"The Sustainability Class" - book launch / lancement du livre
2025-05-22 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Librairie Pulp Books & Cafe, 3952 Wellington Street, Montreal, Quebec, H4G1V3, Canada
Join us in welcoming Vijay Kolinjivadi & Aaron Vansintjan to Pulp Books on May 22 for an enlightening conversation about their book The Sustainability Class, building an ecological future, and how “lifestyle environmentalism” has made cities more unsustainable and inaccessible to the working class. Hosted by Quebec Solidaire’s MNA for Verdun, Alejandra Zaga Mendez, this will not be an evening to miss! // Nous vous invitons au lancement de Vijay Kolinjivadi et Aaron Vansintjan le 22 mai prochain pour une conversation enrichissante sur leur livre, The Sustainability Class. Les auteurs discuteront de la construction d’un avenir écologique avec l’honorable Alejandra Zaga Mendez, députée pour Verdun. Bref, une soirée à ne pas manquer! Début de l’événement à 19h / ouverture des portes à 18h45

World Premiere of Michaela Di Cesare's play Mickey & Joe (Good. Bad. Ugly. Dirty)
2025-05-21 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-05-20 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-05-18 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-05-17 20:00 - 22:00 | Mirella & Lino Saputo Theatre, 8370 boul lacordaire, Montreal, Quebec, H2K 4K2, Canada
150 years (give or take) after the “unification” of Italy, a forgotten player finds herself trapped in limbo with her sworn enemy. Dirty Mickey, hailing from the dark Southern underbelly of an otherwise glorious country, was a soldier in the resistance. Joe was the golden boy of the Risorgimento (literally, resurrection), forever remembered as a political hero. What will happen when Mickey, an outlaw who was silenced, murdered and erased for his benefit, comes after his legacy today? This contemporary spaghetti western challenges our collective memory, or collective amnesia.

Craft Meets Magic: The Alchemy of Short Fiction
2025-05-21 17:45 - 19:45, 2025-05-14 17:45 - 19:45, 2025-05-05 20:00 - 22:00, 2025-04-28 20:00 - 22:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Is there an art form more maddening than the short story? Demanding the complexity of a novel, the lyricism of a poem, and the economy of a joke, the work is tedious and the rewards (for most of us) are slim. Still, for us cursed few, the short story is an addictive nut to crack. After all, there’s little more thrilling than the prose of a writer who can do more with a handful of pages than most can do with 300. The complexity of a novel! The lyricism of a poem! The economy of a joke!

Join us, if you dare, for an 8-week workshop where participants will share and critique each other’s work with an eye towards craft. Specifically, we will ask ourselves questions like, “What are characters made of?” “How is a plot built?” “Do I really need to describe everything?”

Equally important to studying these questions will be putting them aside, as we celebrate and cultivate the magic that makes art artin the first place–that intangible whatever that defines our passion for fiction. After all, what else do we have to keep us warm as we trudge through draft to draft?

As time allows, we’ll also read stories by published authors like ZZ Packer, Donald Barthelme, Jhumpa Lahiri, Joy Williams, and George Saunders. Participants will be asked to read and prepare responses to a short story (distributed from me by email) prior to our first meeting.

Frankie Barnet is the author of Mood Swings (McClelland & Stewart), which was a finalist for the Grand prix du livre de Montréal; Kim: A Novel Idea (Metatron); and An Indoor Kind of Girl (Metatron). Her work has appeared in places such as PRISM International, EVENT, Joyland, The Erotic Review, and Biblioasis’ Best Canadian Short Stories Anthology. She has an MFA from Syracuse University and lives in Montreal.

Novel Essentials: The Art & Craft of Long-Form Fiction
2025-05-19 18:00 - 20:00, 2025-05-12 18:00 - 20:00, 2025-05-05 18:00 - 20:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Have you had an itch to write a novel, but haven’t known how to tackle such a large project? Now is the perfect time to dust off your ideas! This workshop is a boot camp for budding writers eager to turn their novelistic dream into a reality. From iron-clad structures and story tropes to the ins-and-outs of how character motivation pushes a great plot, this 10-week intensive workshop will impart professional tips and tricks-of-the-trade essential to bringing long-form fiction to life.

The workshop will focus on practical knowledge not covered in a typical writing workshop: initial idea development; a deep dive on novelistic structure; how to build the perfect plot; character development and motivation; scene development; and how to handle secondary and tertiary characters, to name a few. Each week, you will learn one or more essential techniques and/or theories, as well as participate in short, practical exercises that will help you build your novel. As you master the elements, you will have opportunities to develop and workshop your original novel concepts.

While an emphasis will be placed on long-form writing, all writers looking to master essential elements of fiction writing are encouraged to attend. You do not require prior workshop experience or an idea for a novel to take this workshop. Participants interested in developing fiction of all kinds are more than welcome!

L. E. Sterling (Erin Vollick, also published under L. E. Vollick) is the author of numerous novels spanning contemporary, Young Adult, fantasy, science-fiction, dystopian and romance genres. Her hit series, the True Born Trilogy, was optioned for television, and True Born, the first novel in the trilogy, was recognized internationally with the 2017 Athena Award® in Young Adult literature. With a B.A. and M.A. in Creative Writing and a Ph.D. in Literature, Sterling taught creative writing and literature for many years. She has appeared at BookCon NYC, the LA Times Festival of Books, and Ad Astra.

Poetry Launch with Terese Mason Pierre
2025-05-18 13:00 - 14:30 | Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3J1E9, Canada
Join us on May 8th at 7pm in launching Terese Mason Pierre’s poetry collection, Myth! Local poets Faith Paré and Misha Solomon will also be reading some of their work for us. Please register to let us know you’ll be attending.

UNMET Book Launch Halifax
2025-05-18 13:00 - 14:30 | Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3J1E9, Canada
The book launch for the poetry collection UNMET (Biblioasis) by stephanie roberts at the Halifax Central Library with Annick MacAskill.

2025 Ireland Writing Retreat
2025-05-18 00:00 - 2025-05-27 23:59 | Doolin, Ireland, Doolin, County Clare, Ireland
May 18-27, 2025 join a small group (12 maximum) of writers focused on making a connection with Land. This retreat, in Rural Ireland (Doolin, County Clare) is at a UNESCO geopark and a town that has created a cooperative to promote ecotourism that contributes to their way of life rather than destroys it. Retreat is 10 days with 4 writing workshops with Irish writers, 2 meals/day included (with 1 left out so you can explore the village’s farm-to-table and sea-to-table offerings), and more. Please see: https://www.nature-culture.net/ireland-retreat-2025preview (note prices of $1500-$2500 are in USD). Co-led by QWF member Lis McLoughlin, and Irish Rural Writing Collective founder and director Ryan Dennis.

Shut Up & Write! with QWF (In Person)
2025-05-16 12:30 - 15:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Friday, May 16, 2025, 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.

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

Book Launch: Quietly, Loving Everyone by Curtis John McRae
2025-05-15 19:00 - 21:00 | Cardinal Tearoom, 5326 St Laurent Blvd, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Véhicule Press invites you to the launch of Curtis John McRae’s debut short story collection Quietly, Loving EveryoneJoin us for an evening of readings and conversation with the author and Dimitri Nasrallah. The event is free and open to all.

Quietly, Loving Everyone, Curtis McRae’s debut collection of stories, assembles a meditative and often profound cycle of portraits pulled from everyday Canadian life. A young boy raises James Dean from the dead, only to find out the cult icon is not the playmate he’d hoped for. A university student riddled with ulcers silently spirals after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. A young girl takes a road trip with her older sister to Cape Cod, and years later reconstructs the tragic circumstances behind what she remembers. A couple goes on a date at an old porn theatre that is the last remaining vestige of a neighbourhood that has moved on. McRae plays witness to characters at those crucial beginnings or ends of relationships, with lovers, friends, family, and most importantly themselves.

Curtis John McRae is editor-in-chief at Yolk Literary Journal. His fiction has appeared in The New Quarterly, Prairie Fire, Chronicling the Days anthology (Guernica Editions, 2021), and others. He lives in Montreal.

Lunch and Learn with the Montreal Review of Books
2025-05-13 12:00 - 13:00 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
Tuesday, May 13, 2025, 12:00–1:00 pm ETOnline via Zoom, Registration Required

Register for Zoom link

How does an author get their book reviewed? How can an aspiring book reviewer get started?

If you’re asking yourself these sorts of questions, don’t miss this Lunch & Learn with the Montreal Review of Books (mRb)!

mRb is a free, nationally distributed journal of reviews, features, and essays on English-language books by Quebec writers and publishers. They cover literature, non-fiction, poetry, memoirs, history, graphic novels, children’s books, and more.

In this iteration of our Lunch & Learn series, we will be joined by mRb Editor-in-Chief Malcolm Fraser. Malcolm will give us an overview of the journal, including how they select the books they cover and how they assign reviewers to these titles.

Come join us on May 13, from 12nn to 1pm ET to learn more about the work Malcolm and the team do. Feel free to bring questions!

Register for the session to get the Zoom link. For inquiries, please reach out to QWF at riley@qwf.org.

This session will be recorded and posted on QWF’s YouTube channel.

Register on Zoom

Lecture Logos Readings 10-Year Anniversary
2025-05-12 19:00 - 21:00 | Unia Hall, 2741 Notre Dame Street West, Montreal, Qc H3J 1N9, 2741 Notre Dame Street West, Montreal, Quebec, H3J 1N9, Canada
The Lectures Logos Readings team invites you to celebrate with us our tenth anniversary on Monday May 12, 2025 at 2741 Notre-Dame West, Montréal, QC H3J 1N9, 7-9 pm. The guest readers are: Deanna Smith, Alice Zorn, Fabrice Vil, and Magalie Lefebvre Jean.

Exceptionally, there’ll be 16 open-mic spaces.

Shut Up & Write! with QWF (Virtual)
2025-05-10 10:00 - 12:30 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
Saturday, May 10, 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.

Writers Out Loud: A Night of Trans Joy
2025-05-06 19:00 - 20:30 | Librairie Pulp Books & Cafe, 3952 Wellington Street, Montreal, Quebec, H4G1V3, Canada
Tuesday, May 6, 2025, 7:00-8:30 pm ETPulp Books & Cafe (3952 Wellington Ave, Verdun)RSVP on Facebook

The Quebec Writers’ Federation invites you to Writers Out Loud: A Night of Trans Joy—an evening of literary conversation and community celebration.

Join us as we hear from four exciting and talented Quebec writers. Author and moderator Chris Bergeron will sit down with writers Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay, Blxck Cxsper, and Lenore Claire Herrem to discuss their work, their experiences of trans joy, and how those experiences colour their writing. A Q&A with the audience will follow the panel discussion.

RSVP on Facebook

Photo by Geneviève Charbonneau

Chris Bergeron is diverse and fluid: after beginning a career in journalism and eventually winding up at the helm of the weekly cultural magazine Voir, she now dedicates her artistic vitality to Cossette, a leading global marketing agency. She offers speaking engagements on leadership, diversity, inclusion, and trans rights. Chris lives in Montreal.

Photo by Julie Langenegger

Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay lives in Montreal (Tiohtià:ke) and is a writer, poet, actress, and advocate for trans rights. She published a poetry collection, Les secrets de l’origami and has written for several magazines and publications, including Lettres Québécoises, Estuaire, XYZ, Moebius and Le Devoir as a columnist. Her children’s book La voix de la nature was nominated for the Prix du Livre Jeunesse des Bibliothèques de Montréal. Her first novel, La fille d’elle-même, won the Prix des Libraires du Québec 2022 and is distributed in Europe with JC Lattès and in English as Dandelion Daughter with Véhicule Press. The translation was longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award ’24. This year, the book will be translated into Spanish. She is currently working on the sequel to the novel.

Blxck Cxsper is a multidisciplinary artist, storyteller, and cultural disruptor based in Montréal. Known for their genre-bending music that blends hip-hop, R&B, and Afro-Caribbean influences, Cxsper uses sound as a tool for emotional transformation and political resistance. They are the founder of Trans Trenderz, a record label dedicated to uplifting transgender musicians and building equity in the music industry. Blxck Cxsper is also a writer, actor, and director and is currently working on a novel that expands the fictional universe of Blxck Cxsper—a former superhero turned vigilante fighting against institutional corruption to protect the marginalized.

Lenore Claire Herrem is a transdisciplinary artist from Saskatoon and has been working in Tio’Tia:Ke (Montréal) since 2013. Formally trained in theatre performance, she also works in studio arts, animation, digital art, video art, and performance art. She works under the character name Sandy Bridges for cabaret and web series, and Precious Puppies is the name of her humble animation & merchandising empire.

RSVP on Facebook

Subverting the Canon: Writing Plays As Though Race, Class, Gender and Sexual Orientation Mattered
2025-05-03 12:00 - 2025-05-11 16:00 | QC
With Corrina Hodgson

Subverting the Canon: Writing Plays as if Race, Class, Gender and Sexual Orientation Mattered is an innovative workshop designed to challenge conventional storytelling and enable playwrights to craft narratives that reflect the diversity of human experience. Focusing on perspectives historically marginalized in traditional theatre, participants will explore how inclusivity and authenticity can enhance the impact of their work.

This workshop is essential to fostering a vibrant artistic community. At a time when audiences demand stories that resonate with the complexities of contemporary life, it’s essential that playwrights are able to address themes of identity and social justice. By offering writers a space where they can hone their craft while exploring these crucial issues, the workshop cultivates voices capable of engaging, educating and inspiring.

In this workshop, participants will learn theory in the first two sessions with the trainer, receive a writing assignment to complete during the week, then return to theory and practice in week 2.

Dates: May 3, 4 + 10, 11 2025Location: In person location TBD & Over Zoom upon requestTime(s): 12-4 PMRegistration Fee: $45Number of Participants: 8

Shut Up & Write! with QWF (In Person)
2025-05-02 12:30 - 15:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Friday, May 2, 2025, 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.

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

A LITERARY HARVEST: CANADIAN WRITING ABOUT WINE AND OTHER LIBATIONS – BOOK LAUNCH by Longbridge Books, Blue Metropolis
2025-05-01 17:00 - 19:00 | Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore, 2220 McGill College Ave, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 3P9, Canada
A LITERARY HARVEST: CANADIAN WRITING ABOUT WINE AND OTHER LIBATIONS – BOOK LAUNCH
by Longbridge Books, Blue Metropolis
With A LITERARY HARVEST, editors Licia Canton, Giulia De Gasperi and Decio Cusmano present the writing of 42 authors, giving us diverse perspectives on drinking (and making) wine. Imbibed with humour and tragedy, the unique drinking voices fermenting in A LITERARY HARVEST form a potable Canadian literature. The volume includes prose and poetry by Quebec writers Carmine Starnino, Carolyne Van Der Meer, Veena Gokhale, Heather McGuire, Penelope Laurence, Renée Cohen, Domenic Cusmano, Victoria Dickenson, Amanda Feder, Earl Murphy, Mariam S. Pal, Laura Sanchini.
Join us for the Blue Met launch hostd by Liana Cusmano. Thursday, May 1 at 5 p.m. at Paragraphe Bookstore. https://bluemetropolis.org/event/a-literary-harvest-canadian-writing-about-wine-and-other-libations-book-launch-lancement/

Don’t Quit Your Day Job…Yet: Freelance Writing for Print and Internet
2025-04-30 19:00 - 21:00 | Online via Zoom
The Internet has boosted demand for articles, photo features, website text, and niche content for both online and print outlets. The technical skills to post, blog, tweet, and upload are common – especially amongst the younger generation!

Less common, however, is the combination of these skills with the ability to write clear, concise, targeted, interesting, and well-structured prose suitable for small screens, short attention spans, F-pattern skim reading, and search engines.

Conducted by a professional journalist, author, freelance writer and PR lecturer, this workshop is designed to enhance the communications skills of freelancers, publicists, bloggers, and other writers. It will also help you acquire the business and survival smarts you’ll need if you want to earn money from your writing.

Variations of this workshop have been delivered online and live, for credit and non-credit purposes at McGill University, UCLA, Shaanxi University, and various arts groups.

Through discussions, examples, simulation exercises, and peer review, workshop sessions are conducted in a “real-life” context that aims to get participants published after the course.

Exercises are written and reviewed during sessions to mediate feedback and prepare participants to work within time limits. The instructor will set a main homework assignment, to be reviewed before it’s submitted for publication:

A third-person profile, based on an interview, which describes an interesting person, their occupation and achievements.

or

A researched, first-person narrative analyzing a subject of topical interest.

Sessions will cover all aspects of choosing, planning, pitching, writing, and editing the article.

Participants enrolling in this workshop should have a clear idea why they want to write, what they want to write, and for whom. They should also consider whether they intend to sell their writing to external outlets, give it away, or use it for personal, career/business development.

Workshop schedule

Week 1

Course introduction

Overcoming writer’s block and generating story ideas

Choosing the right topic at the right time

Differences between print and online writing

Week 2

Analysis of techniques, tone, and content of publications

Inverted pyramid writing

Researching and selecting relevant material

Search engine optimization

Online vs print reading patterns

Week 3

Writing catchy leads, headings, and subject lines

Basic writing structures

Show don’t tell – writing for the senses

Similes, metaphors, allusions, and other writing devices

Cutting jargon and superfluous words

Week 4

Interviewing techniques and psychology

Turning an interview into a profile

Use of quotations

Choosing a publication for your article

Pitching stories

Week 5

Working with editors

Building your network

Caption writing

Sourcing, choosing, and editing pics

Travel writing

Week 7

Writing as a business

Quoting for jobs

Tax and invoice issues

Marketing

Self-publishing, hybrid publishing

Week 8

Course review

Preparation to submit workshop article for publication

Listening for the Poem
2025-04-30 18:00 - 20:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
This workshop engages poetry through a listening practice.

Listening shifts attention away from prosaic sense-making and toward poetic meaning-making. Through listening, we can quiet our inner editorial voice, make unexpected leaps of thought, create new patterns of association, and attune to the fullness—the timbre, tone, and sway—of any given moment.

Developing a listening practice also carves out dedicated time, space, and attention for writing. Listening permits an encounter between you and your voice, which emerges when you do not self-consciously construct it. Listening halts self-critical chatter, allowing you to tune in to your natural rhythms, embodied knowledge, and inner language.

You will be invited to engage in a directed listening experience, on your own time, before each workshop. During this experience, you will compose the poems that will be brought into workshop, which will be spent reading new poems aloud and providing feedback on one another’s writing. The idea is that you will bring in new work during each session to share, with writing taking place on your own time. Consequently, this is a writing-intensive workshop. Short readings and audio files will be assigned, and participants will need a recording device for one exercise (phone is OK).

The workshop will fully engage the intellect and life experiences of all the writers in the room as we talk shop about craft, poetics, and more. New work is privileged to demonstrate the limitless potential we have within us to create poetry—the potential to hear poetry in everyday life.

Jay Ritchie is an English PhD candidate at McGill University and holds an MFA in Poetry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is the author of Listening in Many Publics (Invisible Publishing, 2024), which was a finalist for the QWF’s A. M. Klein Prize for Poetry, and Cheer Up, Jay Ritchie (Coach House Books, 2017). He has taught creative writing at UMass and Bishop’s University. His writing and music have appeared in Maisonneuve, SAND, on CBC Radio One, WMUA Amherst, Frozen Section Radio, at the PHI Centre, and he performs expanded poetry readings using portable cassette players and field recordings.

Lunch & Learn with QWF
2025-04-30 12:00 - 13:00 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
Wednesday, April 30, 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 the next 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 April 30 will be on July 15. Learn more about our Lunch & Learn series.

REGISTER NOW

Make It Make Sense: Writing Memoir
2025-04-29 20:00 - 22:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Writing a story about something that really happened seems like it should be easy: after all, compared to something like fiction, a lot of the work is already done for you. You already know what happens! But as anyone who has attempted to make art about their own life and experience can attest, the practice can feel a lot more complicated when you actually get down to it. Life doesn’t always make sense — but a good story has to.

Led by Tara McGowan-Ross, the author of the Hilary Weston Prize-shortlisted memoir Nothing Will Be Different, Make It Make Sense is a workshop that engages directly with the complicated questions that can impede creativity when writing about real life. What makes memoir different from other kinds of nonfiction? Why does writing about yourself honestly so often feel like lying through your teeth? What are the ethics of writing about other people? And what gives me the right, in our complicated global environment, to take up space telling my own story at all?

This workshop aims to foster a sense of confidence and capacity in a genre that is both highly marketable arts entertainment and powerful personal reflective practice. Participants will be asked to think critically about memoir from the perspective of both writer and reader in a discussion-based environment that features short lectures, collaborative dialogue, peer editing, and revision to foster a sense of ease in one of the most fraught and risky modes of self-expression.

Make It Make Sense is designed for writers of all skill levels who feel they are psychologically blocked in their memoir-writing practice. Participants will be encouraged to develop a solid foundation of confidence and understanding so that they can live with the sense of uncertainty (or even danger) that often makes this genre so challenging and exciting. Participants will be required to write a short piece for peer editing and workshop with their cohort and encouraged to revise that same piece based on feedback. Not all revised pieces will be workshopped.

So You’ve Written a Novel – Now What?
2025-04-29 18:00 - 20:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
The first time I typed THE END on a manuscript, I didn’t know what to do next. There’s a lot of information and encouragement on HOW to write a book, but not a lot on what to do after you’ve written the thing. And the advice you find online can be woefully misleading, confusing, or at its very worst —fraudulent.

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

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

There is no submission required prior to the first session, but participants will be expected to write loglines and query letters and share them with the group as the workshop progresses. They will also be expected to read and critique each other’s work.

Toronto-born, Montreal-based writer and illustrator Sherwin Sullivan Tjia has written many odd and eclectic books. Their 2005 collection of pseudohaikus, The World is a Heartbreaker, was a finalist for the Quebec Writers’ Federation’s A. M. Klein Award. Their 2010 graphic novel, The Hipless Boy, was a finalist for the Doug Wright Award for best emerging talent, as well as being nominated for 4 Ignatz Awards. Their 2011 Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style book from the POV of a housecat entitled You Are a Cat! won that year’s Expozine Award for best English-language book. Their latest graphic novel entitled Plummet is about a woman who wakes up one day to find herself in literal, perpetual freefall. It was optioned for animation and named one of CBC Books’ “Top 20 Graphic Novels of 2019.”

Business Skills for Creative Souls Artists’ Conference: Embrace Uncertainty and Create Opportunity
2025-04-29 13:00 - 17:00 | Unitarian Church of Montreal, 5035 Boulevard de Maisonneuve Ouest, Montreal, QC, Canada
Calling all Quebec artists: whether you paint, sculpt, perform, write, or explore creativity in other ways, you’re invited to the Business Skills for Creative Souls Artists’ Conference: Embrace Uncertainty and Create Opportunity.
Join us on April 29 for an inspiring afternoon hosted by Sonali Karnick (CBC/Radio-Canada’s All in a Weekend), where we’ll explore how embracing the unknown can open new doors for your art and your career.
You’ll hear directly from working artists and arts professionals about the risks they’ve taken, the challenges they’ve faced, and how they’ve used change as a catalyst for growth. Whether you’re just starting out or are well-established, this conference will help you find clarity and inspiration in times of uncertainty.
Highlights include a keynote from Patrick Corrigan, General Director of Opéra de Montréal, plus practical sessions on SEO, networking, and grant writing. You’ll also hear from a panel of dynamic Quebec artists and have the chance to connect during a casual networking mixer.
A post-conference debrief on May 1 with Artist Coach Caroline Gauthier offers space to reflect and continue the conversation.
Early Bird registration ends Friday, April 11—save $10 when you register now.
Attend in person or online. Presentations will be in English.
Register here: https://tinyurl.com/3f7cf2am
