Quebec Writers' Federation

Why We Write
2024-11-20 17:30 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Le Petit Dep – Le Loft, 290 rue de la Montagne, 3rd Floor, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Wednesday, November 20, 2024, 5:30-7:00 pm ETLe Petit Dep – Le Loft (290 Rue de la Montagne, 3rd Floor, Montreal)

Join Writers Collective of Canada as we explore the social impact of making art. Why We Write brings together established and emerging writers in a celebration of writing and storytelling to transform lives.

This event will feature a panel discussion and audience engagement through a Q&A period and interactive writing workshop experience.

Panelists include Susan Doherty, Josh Freed, Kook Fuqin Hu, and Ann Lambert.

QWF is proud to partner with Writers Collective of Canada to organize this event.

RSVP on FAcebook

LANCEMENT | Worldwise: Édouard Roditi’s Twentieth Century
2024-11-20 18:00 | Librairie Le Port de tête, 262 avenue du Mont-Royal Est, Montreal, Quebec, H2T 1P6, Canada
Wednesday, November 20, 6:00 pm ETLibrairie Le Port de tête (269 avenue du Mont-Royal Est, Montreal)

Join Robert Schwartzwald et Sherry Simon for the launch of their new book: Worldwise: Édouard Roditi’s Twentieth Century.

About the Authors

Robert Schwartzwald is a Professor of literature at the Université de Montréal and Chair of the Jewish Public Library’s J.I. Segal Awards Committee. His publications include a monograph on the film C.R.A.Z.Y. and the English translation of Daniel Guérin’s The Brown Plague : Travels in Late Weimar and Early Nazi Germany.

Sherry Simon is Distinguished Professor Emerita, Concordia University. She has published widely on the cultural dynamics of multilingual cities, including Translating Montreal and Translation Sites.

Hooked: Writing Compelling YA Fiction
2024-11-20 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-11-27 18:00 - 20:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Get ready to unveil the gripping storyteller within you and keep readers turning those pages! Dive into an exciting eight-week workshop focused on techniques to captivate young adult readers. We’ll look at everything from crafting vibrant characters and heart-pounding conflicts to honing structure and pacing in YA fiction.

For our first session, bring along a favorite YA novel to share with the group. By week two, be sure to have the first chapter of your work-in-progress (up to 10 pages) for some feedback exchange. By the end of the workshop, you’ll have a roadmap to your story, completed scenes, and an inciting hook for your novel-in-the-making.

Each session will incorporate a mix of writing prompts, critique sessions, exploration of writing techniques, sneak peeks into YA literature, and lively group discussions. We’ll be reading various writing styles, structuring vibrant dialogue, and feeling all the YA vibes. We’ll even take a sneak peek into the Canadian publishing world.

Valuable feedback from both the workshop leader and your fellow writers on your opening chapter will keep you motivated and inspired. Together, we’ll work at captivating readers.

Don’t forget your writing tools for each session. All writers, whether seasoned pros or fresh faces, are welcome! Short story, graphic novel and prose writers, you’re invited too!

The following Suggested readings will sharpen your writing skills, but are not necessary for the workshop:

Corner-Bryant, Helen, and Kathryn Price. On Editing: How to Edit Your Novel the Professional Way. John Murray Learning, 2018.

Prose, Francine. Reading like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them. HarperCollins, 2009.

Strunk Jr, William. The Elements of Style: Classic Edition. Spectrum Ink, 2018.

Truby, John. The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller. Faber and Faber, 2008.

Lea Beddia is the author of Take Off! (Rebel Mountain Press) and Outta Here (Lorimer). She is also a storyteller, appearing regularly on stage with Confabulation. Born and raised in Montreal, she now teaches in Joliette, Quebec, where she lives with her husband and three children. With a passion for supporting literacy among young adults, especially for striving readers, Lea is releasing two fresh YA novels set to hit bookshelves in 2025 and 2026. Find out more at www.leabeddia.com, or say hi to Lea Beddia on Facebook or Instagram @BeddiaLea.

The Vivid and Continuous Dream: A Short Story Workshop
2024-11-20 20:00 - 22:00, 2024-11-25 20:00 - 22:00, 2024-11-27 20:00 - 22:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
In March, in 1918, an Olympic swimmer accepts a job rehabilitating the Polio-ravaged legs of a rich young woman, not knowing the mess of love and wreckage that await their future selves; in Western Australia, a bullied adolescent watches his high school tormentor drown beneath the surface of an aquifer—he expects reprieve, but all his life he will sense the boy, resinous, in the mist and the warm wet air; in Spokane, a man embarks on a strange, galvanizing quest to reclaim an heirloom headdress that once belonged to his grandmother, and the journey leaves him wondering who he is, or who he used to be, or who he might yet become.

The best stories ask questions but don’t dare give all the answers; they take the reader on a journey and leave them with a brief sliver of enlightenment. Yes: love is worth the cost to body and soul, in 1918 as much as now. No: there is no easy escape from regret, and good people will suffer if they stoop to the level of their abusers. Perhaps what matters is not to complete the task or reclaim our past, but to reassure ourselves that we tried.

This 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.

Additionally, the workshop aims to foster community among the attendees, to bring together writers of similar skill and drive, and to encourage the kind of creative energy that crackles between new practitioners.

Some Learning Objectives

Critical 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.

Close reading, even of your own work, for strongest-possible sentences. (They are, after all, the building blocks of fiction.)

To immerse yourself in, and engage with, literature among a cohort of people who are similarly immersed and engaged in literature; to enjoy it.

In 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 on 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.

In preparation: Please bring a short story of no more than 2500 words to the first session.

D. 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 and is currently a fiction mentor for the University of King’s College’s writing MFA.

Poetry and the Tiny Sea in the Ear
2024-11-21 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-11-28 18:00 - 20:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
The tiny sea in the earand the moth wing in the mind, which wait.— Don McKay, “Early Instruments”

This workshop invites participants to explore our “early instruments” of imagination and experience through the language of poetry.

“The excitement of metaphor,” writes Don McKay, “stems from the injection of wilderness into language.” Add to this idea the excitement of any element of poetic making.

During these eight weeks, we will draft and develop poems that tap the surprise of tension and release, tease out what’s wild in the everyday, refresh expectation and sharpen expression.

In each session, we will respond to each other’s poems and work with one or more prompts. In most sessions we will look briefly at a strong contemporary poem and consider what we might borrow from it as a springboard to our writing.

All levels of experience are welcome.

Susan Gillis (she/her) has taught Creative Writing at Concordia University and John Abbott College, and has led poetry workshops with QWF, Los Parronales (Chile), Blue Met, in schools and in the community. Her four books have been nominated for several awards; Volta (2002) was awarded the A.M. Klein Prize. She is a founding member of the collaborative poetry group Yoko’s Dogs (Whisk, 2013; Rhinoceros, 2016; Caution Tape, 2021). Her most recent book is Yellow Crane (Brick 2018). She works as a freelance editor and mentor.

Lawn Chair Soirée Publications Party
2024-11-21 19:00 | QC
November 21, 2024, 7:00 pm ET1444 av Union, Montreal, 2nd floor, St. Anselm’s Chapel

We are celebrating the recent publications by these authors.

Ahmad Al-Khatat – The Finest Cigarette (impspired, 2024)

Louise Carson – The Cat Crossed a Line (Signature Editions, 2024)

Mary Dean Lee – Tidal (Pine Row Press, 2024)

Norman Nawrocki – Vancouvered Out (Les Pages Noires, Montréal, QC)

Jim Olwell – The Art of Being Irish in Hell’s Kitchen (FriesenPress, 2024)

Claire Sherwood – Eat Your Words (Turret House Press, 2024)

Carolyn Marie Souaid – Looking for Her (Baraka Books, Montreal, QC)

Neil Whitehouse – The Gospel of Jesus Green: Home for All, Not Just for Humans (Wipf and Stock Publishers, Eugene, OR)

Jan Jorgensen – Birthing Godde (Ekstasis Editions, Victoria, BC)

http://lawnchairsoiree.org/janjorgensen/index.html

Books will be available for purchase.

There will be an Open Mic. 3 minutes max.

Pursuing the Erotic
2024-11-21 20:00 - 22:00, 2024-11-28 20:00 - 22:00 | Online via Zoom
This is an expanded version of the three-hour workshop “Identifying (with) the Erotic” offered in July 2022. It progresses from initial references to erotica by old hands (Anaïs Nin), incidental practitioners (James Baldwin) and newer writers (Ruel Johnson) to consider other select works in prose, poetry, and comics. You do not have to have attended the 2022 workshop to enroll in this one.

The workshop continues the exploration of what makes the erotic not only a sensual genre but a life-affirming one with participants contributing their own writing as well as sourcing that of other practitioners. While creating sexy characters and scenes with stimulating language is part of the process, and knowing your audience is crucial (there is a difference between romance, erotica and pornography), the emphasis remains on craft and telling a story that engages readers’ imagination, exciting not only the body but all of the senses. And this without apology.

Robert Edison Sandiford is the author of several books, among them the award-winning The Tree of Youth & Other Stories, And Sometimes They Fly (a novel) and Sand for Snow (memoir). He has also written graphic novels for NBM Publishing. In 2003, he and the poet Linda M. Deane founded the Barbadian cultural resource ArtsEtc Inc. He has worked as a publisher, teacher and, with Warm Water Productions, producer. His fiction and non-fiction have appeared in journals, magazines and anthologies. Currently working on another novel,his most recent titleis Fairfield from DC Books.

Poetics and Magic: Modernist Verse and Artificial Intelligence with Dr. Orla Polten
2024-11-22 16:00 - 17:30 | Birks Building, 3520 rue University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Friday, November 22, 20244:00-5:30 pm ET

Orla Polten (they/she) is a research affiliate at McGill University working on the relationship between magic and poetics. They earned their Ph.D. in English from the University of Cambridge, specialising in anglophone reception of Ancient Greek and Latin poetry. Polten’s first book, English Verse in Classical Metres, is forthcoming from Oxford University Press. Their current research asks what is at stake in the claim—prevalent in modernist poetic discourse—that poetry is a kind of magic.

Book Launch: Subterrane by Valérie Bah
2024-11-22 19:00 - 20:30 | Librairie Saint-Henri Bookstore, 4622 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Friday, November 22, 2024, 7:00-8:30 pm ETLibrairie Saint-Henri Books

Véhicule Press and Librairie Saint-Henri Books invite you to the launch of Valérie Bah’s Subterrane. Hosted by Esplanade Books editor Dimitri Nasrallah, the event will feature Valérie reading from the novel, as well as conversation with special guests Leïka Narcisse and Esi Callender. Refreshments will be served.

***

A speculative comedy comprised of a carousel of Black and Queer voices being pushed further underground by urban prosperity.

New Stockholm, a metropolis like any other across North America, is unofficially divided between two worlds. Its upwardly mobile form the centre of its gleaming eye, but their prosperity and affluence are not the focus of Zeynab’s government-funded abstract documentary. Her lens trails to the city’s margins instead, in polluted industrial wastelands such as Cipher Falls, one of New Stockholm’s last affordable neighbourhoods, where creatives and other anti-capitalist voices increasingly find themselves pushed into demeaning, dead-end jobs. In this growing underground network, Zeynab’s lens focuses on the mysterious demise of Doudou Laguerre, whose death may be related to his activism against a construction project.

Subterrane connects us to a constellation of Black and Queer voices, the hair braiders, tattoo artists, holistic healers, weed dealers, and sidewalk horticulturists struggling to make a life in New Stockholm. Together, they illustrate how in cities across the continent, entire communities are being sidelined in the name of prosperity.

***

Valérie Bah is a multidisciplinary Québécois artist, filmmaker, documentarian, photographer, and writer. Bah’s first collection, The Rage Letters, was translated from the French by Kama La Mackerel and published by Metonymy Press. Subterrane is their first book in English.

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Shut Up & Write! with QWF (Virtual)
2024-11-23 10:00 - 12:30 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
Saturday, November 23, 2024, 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-minute breaks 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 for virtual Shut Up & Write! sessions close 24 hours before the session. If there is no option to RSVP, RSVPs are closed.

Gillian Sze's "The Little Green Envelope": Author Storytime!
2024-11-24 11:00 - 12:00 | Jewish Public Library, 5151 Chemin de la Côte-des-Neiges, Montral, Quebec, H3T 1X9, Canada
Sunday, November 24, 11:00 am ET

Join local author Gillian Sze for a fun-filled storytime and craft activity based on her book The Little Green Envelope. You will be able to meet the author, listen to a story filled with wonder and friendship, and create your very own little green envelope!

Perfect for children aged 2-10. This event is in English.

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Triple Poetry Launch
2024-11-26 19:00 | Argo Bookshop, 1841A Ste-Catherine St. West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Tuesday, November 26, 20247:00 pm ET

Join us for the launch of three new poetry collections; Manahil Bandukwala’s Heliotropia, A-E Best’s Bad Weather Mammals, and Jake Byrne’s DADDY! There will be readings and time to discuss the poets’ work and ask question, as well as get copies signed. This event is free, but space is limited, so please RSVP on TicketSource.

About the Poets

Manahil Bandukwala is a writer and visual artist based in Ottawa and Mississauga, Ontario. She is the author of Heliotropia (Brick Books, 2024) and MONUMENT (Brick Books, 2022), which was shortlisted for the 2023 Gerald Lampert Award, and was selected as a Writer’s Trust of Canada Rising Star in 2023. See her work at www.manahilbandukwala.com

A-E Best is a disabled poet and essayist from Kingston. Her work can be found in the Capilano Review, New Welsh Review, CV2, Ambit Magazine, Mslexia, and Chatelaine. Her work was longlisted for the 2021 CBC Poetry Prize. Her second collection, Bad Weather Mammals, is now available from ECW Press. Find A-E on Instagram as @capitatelikeahead or her website https://ashleyelizabethbest.com/

Jake Byrne is the author of Celebrate Pride with Lockheed Martin (Wolsak & Wynn, 2023) and DADDY (Brick Books, 2024). In 2019, they won CV2‘s Foster Prize for poetry. They live in Toronto/tka:ronto.

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Read Quebec at the Salon du livre de Montréal
2024-11-27 08:00 - 2024-12-01 17:00 | Palais des congrès de Montréal, 1001 Jean Paul Riopelle Pl, Montreal, Quebec, H2Z1H5, Canada
Wednesday, November 27-Sunday, December 1, 2024

Read Quebec is returning to the Salon du livre de Montréal!

We’re excited to showcase some of the latest releases and bestsellers from participating local English-language publishers. Find us at kiosk #401 through the week at the hours below:

Wednesday, Nov. 27: 9 am – 6pmThursday, Nov. 28: 9 am – 9 pmFriday, Nov. 29: 9 am – 9 pmSaturday, Nov. 30: 9am – 9 pmSunday, Dec. 1: 9 am – 5 pm

Stay tuned for more information coming soon, and don’t forget to check out salondulivredemontreal.com to discover their full list of exhibitors and programming!

Lunch and Learn with Canada Council for the Arts
2024-11-27 12:00 - 13:30 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
Wednesday, November 27, 2024, 12:00-1:30 pm ETFree, open to allOnline—Register for Zoom link

Presenting the Canada Council for the Arts!

The Canada Council for the Arts is Canada’s public arts funder, with a mandate to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. Writers can apply to get funding for the creation of their work.

As writers, you would benefit from learning more about the various funding programs that the Canada Council offers and finding how you could potentially apply for one of these grants. Come attend the Quebec Writers’ Federation’s next Lunch and Learn where Program Officers Megan Mabey and Andrew Stenimetz will deliver a short presentation on the various programs the Council offers to writers. Prior to attending the session, participants are encouraged to read the linked document on how to create a portal account.

This session is free and open to all! Please register to get the Zoom link.

One-on-One Consultations

In addition to the 90-minute online session, Megan and Andrew have offered to provide free one-on-one consultations on the Thursday and Friday after the event. Registration is first come, first served. To book a one-on-one consultation, please click on one of the links below:

Bookings with Megan are now full.

Bookings with Andrew are now full.

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CommUNITY Arts Open House: Schmoozer with YES, QWF, ELAN, and QDF
2024-11-28 17:00 - 19:00 | Café Pista, 1587 Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Thursday, November 28, 2024, 5:00-7:00 pm ETCafe Pista, Montreal (near Saint-Laurent Metro Station)Registration Required

Calling All Quebec Artists!

Ready to schmoozer and build connections that can elevate your career? Join us for an epic arts mixer hosted by QWF, YES Employment + Entrepreneurship,the English Language Arts Network (ELAN), and the Quebec Drama Federation (QDF)! 🎉

This free open-house event is your chance to:

Connect with fellow artists, potential collaborators, and industry professionals to explore future opportunities and partnerships.

Discover valuable resources, from funding to training programs, and meet advocates of the arts.

Break the ice with fun games and engage with our vibrant community.

Enjoy light refreshments (alcohol available for purchase at Café Pista).

Don’t miss this lively evening of networking and discovery with Quebec’s thriving arts community. We can’t wait to see you there!

Pre-registration is required.

This event will take place in person at Café Pista (1587 St Laurent Blvd, Montreal, closest metro is Saint-Laurent on the Green Line).

Register now

Montreal Reading with Dutch poet Erik Lindner
2024-11-28 19:00 | Librairie Bertrand, 430 Rue Saint-Pierre, Montréal, Quebec, H2Y 2M5, Canada
Thursday, November 28, 2024, 7pmLibrarie Bertrand (430 Rue Saint-Pierre, Montreal)

Véhicule Press, Librarie Bertrand, and the Dutch Foundation for Literature invite you to a poetry reading by Erik Lindner, with special guests Derek Webster and Sarah Wolfson.

Erik Lindner is a Dutch poet who published seven books of poetry and two novels. He will be reading from Words Are the Worst, his selected poems, translated by Francis R. Jones, and nominated for the Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry 2022. Born in The Hague, The Netherlands, in 1968, Lindner lives in Amsterdam and works as a freelance writer, teacher and critic. Apart from English and German, several books of his translated poetry appeared in France and Italy.

Special readers include:

Derek Webster, whose second book of poetry National Animal, was recently awarded The QWF A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry. His debut, Mockingbird, was a finalist for the 2015 Gerald Lampert Award for best first book of poems in Canada. He received an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis, where he studied with Carl Phillips, and was the founding editor of Maisonneuve magazine. He lives in Montreal and Toronto.

Sarah Wolfson, the author of A Common Name for Everything, which won the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry in 2020. Her work has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has received a notable mention in Best Canadian Poetry. Originally from Vermont, she now lives in Montreal, where she teaches writing at McGill University.

With special thanks to the Dutch Foundation for Literature for their support.

Book*hug Press Fall 2024 Translated Fiction Launch
2024-11-28 19:00 - 21:00 | Librairie Saint-Henri Bookstore, 4622 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Thursday, November 28, 20247:00-9:00 pm ET

Book*hug Press and Librairie Saint-Henri Books invite you to the Fall 2024 Translation Launch! Celebrating the launch of three new translations including Nauetakuan, a silence for a noise by Natasha Kanapé Fontaine (translated from French by Howard Scott), Not Even the Sound of a River by Hélène Dorion (translated from French by Jonathan Kaplansky), and Sugaring Off by Fanny Britt (translated from French by Susan Ouriou).

This event will feature Howard Scott, Jonathan Kaplansky, and Fanny Britt.

Thursday, November 28, 20247:00 – 9:00 pm ETLibrairie Saint-Henri Books, 4622 rue Notre Dame, Montréal, QCAdmission is free. All are welcome to attend.Books will be available for purchase, and, of course, the authors will be signing!

RSVP for Free here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/…/bookhug-press-fall-2024…

Praise for Nauetakuan, a silence for a noise:“In the face of the ongoing erasure of Indigenous languages and cultures in Canada, Kanapé Fontaine raises up Indigenous creators. Nauetakuan does not shy away from the pain left by the residential school system, but neither does it reduce the experiences of Indigenous peoples to a singular narrative of suffering. Monica’s path towards healing is filled with struggle, but also overflows with loving female relationships, art, and boisterous laughter.” —Anna Learn, Full Stop

Praise for Not Even the Sound of a River:“Hélène Dorion’s beautifully poetic novel, Not Even the Sound of a River, braids women’s stories through various generations. These women are woven into a story that finds its origins in the St. Lawrence River, and that sense of swimming through water, time, and memory is one that is powerful and resonant. Dorion asks readers to consider the value of poetry, art, and a creative life as a way to avoid sinking or suffering when we are faced with the harsh reality of our daily lives. Through grief and loss, poetry and art have ‘perhaps begun to save us’ during our most challenging trials.” —Kim Fahner, author of The Donoghue Girl

Praise for Sugaring Off:“Sugaring Off is a stunning exploration of class and privilege, and our desperate need for connection. In this deftly written story, Fanny Britt explores the dissolution of relationships, regret and grief, and how we navigate the consequences of our actions. A truly exceptional novel.” —Lindsay Zier-Vogel, author of Letters to Amelia

Bios

Howard Scott is a literary translator living in Montreal who translates fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, often with Phyllis Aronoff. He received the Governor General’s Literary Award for Translation for The Euguelion by Louky Bersianik and, with Phyllis Aronoff, won the Quebec Writers’ Federation Translation Award for The Great Peace of Montreal of 1701 by Gilles Havard. The translating duo were also awarded a Governor General’s Literary Award for their translation of Descent into Night by Edem Awumey. Scott is past president of the Literary Translators’ Association of Canada.

Jonathan Kaplansky won a French Voices Award to translate Nobel Prize winning author Annie Ernaux’s La vie extérieure (Things Seen). His translation of Frank Borzage: The Life and Films of a Hollywood Romantic by Hervé Dumont was a finalist for the Wall Award from the Theatre Library Association. Recent translations include Jonathan Bécotte’s Like a Hurricane, Hélène Rioux’s The End of the World is Elsewhere, and the libretto of an opera by Hélène Dorion and Marie-Claire Blais entitled Yourcenar: An Island of Passions. He has also translated Dorion’s Days of Sand. Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Kaplansky now lives in Montreal.

Fanny Britt is a playwright, writer, and translator. She is the winner of multiple Governor General’s Literary Awards, a Libris Award, a Joe Shuster Award, and was nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award for Children’s Literature. Faires les sucres won the Governor General’s Literary Award for French-language Fiction in 2021. Britt has written a dozen plays and translated more than fifteen works by many American, Canadian, British, and Irish playwrights. Born in Northern Quebec, Britt lives in Montreal.

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Shut Up & Write! with QWF (In Person)
2024-11-29 12:30 - 15:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Friday, November 29, 2024, 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 an 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.

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.

Of Crows and Aunties: A Conversation with Jessica Johns
2024-11-29 18:00 - 20:00 | L’Euguélionne Bookstore, 1426 Rue Beaudry, Montreal, Quebec, H2L 3E5, Canada
Friday, November 29, 20246:00-8:00 pm ET

With Catherine Leroux and Éric Fontaine

As part of the Salon dans la ville, Catherine Leroux meets Jessica Johns, author of the acclaimed Bad Cree, with her translator Éric Fontaine, to discuss translation, crows, dreams, evil entities and the extraordinary power of aunties. This hour-long conversation will be conducted in English and French and will be followed by a signing session with the author.

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Kabir Centre Poetry Meet
2024-12-01 13:30 | Maison Chaïshaï, 2005 Bishop Street, Montreal, Quebec, H3G 2E9, Canada
December 1, 20241:30 pm ET

You’re invited to the next Kabir Centre Poetry Meet!

As always, we welcome a mix of different languages and age groups. As a policy, we recommend avoiding religious and political extremism. If you would like to attend as an audience, please RSVP by emailing kabirpoetryclub@gmail.com.

Poets are welcome to recite an original poem in any language. To do so, please email kabirpoetryclub@gmail.com stating your interest by 27th November.

Chai and samosa will be served during the meet.

If you know someone who would like to recite or attend the meet, please feel free to share the information.

Geneviève Robichaud Book Launch
2024-12-01 14:00 - 16:00 | Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore, 2220 McGill College Ave, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 3P9, Canada
Sunday, December 1, 2024, 2:00-4:00 pm ET

Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore and McGill-Queen’s University Press present a book launch for The Poetics of Translation by Geneviève Robichaud.

Join us as author Geneviève Robichaud discusses and signs her new book The Poetics of Translation at Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore.

Admission is free.Refreshments will be served.

About the Book

Translation is a vital method of not just reading but writing and forms the basis of an exciting range of critical, artistic, and literary opportunities.

Combining close readings of literary texts alongside astute critical observations from works by Avital Ronell and Walter Benjamin, amongst others, The Poetics of Translation re-examines key translation studies concepts, challenging our sometimes pragmatic understanding of translation and asking what it is that the discipline can make visible. By highlighting the possibilities of translation as an art form in contemporary innovative writing practices, Geneviève Robichaud reveals translation’s creative and critical potential, arguing that even those literary works that are not exactly translations gain in being apprehended as such. The Poetics of Translation values oblique, even unfinished sources of meaning, dwelling in the speculative spaces of texts and drawing attention to translation as poiesis, as creating that which is tangible and valuable.

Situated at the juncture of translation poetics and literary studies, the book celebrates the uncertainty of translation, the plasticity of language and ideas, and the desire to interpret rather than reiterate.

About the Author

Geneviève Robichaud is an independent scholar in Acadian studies. She lives in Sackville, N.B.

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Maybe Magazine Issue 2 Launch
2024-12-01 19:00 | Brasserie Beaubien, 73 rue Beaubien Est, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
December 1, 2024, 7:00 pm ET

Maybe Magazine invites you to the launch of their second issue in print, featuring readings from emerging and established writers in Montreal, accompanied by a performance from psychedelic rock musician Holly McLachlan. Maybe Magazine curates the cutting-edge of Montreal literature, featuring voice-driven and experimental work drenched in the influence of the internet and kept warm with wide-eyed sincerity. Join us for a night of poetry, prose, and music in the punky & beloved Brasserie Beaubien.

Magazines as well as chapbooks from the readers will be available for purchase with cash.

Maybe Magazine is edited by Gwen Aube and Simina Banu, and Issue 2 features work from Maya Chambers, Danielle Douez, Lucy Earle, Bronwyn Garden-Smith, Shelby Kersey, Katia Lo Innes, Khashayar Mohammadi, Kat Mulligan, Jade Palmer, Dimana Radoeva, and Nat Raum.

Cactus Press Triple Launch
2024-12-01 20:00 | Bar La Marche à Côté, 5043 Saint Denis St, Montreal, Quebec, H2J 2L8, Canada
Sunday, December 1, 20248:00 pm ET

Join us December 1st at the Accent Reading Series for a momentous triple launch of Cactus Press chapbooks with April L. Ford, Lou Vani and Patrick O’Reilly. Theme: Frills. Sign up for the open mic at door.

Artefacts: Poetry Soirée and Book Launch
2024-12-02 19:30 - 21:00 | Morrin Centre, 44 Chaussée des Écossais, Quebec City, Quebec, G1R 4H3, Canada
Monday, December 2, 20247:30-9:00 pm ET

Calling all poets and poetry enthusiasts!

Join us on Monday, December 2 for a special evening to celebrate the Quebec City launch of two poetry books: ice, dove, parachute by Loch Baillie and Spade Work by Line Dufour.

An open mic will follow—come to read your poetry or come to listen. This event is free and all are welcome! If you have any questions, please contact library@morrin.org.

Originally from Worcester, Massachusetts, LOCH BAILLIE (he/il) is a queer poet and writer living on the south shore of Quebec City. He is the author of two poetry chapbooks, ice, dove, parachute (Cactus Press) and Citronella (Anstruther Press). His writing has additionally appeared in magazines such as Maclean’s, Font, Society Pages, and yolk literary. Loch is currently pursuing his MA in English literature at Université Laval and serves as Poet-in-Residence for Canada’s Jarislowsky Chair of Undergraduate Teaching Excellence. You can find him online @lochbaillie or by visiting www.lochbaillie.com.

LINE DUFOUR has been a professional artist for the last thirty years, exhibiting internationally. She has taken creative writing courses at the University of Toronto since 2016 during which time she also completed the Humber School for Writers program and obtained a Masters with Distinction in Creative Writing and Critical Thinking from University of Gloucestershire. In 2024, she obtained her Certificate in Creative Writing from the School of Continuing studies from the University of Toronto. Her short story “Exile” has appeared in two anthologies: Raconter ton histoire, published by La Maison de la Littérature in Quebec City, and A World of Difference, published by the University of Gloucestershire. Several of her poems were also included in the former publication. Queen’s Quarterly published her poem “Finding the Words,” along with the accompanying artwork, in its April 2024 issue. Her short story, Asylum, was longlisted for the 2023 CBC Nonfiction short story prize. Besides writing fiction, short stories, and poetry, she has written non-fiction articles, such as book reviews and interviews, that were published in textile (art and craft) magazines for the last fifteen years.

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Cory Lavender, Jesse Eckerlin, and Nyla Matuk
2024-12-03 18:30 | Librairie Saint-Henri Bookstore, 4622 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Tuesday, December 3, 2024, 6:30 pm ET

Cory Lavender launches Come One Thing Another (Gaspereau Press) and Jesse Eckerlin launches Almost Nothing (Anstruther Press), with readings from both and special guest Nyla Matuk, author of Stranger (Véhicule Press).

Please RSVP (Free) below: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/an-evening-of-poetry-with-cory-lavender-and-guests-tickets-1081026211499?aff=oddtdtcreator

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