverse disciplines of vocal improvisation, spoken word poetry, sound design, and performance creation. Through creative continuums of Indigenous language immersion, song creation and embodied knowledge, Moe’s work in community reinforces the roles of 2S people, women, and intergenerational transmission. Her last solo album Within toured across North America and her collaborative video poem “nitahkôtân” won best Indigenous language music video at the ImagiNative film festival. In 2013 she directed the 10th Annual Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, highlighting Indigenous Languages, and she was named Poet of Honour at the same festival in 2014. Fire & Sage/ Du sauge et du feu, her bilingual book of poetry released through Maelström Editions, has been showcased at international literature festivals. Moe has seven albums of music, both solo and collaborative and multiple performance videos. Co-founder of Weather Beings with Māori Takatāpui dancer/ choreographer Victoria Hunt, their collaboration examines intersections of Métis & Māori cosmology and Indigenous futurism through performance experimentation. Moe’s work has appeared at the Lincoln Centre (US), UBUD Writers & Readers Festival (ID) and Origins Festival in London (UK). Originally from the prairies in Treaty 7, Moe resides in Tio’tiá:ke/ Montréal, on the unceded territory of the Kanien’keha:ka.

Barbara Kaneratonni Diabo is Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawk) of mixed heritage, originally from Kahnawake, and now lives in Montreal. She is the artistic director/choreographer for A’nó:wara Dance Theatre. She is a storyteller who uses words, music, and dance to create pieces that bring Indigenous themes, stories, and perspectives to light. Her show, Sky Dancers, won a Dora Mavor Award for Outstanding Touring Production in 2022 and she was the recipient of the Prix de la danse de Montréal for most notable dancer in 2021. Barbara collaborates with several organizations to help educate populations, create “safe spaces” and support Indigenous artists around the world. Barbara performs and creates for generations to come, for her ancestors, for community, to inspire, to communicate, to uplift spirits, and to encourage cultural pride.

In the purest tradition of Inuit culture, Nina Segalowitz (Inuvialuit and Dìne) has given regal performances of throatsinging for more than 25 years. Throat singing has been practised by the Inuit for thousands of years, and their interpretations are Inuit women’s prized moments of leisure and entertainment. Nina has performed in many countries (France, Columbia, Chile, England, Belgium, Italy, USA) with many groups and singers like with Ariane Moffat or The Symphony Orchestra of Montreal. She has been actively involved in Oktoecho projects since 2010.

At 3 million+ streams, Montreal-based queer, trans non-binary, Indigenous pop singer/songwriter Siibii has emerged onto the national music scene with catchy acoustic pop melodies and a growing catalogue that has been capturing audiences at a rapid pace. Their most recent release, “YOY,” has landed them various Spotify editorials such as “Contemporary Pop & Indigenous” and has garnered over 700,000+ streams. Siibii’s accolodes include a CBC Searchlight 2022 runner up award, Canada’s Walk Of Fame 2022 Emerging Musician Grand Prize Winner, a SOCAN Young Canadian Songwriters Award in 2021, and numerous #1 chart-topping singles on the NCI-FM’s Indigenous Music Countdown.

Originally from the Cree community of Mistissini, Quebec, Siibii strives to be a changemaker, noting the responsibility they feel to pursue their talent to create more representation within the industry for those who look and identify as they do.

Turret House Extravaganza
2023-12-13 19:00 | Maison de la Culture NDG, 6400 Monkland Avenue, Montreal, Quebec, H4B 1H3, Canada
Wednesday, December 13, 20237:00 pmMaison de la Culture NDG(3755 rue Botrel, Montreal)

Montreal micro-press Turret House invites you to the public premiere of two short films by James Hawes: The Dog Wore a Hat in collaboration with Stuart Ross and Double House Poem in collaboration with Sarah Burgoyne.

Featuring readings to launch new chapbooks by Hugh Thomas, Rose Maloukis, Jay Miller, Endre Farkas/Bálint Balassi, and Stuart Ross.

QWF Holiday Book Giveaway
2023-12-15 13:00 - 16:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Fri, Dec 15, 2023,1:00-4:00 pmQWF Office (1200 Atwater Ave, room 3, top floor)

We’re hosting a book giveaway at the QWF office!

On Friday, December 15, stop by between 1 and 4 pm before we close for two weeks for the holidays. Light refreshments will be available, and QWF members can take up to three free books. Non-members can join and get three free books, too. Enjoy some casual conversation with QWF staff and fellow members, and get yourself some new reading material (or Christmas presents for loved ones!).

RSVP on FAcebook

Getting to the QWF Office

Our office is located on the top floor of the Atwater Library and Computer Centre, in Room 3.

Address: 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3Westmount, QC H3Z 1X4

Closest Metro: Atwater Station

Closest Bus lines: 24, 63, 90, 104, 138, 144, 150

Accessibility:

The QWF Office is fully accessible by wheelchair from the side entrance on Tupper Street. Once inside, there is an elevator to the second floor, where the QWF office is.

Learn more about the office location and accessibility.

Lunch & Learn with QWF
2024-01-09 12:00 - 13:15 | QC
Tuesday, January 9, 12:00-1:15 pmOnline via ZoomFree, open to all (registration required)

Looking to learn more about QWF, what we do, and how we can help you?

Join us for the next Lunch & Learn with QWF on Tuesday, January 9!

In this 75-minute online session, we’ll provide a deep dive into all our programs and services. Whether you’re new to QWF, want to find out about a particular program, or simply want to meet the team, we welcome you to join us.

Riley Palanca (Membership Services Coordinator) will discuss QWF programs and services for emerging and aspiring writers, including our mentorship program, Shut Up & Write writing sessions, and writing workshops.Lori Schubert (Executive Director) will explain QWF programs and services for more established writers, including the Writers in the Community program, the Hire a Writer Directory, and the QWF Awards.John Wickham (Communications Officer) will provide a brief tour of the website, highlighting sections and resources that are particularly useful to QWF members.

Free and open to all.To get the Zoom link: Register by filling out the RSVP form at the bottom of the event page. After filling out the RSVP form, you will receive the Zoom link by email the day before the event.

Note: RSVPs will close at 11:00 am on Tuesday, January 9. For help getting the Zoom link, please contact John Wickham at john@qwf.org

Lunch & Learn with QWF is held once every three months. The next session will be held in April 2024.

Book Launch: Imagining Musical Pasts
2024-01-10 18:00 - 20:00 | Librairie Résonance, 40 rue Beaubien Est, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
January 10, 6:00-8:00 pmLibrairie Résonance Bookstore40, rue Beaubien Est, Montreal

Please join us for an in-person book launch celebration for Imagining Musical Pasts starting around 6pm on January 10 at Librairie Résonance (40 Beaubien E)! The event will consist of a presentation and Q&A with the author, with refreshments provided by Librairie Résonance. Copies of the book will be available for purchase.

About the Book: Imagining Musical Pasts: The Queer Literary Musicology of Vernon Lee, Rosa Newmarch, and Edward Prime-Stevenson (Clemson University Press) focuses primarily on three turn-of-the-twentieth-century musicologists–philosopher and horror writer Vernon Lee (pseud. Violet Paget), biographer and program note annotator Rosa Newmarch, and critic and amateur sexologist Edward Prime-Stevenson. It examines the strategies Lee, Newmarch, and Prime-Stevenson each used to find ways of addressing (or, in some cases, strategically not addressing) the subjects of gender and sexuality in their scholarly and creative work several decades prior to the development of any kind of organized feminist or queer approaches to musicology. This book also explores the place of musicology as a form of literature, as well as the role of gossip, fiction, and speculation in constructing music histories.

More information (including details about distribution and available formats) is available at the book’s companion website: https://imaginingmusicalpasts.hcommons.org/about-the…/

About the Author

Kristin M. Franseen is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of History and Research Associate at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Concordia University, where her work is supported by a Knowledge Mobilization Plan Grant from the FRQSC. Her research focuses on unreliable sources in the history of musicology and composer biography and appears in a variety of publications, including Music & Letters, 19th-Century Music, the Cahiers de la SQRM, and VAN Magazine. She is currently in the preliminary stages of a new project on gossip, fiction, and misinformation in Antonio Salieri’s reception history.

Winter Writers Residency 2024
2024-01-15 00:00 - 2024-02-02 23:59 | Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, 107 Tunnel Mountain Drive, Banff, Alberta, T1L 1H5, Canada
Overview
The Winter Writers Residency is a self-directed program that offers time and space for writers to retreat, reconnect, and re-energize their writing practice. In addition to a single room, and a small private studio, you will be surrounded by a community of artistic peers with the opportunity to attend inspiring talks, performances, and meet with guest faculty to consult on your work.
What does the program offer?
The three-week Winter Writers Residency will provide writers space for the creative exploration of their writing practice. This self-directed residency offers the opportunity to work away from the constraints of everyday life. Delve deep into your creative project and take advantage of the artistic community of your peers around you.
The program provides optional teaching from faculty members and professional guests, Q&A sessions, public events, and one-on-one consultations with mentors. Public readings, and group sessions led by guest mentors will explore techniques, aspects, and devices that writers may find useful in their practice.
The first two weeks focus on mentorship and consultations with faculty, the third week allows self-directed time for further work on manuscripts and peer community.
The Winter Writers Residency allows you to choose the amount of support you are looking for. All program elements are optional.
Who should apply?
We welcome writers of all ages, backgrounds, and all gender identities and expressions. Writers in all creative genres are invited to apply. The program is designed for emerging and established writers with a proven publication record seeking a period of dedicated time to work on a project in any genre.
Winter Writers Residency 2024 only accepts projects that are being written in English.
This program is not open to applicants who have taken part in a Banff Centre residency in the last year, nor to current faculty members of any other Banff Centre programming.
Application Deadline: September 06, 2023
Program Dates: January 15 – February 02, 2024
Learn more and apply online: https://bit.ly/3oXG5av
*Financial Aid of 100% of tuition and 50% of food and accommodation is available for this program.

Shut Up & Write with QWF (Virtual)
2024-01-20 10:00 - 12:30 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
Saturday, January 20, 10:00 am–12:30 pmOnline via Zoom—RSVP below to receive the Zoom link

Start 2024 off strong, and join us for the first Shut Up & Write session of the year!Looking for some dedicated, quiet writing space? Register 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.

This event is for QWF members only. Not a member? Learn about becoming a member.

The Zoom link will be sent out a day or two before the session.

Please note that these sessions are designed for silent writing, rather than discussing or getting feedback on work.

10:00–10:25: Writing 110:25–10:30: Break10:30–10:55: Writing 210:55–11:00: Break11:00–11:25: Writing 311:25–11:30: Break11:30–11:55: Writing 411:55–12:00: Break12:00–12:25: Writing 5

To receive the Zoom link, RSVP below. You will receive the Zoom link a few days before the session.

Note: RSVPs will close 24 hours before the event starts. If there is no option to RSVP, RSVPs are closed.

The Words & Music Show
2024-01-22 20:00 - 22:00 | Casa del Popolo, 4873 boul. St-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec, H2T 1R6, Canada
Monday, January 22, 20248:00 pm EST (Doors: 7:30 pm)Casa del Popolo (4873 St Laurent Blvd, Montreal)

Join us for the January 2024 edition of the Words & Music Show, featuring the three winners and one finalist of the 2023 Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize.

Featuring:

Michael “BeWyrd” Clark (Winner, 2023 Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize)

Caitlin Murphy (Winner, 2023 Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize)

Svens Telemaque (Finalist, 2023 Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize)

Deb Vanslet (Winner, 2023 Spoken Word Prize)

Hosted by poet, trumpet player, and community worker Jason “Blackbird” Selman.

Tickets will be available at the door.

About the Performers

Michael “BeWyrd” Clarke is a slam poet based in Tio’tia:ke. He is the president of the Throw! Poetry Collective, which showcases competitive yet friendly bilingual poetry slams every 1st Saturday at Le Basement. He has a master’s degree in educational technology and is also a musician, livestreamer, and martial artist. For his piece “Survival Mechanisms,” he was a winner of the 2023 Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize.

Caitlin Murphy is a writer, director, and dramaturg. She has performed in one-woman shows, stand-up and sketch comedy, and a web-series she created called Mothers Try. Caitlin has also written and directed plays and short films. She was a finalist for the 2022 QWF Spoken Word Prize, and for her piece “All the Screams,” she was a winner of the 2023 Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize.

Svens Telemaque has a unique perspective on life and challenges the average perception of circumstances, faith, and emotion. After relocating to Montreal in 2007, he co-founded L’art Selah, a poetry collective, and released his first book, Pen of a Ready Writer Vol.1, in 2014. For his piece “Out of Space,” he was a finalist for the 2023 Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize.

Deb Vanslet is a media artist, storyteller, and writer. Her videos explore storytelling and performance. Deb hosted Dykes on Mykes, CKUT-FM for 16 years. She is a co-producer of Confabulation, live storytelling. She won the 2015 carte blanche Prize (“Self-Serve”), and “Ghost Station” was published in The Malahat Review. For her piece “Laughter in the Rain,” she was a winner of the 2023 Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize.

About the Host

Jason “Blackbird” Selman is a Montreal-born poet, trumpet player and community worker. He is the author of The Freedom I Stole (2007, Cumulus Press) and Africa As A Dream That Travels Through My Heart (2016, Howl) and co-editor of the poetry anthology Talking Book (2006, Cumulus Press), which chronicles the writings of Kalm Unity Vibe Collective (of which he is a founding member). He has done extensive poetry workshops in schools and community groups across the Montreal area. His work is grounded in the themes of ethnomusicology, surrealist expression, love, and the intersection of masculinity and emotional vulnerability.

Lunch and Learn with YES
2024-01-23 12:00 - 13:30 | YES Montreal, 666 Sherbrooke Street West, Suite 700, Montreal, Quebec, H3A0B2, Canada
Tuesday, January 23, 202412:00–1:30 pm ESTYES Montreal (666 Sherbrooke Street West, Suite 700, Montreal) or Online (via Microsoft Teams)Free, Registration Required (RSVP below)

Presenting the Youth Employment Services (YES) Montreal!

“You know art. YES can help you to sharpen your business skills.”

YES is a non-profit, community-driven English-language service provider that has been helping Quebecer artists develop skills needed to succeed in the creative world. In this Lunch & Learn, YES Artist Business Coach Caroline Gauthier will be presenting the programs and services YES offers for writers and other artists.

From artist coaching, to educational panels, to workshops on taxes and contracts, YES is an invaluable hub for writers and artists.

Come join us on 23rd of January from 12nn-1:30pm at YES Montreal (666 Sherbrooke Street West, Suite 700) for this informative presentation. After the presentation, interested folks are invited to stay for mingling and free one-on-one consultations.

If you are unable to join in-person, you can also attend the event virtually via Microsoft Teams. A link to join the meeting will be sent out the day before. (Note that you do not need to install a separate program on your device: you can run the Teams meeting via your normal internet browser.)

To secure your spot, please RSVP using the button below. You will have the option of indicating whether you will be attending in-person or virtually.

Perspective in Literary Fiction
2024-01-24 18:00 - 21:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
This five-week workshop will offer a deep dive into the use of perspective in fiction. Storytellers operate in first-person, second-person, third-person limited, third-person omniscient, and more unusual points-of-view. What distinguishes these perspectives? What are their gifts and limitations? Most importantly, what can your chosen perspective do for the story you want to tell?

Each class will open with a discussion of perspective in some published fiction. How close is the narrator to the characters? How does the perspective affect the voice in which the story is told? What is the relationship of the voice to the characters?

Next, we will do two writing exercises. The first will be largely generative, based on the reading. The second will be integrative, guiding participants to apply what we are learning to their own stories or characters.

After discussing the writing exercises, we will devote the last part of each class to discussing participant stories.

On registration, participants will receive a packet of published stories or samples to be discussed in the first class; reading for subsequent weeks will be distributed after our first meeting. Participants are encouraged to bring ½-1 page of fiction to share on the first day, though they may choose instead to share some work generated in class. Subsequently, each participant is encouraged to submit 3-10 pages of fiction to be discussed by the class with a special focus on perspective. Otherwise, discussion will be tailored to participant preferences, with an eye to making discussion as useful to the writer as possible.

Participants should arrive each week having read the assigned stories and their peers’ work (approximately 40 pages). Be prepared to discuss these thoughtfully and with engagement! My goal is to create a space for candid and open-ended discussion.

Participants will finish the workshop with greater fluency and command in perspective, as readers able to discern the subtleties and mechanics of this important aspect of our craft, and as writers able to choose and employ a storytelling perspective with verve and confidence.

Padma Viswanathan’s novels have been published in eight countries and shortlisted for various awards, including the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Her most recent book is Like Every Form of Love: A Memoir of Friendship and True Crime (Random House Canada, 2023). Her short fiction, essays, and short translations can be found in Granta, The Paris Review, BRICK, and elsewhere. Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Arkansas, she has also served as fiction faculty at the Banff Center, the Vermont Studio Center, the Bread Loaf Conferences, and the low-residency MFA of Fairleigh Dickinson University. More at www.padmaviswanathan.com

January Japan Book Club
2024-01-25 19:00 - 21:00 | QC
January 25, 7:00-9:00 pmOnline via Zoom (registration instructions below)

Looking for a book to start your new year with some poetic verve? The Argo Bookshop, in conjunction with the JET Alumni Association of Quebec and Atlantic Canada, will be hosting its next Japan Book Club on January 25th.

For this meeting, we’ll be discussing A Narrow Road to the Interior by Matsuo Basho. This classic work from the famed poet details a trip through late 17th century Japan, with scenery and anecdotes punctuated with poetry. While the haiku themselves are considered a masterwork, the travelogue also has inspired many people to follow in Basho’s footsteps and travel through less trafficked country in Japan.

Join us online via Zoom for a lively discussion! Email events@argobookshop.ca for the link. You can read the book in any language. We will be stocking two translations of the book in the store, but you are welcome to read a different one! You’re also welcome to come if you haven’t read the book, but there will be spoilers (as much as there can be for a centuries-old poetic travelogue!).

Shut Up & Write! with QWF (In Person)
2024-01-26 12:30 - 15:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Friday, January 26, 12:30 pm–3:00 pmFree, In PersonQWF Office (Room 3, 1200 Atwater Ave., Westmount)

Register for the session by filling out the RSVP form below.

Looking for some dedicated, quiet writing space?

Join us for the first in-person Shut Up & Write session of the year!

Do all that writing you’ve been meaning to do, and meet a few of your fellow QWF members. Using the Pomodoro technique, participants write in 25 minute bursts, with 5-minute breaks in between.

This event is for QWF members only. Not a member? Learn about becoming a member.

Please note that these sessions are designed for silent writing, rather than discussing or getting feedback on work.

12:30–12:55: Writing 112:55–1:00: Break1:00–1:25: Writing 21:25–1:30: Break1:30–1:55: Writing 31:55–2:00: Break2:00–2:25: Writing 42:25–2:30: Break2:30–2:55: Writing 5

To register, RSVP below.Note: If there is no option to RSVP, registration has closed.

Getting to the QWF Office

Our office is located on the top floor of the Atwater Library and Computer Centre, in Room 3.

Address: 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3Westmount, QC H3Z 1X4

Closest Metro: Atwater Station

Closest Bus lines: 24, 63, 90, 104, 138, 144, 150

Accessibility:

The QWF Office is fully accessible by wheelchair from the side entrance on Tupper Street. Once inside, there is an elevator to the second floor, where the QWF office is.

Learn more about the office location and accessibility.

Confabulation presents : Shortest Story 14
2024-01-27 21:00 - 23:00 | Centaur Theatre, 453 St. Francois-Xavier, Montreal, Quebec, HZY 2T1, Canada
It’s that time of year. Centaur’s Wildside Festival meets Confabulation’s Shortest Story eventSaturday January 27, 2024 21h2-minute stories, told by as many storytellers as we can fit in!

If you have a very short true-life story to share, send us an email

Stories – quick as we can tell them. Come join the chaotic fun!Get your tickets here: https://centaurtheatre.com/shows/confabulation/Centaur Theatre 453 Saint Francois Xavier St Montreal, Quebec H2Y 2T2

Information Session: One Planet, Countless Wor(l)ds
2024-01-29 12:00 - 13:00 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
January 29, 12:00–1:30 pm ESTOnline via Zoom (RSVP below to get the link)

An informal, online information session for writers and literary artists interested in the “One Planet, Countless Wor(l)ds” initiative.

Project Coordinator Liana Cusmano will be joined by Executive Director Lori Schubert and Communications Officer John Wickham to answer questions from writers and literary artists.

One Planet, Countless Wor(l)ds is an initiative produced by the Quebec Writers’ Federation and the Conseil des arts de Montréal which will take place in the spring and summer of 2024 in the West Island of Montreal.

Learn more and read the call for project proposals.

This event has now passed.

Watch the Information session recording
