Quebec Writers' Federation

Write Here, Write Now -- New Anthology Competition
2023-01-22 13:30 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | Online – Please RSVP
Come and join us on Sunday 22nd January, at 1.30pm, for the Zoom launch of our new book anthology competition.
Write Here, Write Now is seeking submissions of short work in any genre and on any theme. The deadline is April 11th, 2023, and those accepted will be published in a paperback and ebook format in September 2023.
At the Zoom launch, you will have the opportunity to find out more about the competition, get information on the submission details, meet the editorial board, and ask any questions you may have about the project.
About the anthology editor:
Rebecca Welton is a writer and editor. She was shortlisted for the Fresher Prize in short stories, and currently runs creative writing workshops for WHWN and BULLA. She is the editor of Hope and Resilience in the Time of Covid, an anthology of community writing and artistry. Rebecca is both a developmental editor and a qualified copyeditor. She works with writers to craft their work into the best version possible.
Write Here, Write Now is supported by Bishop’s University Lifelong Learning Academy.
Bishop’s University is located on the Traditional and Unceded Territory of the Abenaki People.

Book Publishing Explained for Writers
2023-01-21 13:00 - 15:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
This is the first of two workshops to be offered in 2023 on the theme of getting published. Watch for a longer interactive workshop in the fall.

A veteran of Canada’s book industry will demystify how the publishing process works, from acquisitions to the finished product to how books get into the market. He will explain the importance of the pitch letter in finding a publisher or agent, why hitting deadlines is paramount to successful publishing, and the dual roles of the marketing department and the author’s input in creating a bestseller. He will also share his thoughts on literary agents—and how to find a publisher without one—in a nuts and bolts seminar on the arcane world of book publishing.

Former publisher of House of Anansi Press, founding publisher of University of Regina Press, Vice President of Marketing for Margret Atwood’s Longpen, and Director of Marketing and Publicity at McClelland & Stewart, Bruce Walsh has published many bestselling and award-winning books in his 30-year career. He is on the boards of Pen Canada and the Port Medway Readers Festival, is helping to program the Lunenburg Literary Festival, and is Vice Chair of the Disabilities Committee for the South Shore Libraries.

He is consulting with writers and other book professionals after stepping down as publisher due to illness and can be contacted directly at Kickinghorse@live.com.

Illuminated Grant Writing
2023-01-21 10:00 - 13:00, 2023-01-14 10:00 - 13:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
This series of four workshops will examine how writers with projects for print, spoken word, or storytelling can make a strong literary arts grant application. From drafting a project description to balancing a budget, we will also discuss artistic risk, impact and cultural appropriation. Focus will be on funding programs at the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and an arts council program officer will join us to answer questions. This series is intended for Quebec-based writers at all stages of their practice: emerging, mid-career, or established. There will be tasks to complete between sessions and participants must have an original literary arts project in mind.

Access to MS Word or similar writing software will be necessary as well as a willingness to share work, and give and receive feedback in a workshop setting.

Tawhida Tanya Evanson is a poet, author, multidisciplinary artist and producer. Her two poetry collections are Bothism (Ekstasis 2017) and Nouveau Griot (Frontenac 2018), and her debut novel Book of Wings (Véhicule 2021) won the 2022 New Contribution Literary Prize, was on the 2022 CBC Canads Reads Longlist, and was one of Quill & Quire’s 2021 Books of the Year. With a 25-year practice in spoken word, she has performed in over a dozen countries and released several studio albums and videopoems including the award-winning Almost Forgot my Bones. In 2013, she was Poet of Honour at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word and received the Golden Beret Award for her contribution to the genre. Director of the Banff Centre Spoken Word residency and VP of The Quebec Writers’ Federation, she is at work on an Afrofuturist film premiering in spring 2023 and a French translation of her novel. She moonlights as a whirling dervish.

Winter Writers Retreat 2023 | Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
2023-01-16 10:00 - 2023-01-28 19:00 | Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, 107 Tunnel Mountain Drive, Banff, Alberta, T1L 1H5, Canada
The Winter Writers Retreat 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?
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. This program provides opportunities for consultations with mentors, and optional group sessions led by guest mentors that allow writers to explore literary tools, aspects, and devices that you may find useful in your practice. You may also sign up for additional walks and day trips within Banff National Park as well as campus-wide activities organized by our Participant Resources team.
This 13-day residency provides thematic teaching from faculty members, Q&A sessions, public events, and one-on-one workshopping. Instructors will discuss ideas, experiences, and obstacles that participants may be encountering with their writing across genre. This flexible program allows you to choose the amount of support you are looking for. All program elements are optional.

Winter Writers Retreat 2023 | Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
2023-01-16 00:00 - 2023-01-28 23:59 | Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, 107 Tunnel Mountain Drive, Banff, Alberta, T1L 1H5, Canada
The Winter Writers Retreat 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?
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. This program provides opportunities for consultations with mentors, and optional group sessions led by guest mentors that allow writers to explore literary tools, aspects, and devices that you may find useful in your practice. You may also sign up for additional walks and day trips within Banff National Park as well as campus-wide activities organized by our Participant Resources team.
This 13-day residency provides thematic teaching from faculty members, Q&A sessions, public events, and one-on-one workshopping. Instructors will discuss ideas, experiences, and obstacles that participants may be encountering with their writing across genre. This flexible program allows you to choose the amount of support you are looking for. All program elements are optional.
Who should apply?
We welcome writers from all 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 Retreat 2023 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 21, 2022
*Financial Aid of 100% of tuition and 50% of food and accommodation is available for this program.

Confabulation presents: The Shortest Story XIII
2023-01-13 20:00 - 22:00 | Centaur Theatre, 453 St. Francois-Xavier, Montreal, Quebec, HZY 2T1, Canada
Our annual 2-minute story tradition continues. True stories, as quick as we can tell them.

Writing Outside the Box: A Workshop on Edgy Fiction
2023-01-12 20:00 - 22:00, 2023-01-05 20:00 - 22:00, 2022-12-29 20:00 - 22:00, 2022-12-22 20:00 - 22:00, 2022-12-15 20:00 - 22:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Open to writers of all experience levels.

Due to the content in some of the exercises, this workshop is restricted to participants aged 18+.

Limited to 12 participants

We plan to hold this workshop in person at the QWF office, with up to two virtual slots available for people who are unable to come to our office. If public health conditions necessitate it, this workshop may transition to a purely online model.

Looking to shake up your process? Interested in breaking the rules a little? Designed to inspire unique approaches to creative writing, this workshop will help squash your inner editor and provoke your inner rebel, giving you the confidence you need to write more openly and honestly.

Over the course of eight weeks, participants will delve into the work of unconventional writers like Italo Calvino, Kelly Link, John Elizabeth Stintzi, and George Saunders. You’ll learn tips and techniques for producing work quickly and fearlessly. You’ll dabble with ekphrasis, magic realism, and second-person perspective, and you’ll hone your ability to give and receive constructive feedback in a wildly creative working environment.

This is a fun, provocative, and productive workshop that’s generated award-winning fiction and long-term friendships. It is suitable for writers of any experience level, from the shy beginner to the established professional, working in any medium or genre. And while filled with lesson-based exercises and guided assignments, this workshop is happily (and willfully) anti-academic. Participants are not taught writing theory but are encouraged to develop their skills through the acts of reading and writing alone. Here, you learn by doing.

There is no submission required prior to the first session. Participants will be expected to share fiction with the group as the workshop progresses.

This is the perfect way to kickstart a project, rejuvenate your existing process, or to simply step outside of your comfort zone by experimenting with new approaches to creativity.

Come play with the weird kids of creative writing. (One of us. One of us.)

Trepassey-born writer Tracey Waddleton splits her time between the island of Newfoundland and the island of Montreal. Her first book, Send More Tourists… the Last Ones Were Delicious, was published by Breakwater Books in July of 2019 and won the 2020 ReLit Award for Short Fiction. She is the inaugural recipient of the Quebec Writers’ Federation Max Margles Writing Residency and is spending/spent the month of August writing in Dublin, Ireland in 2022.

www.traceywaddleton.com

Instagram: @bartlebomb

Twitter: @traceywaddleton

Facebook: www.facebook.com/tracey.waddleton

Edit like an Editor: How to Edit Your Own Prose
2023-01-12 19:00 - 21:00, 2023-01-05 19:00 - 21:00, 2022-12-29 19:00 - 21:00, 2022-12-22 19:00 - 21:00 | Online via Zoom
This workshop is open to all levels of writers who have a prose manuscript they want to work on.

Limited to 12 participants.

This workshop will be conducted via Zoom.

Using tips, tricks, and hands-on exercises, workshop participants will learn about the different types of editing (including developmental editing, line editing, copyediting, and fact checking) and how to see their own work with fresh eyes.

Through reading, discussion, and exercises, this workshop will cover:

How to see your own work with an editor’s eyeSpotting common problems (info dumping, “as you know, Bob” explanations, insufficient conflict, misunderstanding genre conventions, etc.)Understanding character development (goals and motivation)How to make the most out of dialoguePoint of view, and common problems with point of view (e.g. head hopping)

This workshop is geared toward book-length manuscripts, including short story and essay collections. Applicants must submit an excerpt from their manuscript (maximum 25 pages) along with a short description of the whole project in order to be considered for the workshop. After registering below, you have until September 9 to send your document(s) to workshops@qwf.org, with “For Maria Turner” in the subject line.

By the end of the workshop, participants will have an in-depth editorial plan for their manuscript and have a solid understanding of the different types of editing and how to apply them to their own work.

Maria Schamis Turner is a freelance editor specializing in developmental editing and line editing for fiction and creative nonfiction. She is a founding editor and previous editor-in-chief and creative nonfiction editor of the literary magazine carte blanche. She worked for 10 years on literary projects for CBC Radio, including as an editor for Canada Writes. She was also the producer of the true story storytelling series This Really Happened and has taught numerous workshops on storytelling, writing, and editing.

Turneredits.com

Twitter: @turnmaria

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