Writers Read Presents Billy-Ray Belcourt
2025-10-06 19:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Concordia University, John Molson Building, 1600 Rue de Maisonneuve Ouest, Montreal, Quebec, H3H 1J5, Canada
On Monday October 6, 7:30PM – 9PM at John Molson Building Floor 9, Concordia University, 1600 Maisonneuve Blvd. W, Montreal, Writers Read will welcome Billy-Ray Belcourt to read and discuss his new book.
Billy-Ray Belcourt is a writer and academic from the Driftpile Cree Nation, and Associate Professor in the school of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of five national bestselling books: This Wound is a World, NDN Coping Mechanisms: Notes from the Field, A History of My Brief Body, A Minor Chorus, and Coexistence. He released his sixth book, The Idea of An Entire Life, in September 2025.
This event is free and open to all. Please register to confirm your attendance (Link: https://forms.gle/4kWoccDbxcMLu7UV9)
Writers Read is part of Concordia University’s Creative Writing program and is supported by the Department of English and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Writers Read, directed by Professor Sina Queyras since 2011, invites renowned and emerging authors, both Canadian and international, to read from and discuss their work with students and local audiences. Be sure to follow Writers Read on Instagram @writersreadconcordia and visit our website for more updates https://concordiawritersread.com/.

Poetry in Concert: Composition, Voice, Performance
2025-10-07 17:45 - 19:45, 2025-10-14 17:45 - 19:45, 2025-10-21 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
2025-10-07 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-10-14 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-10-21 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.

Stage-Worthy: How to Write a Play
2025-10-08 17:45 - 19:45, 2025-10-15 17:45 - 19:45, 2025-10-22 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)
2025-10-08 17:45 - 19:45, 2025-10-22 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.

October Readings with Montreal Authors (Canton, Maiolo, McGuire)
2025-10-08 18:00
Wednesday, October 8, 20256 pm ET

Licia Canton, Anna Maiolo and Heather McGuire read from their most recent work. Hosted by Liana Cusmano. Online via Zoom.

register on Zoom

October Readings with Montreal Authors
2025-10-08 18:00 - 19:00
Montrealers Licia Canton, Anna Maiolo, Heather McGuire share their most recent writing. Hosted by Liana Cusmano.

Short Fiction: Plot and the Inner Life
2025-10-08 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-10-15 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
2025-10-09 17:45 - 19:45, 2025-10-16 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.

Soliloquies Anthology Open Mic & Fundraiser
2025-10-09 19:00 - 21:30 | Mes Pants De Queer, 2025 Rue Partenais, suite 241, montreal, Ontario, h4k1e2, Canada
*Open to everyone, not just students!
*Sign up early at soliloquies.org/events-2
Step up to the mic and read your creative work for an audience of supportive fellow writers! Read your favourite (or least-favourite, there’s no rules here) poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. Gain inspiration from the writers in your community. Buy a drink or three (please). You’ll have the opportunity to do all of this and more at the Soliloquies Anthology Fall 2025 Open Mic!
As well as being an exciting event to connect with your community of writers and readers, this evening will also be dedicated to fundraising for this upcoming edition of Soliloquies Anthology. The money raised through this evening will go directly back into our printing costs, as dramatic changes in our funding will likely impact the size and scope of our upcoming print issue. In short, the more drinks you buy and the more you donate = the larger our page count can be = the better your chances to be published in Edition 30.1!
Date and Time: October 9th at 19:00
Location: Mes Pants De Queer, 2025 Rue Parthenais, Suite 241
Cost of Entry: PWYC ($5 recommended donation)

Building a Better Short Story Collection
2025-10-09 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-10-16 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.

Shut Up & Write! with QWF (Virtual)
2025-10-11 10:00 - 12:30 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
Saturday, October 11, 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.

Launch of Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt’s new poetry collection The Hospitality of Trees (Shoreline Press). In conversation with Rebecca Păpucaru
2025-10-11 14:00 - 16:00
Saturday, October 11, 2:00 to 4:00 pm at Black Cat Books, 168E Rue Queen, Lennoxville: Launch of Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt’s new poetry collection The Hospitality of Trees (Shoreline Press). In conversation with Rebecca Păpucaru, author of the novel, As Good a Place as Any (Guernica Editions). Rebecca will also read from her novel. Wine and goodies and books for sale!

Triple launch of Guernica Editions novels!
2025-10-12 14:00 - 16:00 | Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore, 2220 McGill College Ave, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 3P9, Canada
Sunday, October 12, 2:00 to 4:00 pm, at Librairie Paragraphe, 2220 McGill College Ave, Montreal. Triple launch of Guernica Editions novels: Danila Botha will read from A Place for People Like Us, Michael Carin from Eddison and Jeremiah, and Rebecca Păpucaru from As Good a Place as Any. Wine and goodies and books for sale!

Lunch & Learn with QWF
2025-10-14 12:00 - 13:00 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
Tuesday, October 14, 2025, 12:00–1:00 pm ETOpen to all—register for Zoom link

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

Join us for a Lunch & Learn with QWF!

In this quarterly online orientation session, we provide a deep dive into our many programs and services and how we can help you in your writing journey. Whether you’re new to QWF, want to learn about a particular program, or simply want to meet the team, we welcome you to join us.

Riley Palanca (Membership Services Coordinator) will discuss QWF programs and services for emerging and aspiring writers, including our mentorship program, Shut Up & Write writing sessions, and writing workshops.

Lori Schubert (Executive Director) will explain QWF programs and services for more established writers, including the Writers in the Community program, the Hire a Writer Directory, and the QWF Awards.

John Wickham (Communications Officer) will provide a brief tour of the website, highlighting sections and resources that are particularly useful to QWF members.

Free and open to all. We hope to see you there!

To get the Zoom link: Fill out the registration form. You’ll receive the Zoom link by email shortly thereafter.

If you have trouble registering or joining the meeting, contact John at john@qwf.org.

Lunch & Learn with QWF is our quarterly orientation series to welcome new members and provide an overview of QWF’s activities. The next one after July 22 will be in October. Learn more about our Lunch & Learn series.

REGISTER NOW

Book Launch—Messioph: The First Book of Ido by Geoffreyjen Edwards
2025-10-18 10:00
Saturday, October 18, 2025, 10:00 amFounders Room, Brookstreet Hotel (525 Legget Dr), Ottawa

Join Geoffreyjen Edwards for the launch of Messioph: The First Book of Ido (Untimely Books). As part of the Can-Con Science Fiction Convention in Ottawa, Geoffreyjen Edwards will be launching his latest science-fiction novel on October 18th, 10:00 am, at the Founders Room of the Brookstreet Hotel.

The event will consist of a short reading, a small reception and book signings.

About the Book

Some family secrets destroy civilizations… What if such an evil follows humanity across the stars?

Catastrophe strikes when Grolier Desius and his brother return from a confrontation with their family’s bitter enemy aboard a jonah—one of the living starships whose ancestors once roamed the oceans of Old Earth. As Grolier navigates the chaos, he uncovers devastating truths about his family’s past. He must race through a web of family betrayals and institutional cover-ups, confronting how intimate violence can become a civilization-threatening threat. His decisions will determine whether the bonds holding humanity and the ancient jonahs together can survive the deadly legacy of buried trauma. Messioph: The First Book of Ido, the second volume in Geoffreyjen Edwards’s fifteen-book Ido Chronicles, explores how personal wounds can lead to political crises.

Writing for Young(er) Readers, age 12 to 20
2025-10-18 10:30 - 16:30 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Three Saturdays, Oct 18-Nov 1, 10:30am-4:30pm Open to allLimited to 12 participantsIn-Person Workshop*

This workshop is designed to provide a supportive framework for discussing and engaging in the process of writing for middle grade and young adult readers. (We will not be covering picture books or chapter books for younger kids.) Participants will be encouraged to bring a work-in-progress or idea-in-progress and optionally share up to 20 pages of their writing. We will cover topics such as…

the author’s responsibility when writing for young readers

assessing the target audience

choice of material

technical tricks of the trade

popular genres

pitfalls

difficult subject matter

editing

illustrations / graphic novels

individual goals.

Though not the main focus of the workshop, information about publishing will be included. I will also send out a suggested reading list as soon as registration closes and will be interested in hearing about everyone’s favourite books.

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

Edeet Ravel has written twelve novels for adults and young readers. She has been a Governor General’s Award and Giller finalist and has won various prizes for her work. Her book A Boy is Not a Bird and its sequel, A Boy is Not a Ghost, are based on the true story of an East European boy who is exiled to Siberia during World War II. Her most recent book, Miss Matty, tells the story of a Montreal teenager in the post-Depression years who dreams of being a Hollywood star.

Embodied Writing - Deep Red Fall Edition
2025-10-18 14:00 - 17:00
~Writing, breathwork, meditation & optional sharing circle~
Saturday, October 18, 2-5pm
Espace BE, 2240 Beaconsfield (NDG)
Deep Red Fall Edition
***
The Deep Red Fall
Writing stirs first in the body. The more you let your senses unfurl, the more vivid and alive your language becomes. Each word you release has lived in you already—etched into your muscles, your breath, your bones.
So often we contort ourselves into stiff, dislocated shapes to summon language. Yet the body is our oldest keeper of truth, carrying both our wounds and our wildness. What shifts when we loosen instead—when we let the spine curve, the hips sway, the breath deepen? What words break open in the space where trauma is met with tenderness, where movement tips toward dance, where surrender becomes possible?
This season, we lean into the deep red fall: into descent, shadow, ripeness, and the sensual weight of presence. To write from here is to risk being altered, to risk being undone, to risk being set aflame. Our flesh and blood holds stories that ache to be broken open, scrawled aloud. Birthing them into words can be grounding, freeing, and profoundly healing.
Whether you come as a seasoned writer, a beginner, or simply someone longing to abandon yourself to the pulse that carries you, this workshop opens the door to the charged and intimate meeting ground of body and language.
Our practice will interweave:
-Kundalini breathwork
-Stretches & light movement
-Creative writing prompts & exercises
-Meditation
-An optional sharing & discussion circle
-Homemade chai & a sweet treat
What to bring:
Your journal, a pen, comfy clothes & an open mind.
What to know:
Pens & paper will be available, as will yoga mats/blocks/blankets/bolsters if needed. Seating options will include: chairs, mats, back jacks, etc. There will be space to move around and shift positions as needed.
About the facilitator:
Maya Khamala is a lifelong writer of many stripes. From poetry to grassroots journalism to creative nonfiction, word is her bond. She has collaborated with visual artists at a loss for words, and has worked as a freelance copywriter and editor for the last decade. She has a shiny little MA in Creative Writing to list among her credentials, and is an emerging novelist to boot. Maya has an extensive background in feminist, anti-racist, climate justice and Indigenous solidarity movements—work that has deeply informed the way she wields words. Aside from being a writer, she is also a Kundalini Yoga teacher and Embodied Writing facilitator offering regular Montreal classes and workshops in Montreal. She got into Kundalini as a way of healing from childhood trauma and its many lifelong manifestations in her body, as well as to counteract being a writer who sometimes forgets to step away from the keyboard…and just breathe.
Cost: $80
All are welcome! Limited spots.
Book here: linktr.ee/heartfire.kundalini
Questions? Please email maya.khamala@gmail.com to discuss.

Deep Story Design: Story-Craft Essentials for Longer Form Narratives
2025-10-20 17:45 - 19:45 | 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.

QWF-ERA E-Waste Collection Drive
2025-10-21 10:30 - 2025-10-28 17:30 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
October 21–October 28, 2025 (see hours below)

Do you have old electronics lying around?

Donate them to a good cause! QWF is partnering with the Electronic Recycling Association (ERA) to collect used electronics, which ERA will refurbish and distribute to organizations helping people in need.

Our Writers in the Community program has directly benefited from ERA’s past collection drives, and this time is no exception. Stop by the QWF office and drop off your old devices (working or not) so we can continue to provide the young writers who pass through the program with access to technology. All personal data is destroyed before devices are refurbished.

Accepted items include:

Desktops

Laptops/notebooks

Printers

Tablets

Computer peripherals (keyboards, mice, accessories)

Phone systems

Physical software (operating systems, editing or design software, etc.)

…and more!

See the full list of accepted items on ERA’s website.

If you or anyone you know is interested in donating used electronics, then please feel free to drop them off at the QWF office in the Atwater Library: 1200 Atwater Ave, Room 3 Westmount, QC H3Z 1X4 (top floor). Consult the schedule below to see when we’re accepting drop-offs.

Drop-Off Hours

DateHoursTuesday, October 2111:00 am–4:00 pmWednesday, October 2210:30 am–5:30 pmThursday, October 2311:00 am–4:00 pmFriday, October 2410:30 am–5:30 pmSaturday, October 2510:30 am–4:30 pmSunday, October 26CLOSEDMonday, October 2710:30 am–5:30 pmTuesday, October 2811:00 am–4:00 pm

If you’d like to drop off an item but can’t make any of those times, contact john@qwf.org to arrange an alternative time.

About ERA

The Electronic Recycling Association (ERA) is a non-profit organization founded in 2004 to address the growing problem of e-waste and the increasing “digital divide.” For over fifteen years, ERA has offered simple solutions to help individuals and organizations prevent operational equipment from premature destruction. With a focus on recovery, refurbishment and reuse, ERA continuously supplies charitable groups with donated IT equipment while securely managing the retiring IT assets of organizations and individuals across Canada. Learn more.
