Quebec Writers' Federation

Deep Story Design: Story-Craft Essentials for Longer Form Narratives
2025-11-03 17:45 - 19:45, 2025-11-10 17:45 - 19:45, 2025-11-17 17:45 - 19:45 (America/New_York) | Online via Zoom
Ten Mondays, Oct 6-Dec 15, 5:45-7:45pm (No session on October 13) Open to allLimited to 12 participantsOnline Workshop*

This workshop delves into the five fundamental elements of story-making—structure, plot, character, theme, and scene building. Whether you’re writing a novella, novel, screenplay, or memoir, the skillful use of these elements allows all writers to create powerful stories that are meaningful and satisfying.

After introducing a basic three-act story structure that’s foundational for most stories, the workshop will progress through aspects of character, theme, and plot so that you can feel confident about completing fiction or nonfiction of any kind or length. We also touch on scene construction so your stories feel dynamic and alive on the page.

Weekly homework exercises help writers at different stages of your story-making process, whether you’re gathering material for a new story, drafting an existing work, or revising a project that is nearly ready to share with others. (Completed homework will receive instructor feedback and some in-class discussion.)

In addition to the focus on craft essentials, this workshop invites writers to make personal discoveries about what matters most deeply to them and how this connects with their writing. This connection between self and story is integral to Deep Story Design, because writers who know who they are, and what they care about most, are better able to access their unique creative voice.

Weekly meetings will look something like this:

a 90-minute lesson, including 15-30 mins of in-class exercises

a 10-minute break

20 minutes for Q&A/homework discussion

Completed homework assignments will be due 4 days after the meeting at which they are assigned.

*This workshop will take place online via Zoom. A Zoom link will be sent to all registered participants a week or so prior to the first session.

April Bosshard is a respected workshop facilitator and story coach who’s helped hundreds of writers develop and complete their projects. Sometimes called a “story whisperer” or “story genie,” she has a background in film and television and has written fiction and non-fiction for traditional and independent markets, which include publications in the US, UK, and Canada. April teaches at conferences and leads workshops internationally and online, while also working with individual clients as a story coach and developmental editor.

Poetry in Concert: Composition, Voice, Performance
2025-11-04 17:45 - 19:45, 2025-11-11 17:45 - 19:45 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Eight Tuesdays, Oct 7-Nov 25, 5:45-7:45pm Open to poets and writers with some writing experienceLimited to 12 participantsHybrid Workshop*

The workshop Poetry in Concert: Composition, Voice, Performance is intended for poets or writers with some writing experience who are interested in pushing their poetic imagination and expanding their vocal and performative abilities. No previous public performance experience is required, but participants need to be willing to experiment and vocalize their work in front of each other. As everyone will be producing new writing, no advance submission is necessary.

In this poetry workshop, participants will focus on composing a poetic work or suite that draws inspiration from the oral and performing arts, including forms such as theatrical dialogue, prose monologue, performance art, sound poetry, spoken word, and vocal improvisation. In the first half of the workshop, participants will engage in various writing and listening exercises in order to generate work, listen to diverse poets and sound artists, discuss and respond to each others’ writing, and gradually compose a poetic work inspired by various aspects of performance that are not only translated onto the page but also imagined for the stage. Ideas related to composition, movement, pacing, and embodiment will be explored.

The second part of the workshop will focus on the vocalization and performance of this work. Participants will learn about range, volume, dynamics, timing; how to warm up their voices and prepare for a performative reading; how to properly use a microphone; and how to explore multiple ways that their unique voices can embody their work. Depending on interest, the workshop could culminate in a performance event of the work produced.

*This workshop will take place at the QWF Office (Room 3, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Westmount, Quebec) with up to 2 virtual spots for participants who are unable to attend in-person because of distance or disability. By default, all workshop registrations are for in-person spots. If you would like to request a virtual slot, contact Riley at riley@qwf.org stating the reason for which you would need the virtual spot, then wait for a response before registering. Please do not register until you receive confirmation of a virtual spot for you.

Oana Avasilichioaei has created many performance/sound works that mix electronics, ambient textures, noise, and vocal play, published seven collections of poetry hybrids, including Chambersonic (Talonbooks, 2024) and award-nominated Eight Track (Talonbooks, 2019), and written a libretto for the one-act opera Cells of Wind (FAWN Chamber Collective, 2022–24). Based in Montreal, she has been a writer- or artist-in-residence at Green College, UBC (Vancouver, 2009), University of Calgary (2010–11), Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, 2018), OBORO (Montreal, 2021), and Rhizome (Quebec City, 2024), and is currently nominated for the Bernard Heidsieck Centre Pompidou International Literature Prize for her intermedia work.

Turning Your Story Into a Book
2025-11-04 20:00 - 22:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Five Tuesdays, Oct 7-Nov 4, 8-10pm Open to allLimited to 12 participantsHybrid Workshop*

You have a great story, maybe something you published in a magazine or a newspaper. But how can you turn that into a book? A book is not just a much longer version of what you have already written, it’s a different beast altogether. Over five weeks, this workshop with Julian Sher, investigative journalist and author of nine books, takes you through the steps to make your next project a success. From making sure you have the right topic to building the best narrative arc, developing your characters, the best techniques for writing, and how to do research. Not to forget the agents, publishers, and legal issues.

You don’t have to have published anything to take this workshop, and you can come with any ideas, proposals, or dreams of that book you want to write. To prepare, think of a book (or movie, TV show, song, or poem) that really moved you. Write down two things: what made it such good story-telling and what journey did the characters go on that made them so compelling.

Though based on non-fiction writing, this course is also suitable for fiction writers since the basic principles of story-telling are the same.

*This workshop will take place at the QWF Office (Room 3, 4023 Tupper Street, Westmount, Quebec) with up to 2 virtual spots for participants who are unable to attend in-person because of distance or disability. By default, all workshop registrations are for in-person spots. If you would like to request a virtual slot, contact Riley at riley@qwf.org stating the reason for which you would need the virtual spot, then wait for a response before registering. Please do not register until you receive confirmation of a virtual spot for you.

Julian Sher is an award-winning story-teller as the author of nine books, a documentary writer, a director, and an accomplished trainer around the world. His film Ghosts of Afghanistan won the top Canadian Screen Award for Best Documentary. He was also the Senior Producer of CBC’s the fifth estate, Canada’s premier investigative TV program for five years. Julian also works to tell the stories of people fighting for human rights. He has written numerous articles for the Montreal Gazette, the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail and he is a Senior Fellow with the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University.

NOIA Launch Party: Absurd Rituals
2025-11-04 20:00 - 23:30 | Le Système, 7119 rue Saint-Hubert, Montreal
Join NOIA’s first ever launch event in Canada, celebrating the fourth issue of NOIA Magazine: Absurd Rituals.
NOIA Launch: Absurd Rituals
We’re pleased to announce our first ever launch event in Canada, celebrating the fourth issue of NOIA Magazine: Absurd Rituals.
About this issue:
This issue investigates the tension between the internal logic and external perception of (absurd) rituals. A daughter, raised within her father’s conspiratorial rituals, experiences the tragic gap between belief and consequence. Computer overclockers engage in elaborate cooling ceremonies, transforming functional necessity into obsessive craft. Presidential golf outings, presented as leisure, serve as carefully choreographed performances of power, conducted across manicured landscapes with arcane codes of access.
About this launch:
Issues 2-4 will be available for purchase along with limited edition rings made by Ran.Den.Metal x NOIA.
DJ sets brought to you by @mekashaaaa along with a custom cocktail menu by Jo Kolb. Hosted by Foster Gareau.

The Words & Music Show: The 2025 Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize Finalists
2025-11-05 14:00 - 15:30 | 4TH SPACE, McConnell Building, Concordia University, 1400 de Maisonneuve Boulevard West, Montreal, Quebec, H3G 1M8, Canada
Wednesday, November 5, 2025, 2:00–3:30 pm ET4TH SPACE, Concordia University (1400 Maisonneuve Blvd W, Montreal)Free, Open to All

Co-sponsored by SpokenWeb and the Quebec Writers’ Federation

Join us for an afternoon of spoken word, storytelling, and literary performance featuring the eight finalists of the 2025 Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize and hosted by Alexis O’Hara.

The following Monday, one to three of these finalists will be awarded the prize at the 2025 QWF Awards Gala. Before the prize is bestowed, let us cheer on the top-notch work done by the shortlisted finalists in this special iteration of QWF’s Words and Music Show!

How can you participate? Join us in person at Concordia’s 4TH SPACE or online by registering for the Zoom Meeting or watching live on YouTube.

Accessibility: 4TH SPACE is located on the ground floor and is accessible by wheelchair.

Have questions? Send them to info.4@concordia.ca

The Spoken Word Prize Finalists

Photo: Erica Steeves

Liana Cusmano (Luca/BiCurious George) is a three-time Montreal Slam Champion and 2019 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam Championship runner-up. Their novel Catch & Release was published by Guernica Editions in 2022. They were a finalist for the 2022 QWF Spoken Word Prize and winner of the 2024 Society Pages Poetry Contest.

Photo: Brooklyn Melnyk

Octavie Doherty-Haigh is a poet, actor, and tree planter. Her work explores topics of neurodivergence, eating disorder recovery, and mental illness through the lens of love. Based in Montreal, she is currently earning her BFA in theatre acting at Concordia University.

Photo: Vadim Daniel

A self-titled Jamhaitianadian, Kym Dominique-Ferguson is a Montreal spoken word artist. Through Madpoetix Productions’ curated events like Inside Madpoetix Studios, Ferguson shines a spotlight on Montreal Artists. He has been a slam team member at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word multiple times, and his poetry appears in The Great Black North anthology.

Photo: Nine Desbaillet

Rachel McCrum’s debut collection The First Blast to Awaken Women Degenerate was translated by Jonathan Lamy and published in a bilingual edition with Mémoire d’encrier in 2020. With Amélie Prévost, she is the co-author and co-performer of La Belle-mère / The Stepmother (L’Hexagone, 2024). Rachel is the vocalist for Pigs&Wolves.

Photo: @jozef_photoz

Robin Warren (aka Rusty) is a spoken word artist in Montreal, educated at Concordia University in Aerospace Engineering. He represented Montreal at the 2024 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam, ranking as a finalist. Recently, he performed at the 2025 Fringe Festival and is now a co-host at the Throw Poetry Collective.

Photo: Johanna Stosik

Claire Sherwood is a Montreal writer, visual poet, and oral storyteller. Her poetry has appeared in Kola Magazine, carte blanche, Helios, and Lantern. Her chapbook Eat Your Words was published in 2024 by Turret House Press. She has appeared at Confabulation and the storytelling edition of QWF’s Words and Music Show.

Photo: Noc Photography

Romel Sylne Jr, Haitian-American poet and author of five collections, writes at the crossroads of identity, resilience, and belonging. His words echo with heritage and heart, offering readers both solace and strength while transforming adversity into art that lingers long after the page is turned.

Photo: Annie Rousseau

Svens Telemaque is an author, spoken-word artist, and social entrepreneur whose literary work and community leadership illuminate the power of narrative to heal and elevate. His debut book, Pen of a Ready Writer Vol. 1 (2014), challenges conventional perceptions of circumstance, faith, and emotion, inviting readers to explore nuance from cradle to grave.

Now in its fourth year, the Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize celebrates the excellence of Quebec-based artists working in English in any form of performative writing, including poetry, story, monologue, hip hop, dub, sound poetry, and experimental or interdisciplinary work. The prize will be awarded to one to three winners, to be announced at the 2025 QWF Awards Gala on Monday, November 10.

Tickets to the gala are now available for purchase. A cocktail reception with the finalists will precede the gala, from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. Tickets to the reception are $60 ($40 for full-time students) and include two glasses of wine, beer, or non-alcoholic drink; hors d’oeuvres; and admission to the awards ceremony, which begins at 8:00 pm. Tickets for the ceremony alone are $25 ($10 for full-time students). Doors for the ceremony open at 7:30 pm.

GEt GALA tickets

The Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize is named in honour of the inimitable Ian Ferrier. Widely considered a pillar of literary performance in Montreal, Ian was a past president of QWF and the founder of the Words and Music Show, Montreal’s longest-running spoken word, poetry, literature, performance, and music show.

Stage-Worthy: How to Write a Play
2025-11-05 17:45 - 19:45, 2025-11-12 17:45 - 19:45 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Seven Wednesdays, Oct 8-Nov 26, 5:45-7:45pm (No session on October 29; double-session [5:45-9:45pm] on November 26)Open to allLimited to 12 participantsIn-Person Workshop*

Dialogue, characters, plot, setting! 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. 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 are 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. 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 a workshop. I am very careful about how feedback is given because everything is so new. This does not mean that there won’t be opportunities to share your work or prove that you are indeed writing. Participants will have something dramatic to show for it at the end of the workshop. A past QWF workshop resulted in Picturesque: Voices From Beaver Hall, which saw productions at Redpath Museum, Dawson Theatre, as well as museums in Hamilton and Calgary.

*This workshop will take place exclusively in-person at the QWF Office (Room 3, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Westmount, Quebec).

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, Sibyl and Sylvia, Casa de Mary, 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. Her latest novel, Out for Stars, made the long list for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.

Deep Story Design: Story-Craft Essentials for Longer Form Narratives (Wednesday Cohort)
2025-11-05 17:45 - 19:45, 2025-11-12 17:45 - 19:45 | Online via Zoom
Ten Wednesdays, Oct 8-Dec 17, 5:45-7:45pm (No session on October 15) Open to allLimited to 12 participantsOnline Workshop*

This workshop delves into the five fundamental elements of story-making—structure, plot, character, theme, and scene building. Whether you’re writing a novella, novel, screenplay, or memoir, the skillful use of these elements allows all writers to create powerful stories that are meaningful and satisfying.

After introducing a basic three-act story structure that’s foundational for most stories, the workshop will progress through aspects of character, theme, and plot so that you can feel confident about completing fiction or nonfiction of any kind or length. We also touch on scene construction so your stories feel dynamic and alive on the page.

Weekly homework exercises help writers at different stages of your story-making process, whether you’re gathering material for a new story, drafting an existing work, or revising a project that is nearly ready to share with others. Completed homework will receive instructor feedback and some in-class discussion.

In addition to the focus on craft essentials, this workshop invites writers to make personal discoveries about what matters most deeply to them and how this connects with their writing. This connection between self and story is integral to Deep Story Design, because writers who know who they are, and what they care about most, are better able to access their unique creative voice.

Weekly meetings will look something like this:

a 90-minute lesson, including 15-30 mins of in-class exercises

a 10-minute break

20 minutes for Q&A/homework discussion

Completed homework assignments will be due 4 days after the meeting at which they are assigned.

*This workshop will take place online via Zoom. A Zoom link will be sent to all registered participants a week or so prior to the first session. Please note that this is the Wednesday iteration of the workshop; there is also a group meeting on Mondays. The material covered will be the same, but note that due to limited spots, we cannot facilitate transfers between groups.

Short Fiction: Plot and the Inner Life
2025-11-05 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-11-12 20:00 - 22:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Eight Wednesdays, Oct 8- Dec 3, 8-10pm (No session on October 29) Open to allLimited to 12 participantsHybrid Workshop*

This eight-week workshop will explore how deepening a character’s inner life can generate new possibilities for a short story’s plot. One premise of this workshop is that fiction’s power lies in its capacity to depict with a high degree of detail an individual’s consciousness: the realm of perceptions, feelings, desires, memories, and thoughts. How one consciousness bumps up against another—and against the external world of norms, things, economic and cultural forces, etc.—is what makes a story possible. We will investigate story as, in George Saunders’s words, “a system for the transfer of energy.”

Plot and interiority are broad categories that encompass other topics such as point of view, dialogue, backstory, and deepening the role of setting and/or of the body, all of which can be studied and discussed, depending on the group’s interest and the story drafts that are submitted for workshopping. Note that the workshop leader’s focus is realist literary fiction, but all genres are welcome. The larger goal of the workshop is to support writers in uncovering the best possible versions of their stories.

Most of the workshop will be devoted to reading and discussing participants’ stories (two per week over seven weeks, up to 5000 words each). However, for the first meeting, participants will discuss Yiyun Li’s story, “Prison,” a jarring tale about surrogate birth. Please read the first 23 pages before the first session, but do not read farther than that. We will read the final 5 pages together, tracking how the plot ultimately unfolds.

*This workshop will take place at the QWF Office (Room 3, 4023 Tupper Street, Westmount, Quebec) with up to 2 virtual spots for participants who are unable to attend in-person because of distance or disability. By default, all workshop registrations are for in-person spots. If you would like to request a virtual slot, contact Riley at riley@qwf.org stating the reason for which you would need the virtual spot, then wait for a response before registering. Please do not register until you receive confirmation of a virtual spot for you.

Michelle Syba is the author of the story collection End Times (Freehand Books, 2023), a finalist for the QWF Concordia University First Book Prize. End Times explores the lives of people variously entangled with evangelical culture, including immigrants, the elderly, the burned-out, and the lonely, examining our hidden anxieties and longings. Michelle’s shorter works have been published in The New Quarterly, Cosmonauts Avenue, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and elsewhere.

You can find out more about her at www.michellesyba.com.

Writing the Personal Essay
2025-11-06 17:45 - 19:45, 2025-11-13 17:45 - 19:45 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Eight Thursdays, Oct 9-Dec 4, 5:45-7:45pm (No session on October 30) Open to allLimited to 12 participantsHybrid Workshop*

Have you ever wanted to see your words on the pages of your favourite newspaper, magazine, or website? The personal essay is a subgenre of creative nonfiction that focuses on unique stories with universal appeal told from a first-person perspective. In this 8-week workshop, you’ll learn everything from how to generate ideas to how to structure your first and second drafts to how to pitch your completed piece.

The workshop will consist of teacher-led instruction, at-home readings, generative in-class writing exercises, and guided peer feedback. You will also be expected to work on your essay at home, between classes. By the end of this session, you will have one completed personal essay.

*This workshop will take place at the QWF Office (Room 3, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Westmount, Quebec) with up to 2 virtual spots for participants who are unable to attend in-person because of distance or disability. By default, all workshop registrations are for in-person spots. If you would like to request a virtual slot, contact Riley at riley@qwf.org stating the reason for which you would need the virtual spot, then wait for a response before registering. Please do not register until you receive confirmation of a virtual spot for you.

Julie Matlin is a writer with several areas of concentration, including screenwriting, personal essays, novels, and reported articles. Previously, Julie worked at the National Film Board of Canada as a writer and social media strategist. Prior to that, she spent 15 years as a producer’s assistant and production coordinator in feature film.

Black Creek by Susan Grundy, Montreal Launch
2025-11-06 19:00 - 20:30 | Suite 301, Le Petit Dep, 290 Rue de la Montagne, Montréal, QC, H3C 2B1, Canada
Thursday, November 6, 20257:00 pm ET

An intimate evening in a Griffintown speakeasy setting with author Susan Grundy in conversation with producer and musician Carrie Haber.

RSvp ON EVENTBRITE

Building a Better Short Story Collection
2025-11-06 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-11-13 20:00 - 22:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Eight Thursdays, Oct 9-Nov 27, 8-10pmOpen to allLimited to 12 participantsOnline Workshop*

This workshop takes as its premise that any writer can throw together a bunch of good or even great stories to publish as a collection, but questions whether great stories alone make a great manuscript, a great book.

In looking at what binds a story collection, we’ll consider:

a few writers (like Alice Munro, Raymond Carver, Edward P. Jones, Amy Sands Brodoff, Zalika Reid-Binta, and Kaie Kellough)

critiques/reviews of their collections/books

participants’ own work/stories.

We’ll also look at excerpts from a journal that participants will be asked to keep during the workshop (and hopefully beyond). The journal will contain thoughts, such as story ideas, outlines for their collections, story order and contents, frustrations, and illuminations, on the evolution of their manuscript.

*This workshop will take place online via Zoom. A Zoom link will be sent to all registered participants a week or so prior to the first session.

Robert Edison Sandiford is the author of several books, among them the story cycle Fairfield, the novel And Sometimes They Fly, and graphic novels with NBM Publishing. He has been shortlisted for The Frank Collymore Literary Award and is a recipient of Barbados’s Governor General’s Award of Excellence in Literary Arts. In 2003, he founded with the poet Linda M. Deane the Barbadian cultural resource ArtsEtc Inc. He has worked as a publisher, teacher, and producer with Warm Water Productions. His stories have appeared in journals, magazines, newspapers, and anthologies. Currently, he’s busy with another novel, this time about fathers, sons, and dementia.

WRITERS' ROOM #4
2025-11-07 19:00 - 23:00 | Le Depanneur Cafe, 206 Rue Bernard O, Montreal, Quebec, H2T 2K4, Canada
All writers of Montreal are welcome to attend WRITERS’ ROOM #4, the fourth in a series of events where local writers meet up in a room.
No readings, no cover charge, no books for sale. No scheduled activities or presentations. Writers’ Room is just fiction writers, poets, playwrights, screenwriters, cartoonists, novelists, literary translators, magazine-pitchers, writing students, word-wrestlers, etc, gathered together in one place. A chance to meet people you’ve read, people you’ll one day read, other people who sit like you and try to compose worthy sentences.
Please note: Writers’ Room is not a “shut-up and write” kind of event. If you want to shut up and/or write, you will have better luck somewhere else.
It is just a room with writers!
FREE
Feel welcome to bring a writer friend with you.
Écrivain•e•s français•e•s, soyez bienvenu•e•s aussi.
BYOB + snacks to share (nothing will be for sale)
hosted by sean michaels on behalf of the Writers’ Union of Canada

Shut Up & Write! with QWF (Virtual)
2025-11-08 10:00 - 12:30 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
Saturday, November 8, 2025, 10:00 am–12:30 pm ETOnline 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 begins. If there is no option to RSVP, RSVPs are closed.

Note: We are aware of a glitch rendering our RSVP forms unresponsive for some users. If you encounter difficulties registering for this session, email John Wickham at john@qwf.org, who will register you manually.

Third Mind: A One-Day Workshop in Writing Collaborative Poetry
2025-11-08 10:30 - 16:30 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Saturday, Nov 8, 10:30am-4:30pm Open to allLimited to 12 participantsHybrid Workshop*

Do you have an appetite for poetry and connection? For playing and writing with others to enrich your practice, push your limits, and make great things happen? Come collaborate with us!

Collaboration is standard in music, theatre, dance, science, and many other areas of creative and professional practice. Writers have long worked with artists in other disciplines. Some would even say that all writing is, in some way, collaborative: even when we write alone, we’re writing in conversation with the poetry of today and the rich art of the past. The last decade or so has seen a blossoming of writers writing together.

There are many ways to approach literary collaboration. In “Third Mind,” we begin by creating short sequences and move to editing together and practicing close listening to each other as we develop the ‘third’ or collective voice. We work with models offered by renga (Japanese linked verse) using the technique of link and shift, Surrealist collaborative experiments that seed the ground for gifts of chance, and applied principles of improv theatre, perhaps the ultimate collaborative practice.

In this one-day, hands-on workshop, we will write in groups and pairs to create the collaborative voice that sings together.

Please bring paper, pens, and a simple object that fits in a pocket. Note: you do not need to sign up with a partner/partners.

*This workshop will take place at the QWF Office (Room 3, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Westmount, Quebec) with up to 2 virtual spots for participants who are unable to attend in-person because of distance or disability. By default, all workshop registrations are for in-person spots. If you would like to request a virtual slot, contact Riley at riley@qwf.org stating the reason for which you would need the virtual spot, then wait for a response before registering. Please do not register until you receive confirmation of a virtual spot for you.

Born in Italy and immigrated to Canada in 1955, Mary di Michele is an award-winning, internationally published writer. She is the author of over twelve books, including the collection of poems Stranger in You and the novel Tenor of Love. Her last collection of poetry, Bicycle Thieves (ECW 2017), was short-listed for the Pat Lowther Award. She is active in the collaborative writing group Yoko’s Dogs. Now retired from teaching at Concordia University, she continues to live in Montreal.

Susan Gillis has lived on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and in Tiotià:ke Montréal, and now makes her home in unceded Omàmìwininì Algonquin territory near Perth, Ontario. Her most recent book, Yellow Crane (Brick 2018), is a meditation on ecologies of place, writing, and desire. A chapbook, Last Winter, is forthcoming from Baseline Press. A member of the collaborative group Yoko’s Dogs, Susan also works as a poetry editor and mentor.

Mary and Susan have been writing collaboratively since 2006, as members of the group Yoko’s Dogs. In June 2019 their workshop “One Poem, Many Voices: A Workshop in Writing Poetry Collaboratively” was offered in Montreal in conjunction with the Atwater Writers Exhibition. They have also worked together on editorial projects including the micro-poetry webzine HALIBUT and two special issues of Matrix Magazine. Both are accomplished individual poets.

The 2025 QWF Awards Gala
2025-11-10 18:30 - 22:30 | QC
Monday, November 10, 2025Cabaret Lion d’Or (1676 Ontario St. East, Montreal)Reception: 6:30 pmAwards Ceremony: 8:00 pm

BUY TICKETS

Enter a world of literary magic at the 2025 QWF Literary Awards Gala.

On Monday, November 10, Cabaret Lion d’Or (1676 Ontario St. East) transforms into a spellbinding celebration of Quebec’s finest wordsmiths as we reveal the winners of the 2025 QWF Literary Awards. The event will be hosted by broadcaster, arts journalist, and translator Shelley Pomerance.

The theme of this year’s gala is “Literary Greats.” Attendees are invited to get in the spirit of the theme by dressing as their favourite author or literary character. Don your Holmes-inspired deerstalker or a black trilby à la Leonard Cohen. Come dressed as Maya Angelou, Margaret Atwood, or Oscar Wilde. Come as you are, or as Wonderland’s Queen of Hearts. We want to see who inspires you.

Join us for a cocktail reception with the finalists preceding the Gala from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. VIP tickets to the reception are $60 ($40 for full-time students) and include two glasses of wine, beer or non-alcoholic drink; hors d’oeuvres; and admission to the awards ceremony, which begins at 8:00 pm.

Tickets for the ceremony alone are $25 ($10 for full-time students). Doors for the ceremony open at 7:30 pm.

Reserve your tickets now and prepare for an unforgettable evening as we celebrate literary excellence in Quebec.

Announcements

The Winners of the 2025 QWF Literary Awards

The 2025 QWF Literary Awards Finalists

The 2025 QWF College Writers Award Finalists

Jan Draper wins the 2025 Judy Mappin Community Award

Buy Tickets

La belle-mère
2025-11-11 19:30 - 21:00 | Maison de la Culture de Rosemont La Petite-Patrie, 6707, avenue De Lorimier, Montreal, Quebec, H2G 2P8, Canada
In the aftermath of a crisis within her blended family, a stepmother weighs up her choices, past, present, and future. Fragment by fragment, she pieces together her story, with the honesty of a woman with everything to lose and everything to gain. Using words as a mirror, she tries to see herself as she is, not in the eyes of the society around her, but in the eyes of those who love her and who she loves.
The show will be performed in the French language version only, with Amélie Prévost as The Stepmother and Rachel McCrum as The Blue Voice.

Writers Read Presents: John Barton
2025-11-12 13:00 | QC
Wednesday, November 12, 20251:00 pm ETJohn Molson Building (Concordia University)14-250 (Floor 14, Room 2501600 Blvd. de Maisonneuve Ouest

Writers Read Presents John Barton

Join us on November 12 at 1PM in MB-14.250 (John Molson Building, 14th Floor, Room 250), 1600 Boul de Maisonneuve O, for a reading and conversation with Canadian poet John Barton. This event is free to attend and open to everyone. Please register to reserve your place.

Born in Edmonton and raised in Calgary, John Barton has won three Archibald Lampman Awards, an Ottawa Book Award, a CBC Literary Award, a National Magazine Award, and an e-Lit Award. His book Lost Family was nominated for the Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry in 2021.

The author of eleven books of poetry, John Barton edited two of Canada’s most prominent literary magazines, Arc (1988 to 2003) and The Malahat Review (2004 to 2018). He has taught poetry at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and the University of Victoria; led workshops on craft and publishing for the New Brunswick Writers Federation, Saskatchewan’s Sage Hill Writing Experience, and Ottawa’s Tree Reading Series; and served as writer in residence at the Saskatoon Public Library (2008/ 2009), the University of New Brunswick (2010/2011), and Memorial University of Newfoundland (Fall 2015).

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Book Launch: Private Number by David Homel
2025-11-13 19:00 | Argo Bookshop, 1841A Ste-Catherine St. West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Thursday, November 13, 20257:00 pm ET

Véhicule Press and Argo Bookshop invite you to the launch of David Homel’s new novel Private Number. The event will feature readings from the book as well as conversation with Esplanade Books editor Dimitri Nasrallah. This ​event is free, but space is limited, so please RSVP on TicketSource. Masks are not required, but will be provided at the door.

About the Book

In his tenth novel, master storyteller David Homel blurs the line where art and secrecy overlap.

Documentary filmmaker Mikhail never aspired to spend time in a small coal-mining city called Lepuy in the middle of France. But his latest project has complicated life in Montreal, garnering attacks from all sides after screening at the Cannes Film Festival. Looking to get away from the noise until things quiet down, he hastily applies to an out-of-the-way artist’s residency in a place where nothing ever happens.

But for a documentary filmmaker, there is always trouble to uncover. Mikhail quickly finds himself caught up amidst the violence of a miners’ strike, as well as in clandestine relationship with Caroline, a married judge with an unstable husband. With his time in Lepuy quickly spinning out of control, Mikhail wants to call Caroline and warn her of the coming consequences. But he can’t. She has a private number.

About the Author

David Homel is the author of ten novels and a memoir, as well as a series of books for younger readers co-written with Marie-Louise Gay. A prize-winning writer and translator, he has worked in documentary film, print and radio journalism. He lives in Montreal.

RSVP on TICKETSOURCE

Shut Up & Write! with QWF (*VIRTUAL due to STM Strike*)
2025-11-14 12:30 - 15:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
*NOTE: This session will be held online via Zoom due to the ongoing STM strike*

Friday, November 14, 2025, 12:30 pm–3:00 pmFree, In Person (MOVED TO VIRTUAL DUE TO STM STRIKE)

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.

*NOTE: This session will be held online via Zoom due to the ongoing STM strike*

If you registered and can no longer attend, please email john@qwf.org to notify us.

Accent Open Mic Vol. 126 "Glossolalia" with Emmanuel Deraps, Robin Durnford, and Josh Quirion
2025-11-16 08:00 - 17:00, 2025-11-16 20:00 - 23:00 | Bar Le Record, 7622 Rue St-Hubert, Montréal, Quebec, H2R 2N6, Canada
Join us for another amazing evening of poetry and prose with featured readers Emmanuel Deraps, Robin Durnford, and Josh Quirion.
Where: Bar Le Record
(7622 Rue St-Hubert, Montréal, QC H2R 2N6)
When: 8pm
Cost: Free
Open Mic: 5 mins
Theme: Glossalia
Sign up for the open mic at the door!

Lunch and Learn with SODEP
2025-11-18 12:00 - 13:00 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
Tuesday, November 18, 202512:00–1:00 pm ETFree, Online—Register for Zoom Link

Discover SODEP—Quebec’s association of cultural magazines—and learn about the history of magazines in the province.

The Société de développement des périodiques culturels québécois (SODEP) is an association dedicated to the defense and promotion of Quebec’s cultural magazines. Founded in 1978, SODEP brings together nearly 50 rich, diverse, and unique magazines devoted to the arts, literature, social issues, history, and heritage. Its mandate is to make cultural magazines accessible to all and to offer its members a variety of services to support their professional development.

Come attend the Quebec Writers’ Federation’s next Lunch and Learn where Léah Pitre-Gaspari, SODEP’s business development coordinator, will deliver a short presentation on the history of magazines in Quebec and about SODEP’s work in developing and supporting the industry. A Q&A period will follow.

This session is free and open to all. Register to get the Zoom link.

Register Now
