Quebec Writers' Federation

Shut Up & Write! with QWF (Virtual)
2026-07-04 10:00 - 12:30, 2026-06-20 10:00 - 12:30, 2026-06-06 10:00 - 12:30 (America/New_York) | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
Free, open to QWF members
Register for the session by filling out the RSVP form below.
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.

If you are registered but can no longer attend, please email john@qwf.org.

Book Launch: No Brainer by Lea Beddia
2026-06-28 14:00 | Livres Babar Books, 46 Avenue Ste Anne, Pointe-Claire, Quebec, H9S 4P8, Canada
Join Lea Beddia for the launch of her new book, No Brainer (Orca Book Publishers).
About the Book
Liv is happy in her joggers, sports T-shirts and no bra.
She doesn’t like tight jeans and doesn’t feel comfortable in a bra. But one boy in her gym class, Jerry, harasses Liv with rude comments about her breasts. When she stands up to him, Liv is the one who finds herself in trouble. Even though her clothes fit the dress code, her principal insists that Liv wear a bra to gym class. It’s unfair and Liv refuses to give in to the demand.
Gossip flies around the school as Liv stands up to Jerry and the school administration. Then a “free the boobs” campaign is started to demean Liv, and she and her friend Mia decide to take a stand. They create a poster to encourage girls to wear what they want without shame, but Liv is sent to the principal’s office once again and is told that her poster will be taken down before the school’s open house. But Liv isn’t going to stand down. There are no school rules that dictate girls must wear bras. Why can’t girls wear what they want without being shamed?
This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading-level book for teen readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read.

Tattered Covers: 60+ Reading and Open Mic
2026-06-27 14:00 - 15:00 | Online via Zoom
Don’t miss Tattered Covers, a reading and open mic featuring writers aged 60+.
After a film screening and discussion on ageism that we held in November 2025, we realized it was high time for us to shine a spotlight on some of the wonderful older writers in our community. Hosted by Jim Olwell, Tattered Covers will feature short readings by four writers aged 60+. Afterwards, five open-mic readers will have four minutes each to read or perform their work. Free and open to all. Open-mic slots are reserved for QWF members aged 60+, but all are welcome to attend.
Requests for the open mic slots will be taken during the Zoom meeting once the event starts. They will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis or, if there are too many sign-ups all at once, by lottery. Show up right at 2:00 p.m. for the best chance of getting a slot!
Whether you’re looking to hear from some of QWF’s most experienced writers or you’re hoping to share your own work with a live audience, we look forward to seeing you.
Online via Zoom. Register to get the Zoom link.
The Host
Photo: Paule Morency
Jim Olwell was born and raised in New York City, where he organized The Irish Arts Center from 1972 to 1978, which was the subject of his memoir, The Art of Being Irish in Hell’s Kitchen, published in 2024 with FriesenPress. He worked professionally for 23 years at the CLSC NDG/Benny Farm as Community Organizer and was made a member of La Societe des Grands Citoyens by the CDN/NDG Borough in 2013. He worked as well with the McGill Middle East Program in Peace Building and Civil Society. He has published two chapbooks of poetry—Crossings in 2016 (Iron Rabbitt Bindery) and Pensions in 2019 (Snow Press)—with a third, Long Time Coming, due in 2027. In 2015, he co-founded and ran Speakup: The Montreal Interactive Poetry Exchange until 2020, and he co-founded The 2 Susans Poetry Circle, now in its eleventh year.

The Readers

Peter Richardson is the author of four collections of poetry. His most recent book is Bit Parts for Fools (Goose Lane Editions, 2013). Sympathy for the Couriers (Véhicule Press, 2007) won the QWF’s 2008 A.M. Klein Award. His poems have been in Poetry, The Sonora Review, The Fiddlehead and The Malahat Review among others. He recently finished a fifth manuscript, titled, Tiara of Fish Heads. A former airport worker at both Mirabel and Trudeau Airports, he lives in Montreal (Tiohtia:ke).

Janet Torge lives in Montreal and is always looking for new adventures. She’s been a television documentary producer, a prenatal teacher. an overnight talk-show host at CFCF Radio, traffic reporter and Radio Noon host at CBC Montreal, a columnist at the Montreal Gazette, and co-founder of the first rape relief centre in Canada. She recently trained as a Death Doula and is also the author of Dear Sam, a book about the death of her son, and I Can’t Believe I’m Old: Essays on Aging, published in May by Linda Leith Publishing.

Dorothy W. Williams, Ph.D., specializes in Black Canadian history. She has authored books and contributed to scholarly and academic publications. In 2006, she established Blacbiblio.com Inc. to create a comprehensive record of their historical presence in the country. Then in 2016, she launched the bilingual ABC’s of Canadian Black History Kit to facilitate the teaching of Canada’s unknown Black history. With her unique historical knowledge, Dr. Williams has consulted on films, plays, tv documentaries, and radio productions. She has acquired 20+ years of work in community development, and decades as a volunteer archivist within the community. Her Sankofa Archives and Collection is now the foundation of her research in history, identity and race, art history, gender, family, history of medicine, biography, community development, entrepreneurship, and education. Dr. Williams is a retired professor from Concordia University’s Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability.

Photo: Louise Abbott
Alice Zorn has published three novels: Arrhythmia (NeWest Press, 2011), Five Roses (Dundurn Press, 2016), and Colours in Her Hands (Freehand Books, 2024). Five Roses was shortlisted for the 2017 Ontario Library Association Evergreen Award, as well as translated into French as Le rosier de la Pointe. Colours in Her Hands was selected as the featured title for the 2025 One Book, One Community program in Athabasca. Her collection of short stories, Ruins & Relics, was a finalist for the 2009 McAuslan Quebec Writers’ Federation First Book Prize. Her most recent book of short fiction, Mind the Gap, was published by NeWest Press in 2026. She has twice placed first in Prairie Fire’s Fiction Contest and won the 2013 Manitoba Magazine Award for Fiction. She participated in the Banff Writing Studio, and was both a mentee (2004) and a mentor (2015) in the Quebec Writers’ Federation Mentorship Program. Originally from Ontario, she has been living in Montreal since 1986.

Register for Zoom link

Shut Up & Write! with QWF (In Person)
2026-06-26 12:30 - 15:00, 2026-06-12 12:30 - 15:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Free, open to QWF members
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 for the session but can no longer attend, please email john@qwf.org.

Cloud Circuit album launch
2026-06-20 19:30 - 23:30 | La Sotteranea, 4848 Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec, H2T 1R5, Canada
Join poet Deanna Radford and musician Jeremy Young, aka Cloud Circuit, on Saturday, June 20, for the launch of their debut full-length album of spoken word and sound on Watch That Ends the Night Records. The duo will be marking the vinyl release of the album and performing as part of this year’s Watch That Ends the Night Records showcase at Montréal’s Suoni Per Il Popolo festival. The event will include performances by labelmates: Lacopo, pinksnail, aniqa dear, and Michael Cloud Duguay with Andrew Mackelvie. Cloud Circuit’s album will be available digitally on Bandcamp as of Friday, June 12.
Saturday, June 2o, 2026
Doors: 7:30 pm, performances start: 8:00 pm
Tickets: $15+ fees & taxes advance, $22 at the door. 18+.
La Sotterenea, 4848 boul St-Laurent, Montreal, QC (basement of La Sala Rossa)
https://cloudcircuit.ca
https://cloudcircuit.bandcamp.com/album/cloud-circuit
https://watchthatendsthenight.bandcamp.com/music

STORIES FROM CANADA’S NORTH / A LA RENCONTRE DU NORD CANADIEN
2026-06-20 14:00 - 15:30 | 5434 avenue du Parc, Bibliotheque Mordecai-Richler, 5434, avenue du Parc, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
In 2006, author Hélèna Katz left her familiar Mile End neighbourhood for life on a small alpaca farm in the Northwest Territories. New experiences such as learning to scrape a moosehide from a group of Dene women captivated her. Dealing with bears on her lawn was more challenging. Shopping that requires a 10-hour drive to pick up both the mundane and the unusual – such as little frozen mice for a community member’s pet snake – amused her.
Hélèna’s latest book, Dispatches from Canada’s North, shares more than 40 stories about the joys and challenges of living in the North. Her bilingual Montreal launch at Bibliothèque Mordecai-Richler in Mile End will include stories from the book and photos of some of the places to which she has travelled in the North.

Book Launch: Spying on America
2026-06-17 19:00 - 21:00 | Argo Bookshop, 1841A Ste-Catherine St. West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Join us in store for the Montreal launch of Spying on America! We will be welcoming Bill Gaston and his son, Vaughn Gaston, for a reading and discussion. This event is free, but space is limited, so please RSVP on TicketSource.
Masks are not required, but will be provided for free at the door.
Please contact us at least a day in advance for elevator access to the store.
Please also note that the street in front of the store is under construction. The store is accessible on foot, but not by car, and parking in the vicinity is consequently limited.
ABOUT THE BOOK
On a June morning in 2022, Bill Gaston drives off the Victoria–Port Angeles ferry in a rented Dodge Charger with his two sons. Born in the USA but “Canadian through and through,” Gaston is on a road trip to Tabor, Iowa, the town founded by his great, great, great-grandparents as the westernmost hub of the Underground Railroad.
The Gastons’ eleven-day trip to Tabor and back takes them up and down and across a swathe of rural red states. Motivated equally by a curiosity to find out what really makes Americans tick and the motto ya gotta stop, the Gastons explore the American west, navigate unmapped dirt roads, eat too many French fries, overnight in clapped-out motels, visit a Buddhist mountain monastery, marvel at spectacular landforms, and enjoy unlikely conversations with real Americans.
Both a sideways glance at contemporary American culture and a mordant yet tender account of the true meaning of ancestry, Spying on America is an unpredictably insightful exploration of family, Canada’s neighbour, and the “American bald ego.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bill Gaston was born in Tacoma, Washington, and grew up in Canada, becoming a Canadian citizen as a teenager to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War. He has lived and worked, mostly as an itinerant scholar, all across Canada, in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Toronto, Vancouver and, finally, Victoria. Gaston is the author of numerous books of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, including The World, winner of the Ethel Wilson Prize for Fiction; Gargoyles, winner of the Victoria Book Prize and finalist for a Governor General’s Award; Mount Appetite, finalist for the Giller Prize; and the memoir Just Let Me Look at You, finalist for the RBC Taylor Prize. He lives, grows food, and writes, with the writer Dede Crane, on Gabriola Island, in the Salish Sea.

Digital Roundtable: Find Belonging in the Quebec English Arts World
2026-06-16 12:00 - 13:00 | Online via Zoom
With Louise Abbott, Rob Lutes, and Lori Schubert

Are you looking for a way to get further involved in creating opportunities, resources, and change in the Quebec Arts & Culture community? ELAN runs several arts and culture round tables – important members from across Quebec and across disciplines come together to address key problems we face as artists. These round tables have been the launch pad for projects such as the Community Digital Arts Hub, the Trellis Micro-Grants program, and much more. Come hear about ELAN’s various roundtables and the important work they do in the community.
Leaders of our three roundtables, Regional, Arts and Culture, and Skills, will be present. Louise Abbott, Rob Lutes, and Lori Schubert will walk you through how they got these initiatives started and how you can benefit by joining!
Register at the following webpage: https://www.quebec-elan.org/en/events-calendar/#!event/register/2026/6/16/digital-roundtable

This project is part of The Community Opportunity Fund, an initiative of YES Employment + Entrepreneurship, funded by the Government of Canada’s Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities.

Book Launch: The ABCs of Black Stories in Canada by Dr. Dorothy Williams
2026-06-14 14:00 | Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore, 2220 McGill College Ave, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 3P9, Canada
Join Dr. Dorothy W. Williams for the launch her of latest two-volume series, The ABCs of Black Stories in Canada, illustrated by Joseph Osei Bonsu.
Readings. Books on sale. Book signings.
Bring your family, bring your friends, and come celebrate the stories, history, and culture that continue to shape Canada.

2026 QWF Mentorship Reading
2026-06-13 14:00 - 16:00 | Adair Auditorium, Atwater Library, 1200 Atwater Avenue (top floor), Montreal, Quebec, H3Z 1T4, Canada
In Person and Online
Get Tickets

For four months, seven emerging writers and one emerging translator have worked to hone their craft through the QWF Mentorship Program. Each has received one-on-one guidance from a professional mentor to help them make the transition to the next stage of their career. Now, their journey culminates in a public reading, at which the mentees will present an excerpt from their work in progress.
In addition to the 2026 QWF Mentorship Program cohort, this year’s reading will feature the first full cohort from QWF’s new Youth Mentorship Program, a Big Sibling–style partnership designed to help young writers gain confidence and develop their writing skills. With twelve readers, this will be our largest mentorship reading yet. Don’t miss it!
Join us in person at the Adair Auditorium or online via Zoom.
Featuring:

Sally Cunningham, mentored by Cecil Castellucci in Fiction
Claire Dooley, mentored by Tawhida Tanya Evanson in Fiction
Zakir Jamal, mentored by Elise Moser in Fiction
Elena Molinari, mentored by Eva Crocker in Fiction
Jessica Bakar, mentored by Annabel Howard in Nonfiction
Avryl Bender, mentored by Todd Meyers in Poetry
tina thư lê, mentored by Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch in Poetry (Mairuth Sarsfield Mentorship)
Valerie Amyot, mentored by Jonathan Kaplansky in Literary Translation (Karin L. Montin LTAC/QWF Mentorship)
Aisha Nyerere, mentored by Emily T. Jones (Youth Mentorship)
Lily Jolie Hausknost, mentored by Liana Cusmano (Youth Mentorship)
Asbesteous, mentored by Su J Sokol (Youth Mentorship)
Zoey Morin, mentored by Raquel Rivera (Youth Mentorship)

Cost:

$10 general
$5 QWF members and students
$5 online

Tickets may be purchased in advance online, or at the door by card or cash (exact change only). Buy your tickets online.
Accessibility: The Atwater Library is wheelchair accessible. To reach the auditorium by elevator, approach the building from Tupper Street, where you will see painted blue lines leading from the sidewalk down to the accessible entrance. Press the buzzer to open the door, then proceed to the elevator to reach the top floor (Floor 1). To learn more, visit our Accessibility Policy. For any accessibility-related questions, email John Wickham at john@qwf.org.
About the QWF Mentorship Program

The QWF Mentorships are designed to help promising emerging writers make the transition to the next stage of their careers. Over a period of four months, each mentee received one-on-one guidance and support from a professional writing mentor. Now, their journey culminates in a public reading where the mentees present an excerpt of their works-in-progress. Learn more about the QWF Mentorship Program.

Get Tickets

Book Launch: Words of Summer
2026-06-11 07:00 - 21:00 | RSVP to Get Address
Words of Summer is a tanka-like conversation between two poets, Elizabeth Paulette-Coughlin and Jennifer Boire, who wrote to each other every day from mid-June until late August one year, documenting the unfolding season. Tanka has been used for over a thousand years as an art form and medium of communication, often by women, using nature imagery and seasonal references to indirectly suggest emotion.
A videopoem was recorded with photos and video by Virginie Nolin. Inside the book is a QR code to watch the 28-minute video of the authors reading.
Author Bios
Elizabeth Paulette-Coughlin is an ecopoet and writer living in Montreal and Vale Perkins, Quebec. Her poems and writings have been published in many chapbooks and anthologies. She co-edited In the Vale (2022), a collection of 88 stories, poems and songs about life in the hamlet of Vale Perkins. Her haiku collection, Boneset and Yarrow, was published in 2024.
Jennifer Boire lives in the western part of Montreal and is the author of three books of poems, Little Mother, For the Birds, and Collected Poems in Translation, and one non-fiction book, The Tao of Turning Fifty. She leads workshops with journaling and SoulCollage®. www.jenniferboire.com
Videographer: Virginie Nolin is Montreal‑based screenwriter, director, producer, and educator working at the intersection of feminist and queer imaginaries.
Book published by Corner Studio, price $20. To find out about the book launch in the West Island on June 11, or to purchase a book write to: wordsofsummerpoems@gmail.com and or see our Facebook page.

Speed-Dating for Children's and YA Authors and Publishers
2026-06-06 14:00 - 16:00 | Centre Sanaaq, 1200 Rue du Sussex, Montreal, Quebec, H3H 0E3, Canada
Writers, bring your pitch and get ready to present it to two acquiring editors at major children’s and young-adult literature publishing houses. Meet your “date,” after which you’ll have four minutes to tell them about your book, ask questions, and get to know each other. When the bell dings, move to the next seat and do it again. Whether you find a home for your manuscript or not, you’ll make a couple of contacts and gather information that will serve you well both now and in the future.
Want to perfect your pitch? Need more info about the flow of the event? Read our tip sheet.
Location: Centre Sanaaq, Room 3 (second floor, 1200 Rue du Sussex, Montreal)
Featuring:

Clarissa Sorgiovanni from CrackBoom! Books (Children’s/YA)
Shelley Tanaka from Groundwood Books (Children’s/YA)

This event is exclusively for QWF members. Not a member yet? Become one.
About the Publishers
Clarissa Sorgiovanni is a senior editor and writer at the Canadian publishing company PAPP International with over eight years of experience in print and digital publishing. She specializes in creating engaging, thoughtful books for readers of all ages, with a particular focus on children’s educational content and storybooks.

Shelley Tanaka is an editor, writer, teacher, and translator of works for young readers. She is the long-time fiction editor at Groundwood Books and has edited more than a dozen Governor General’s Award–winning titles. She is faculty emerita in the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts, where she has mentored more than a hundred graduate students. She also teaches at Whale Rock Workshops. Shelley lives in Kingston, Ontario.

Accessibility
The Centre Sanaaq is accessible to all. People who use paratransit should ask to be dropped off at the bottom of the outdoor access ramp, at the southeast corner of Place Henri-Dunant, in front of the main entrance of the centre. More information.
Register
This event is exclusively for QWF members and has a maximum capacity of 22 participants. Registration will be accepted on a first-come, first served basis
Use the RSVP form below to register for the event.
Registration will open on Friday, May 22, 8:00 a.m. ET, and will close on Wednesday, June 3, 5:00 p.m. ET.

Borderlands: A QWF Springtime Writing Workshop in the Eastern Townships
2026-06-06 13:30 - 16:30, 2026-05-30 13:30 - 16:30 | QC
Borderlands are in-between places, neither here nor there, yet shot through with newness, variability, and change. Borders can be physical or spiritual. They can feel exciting or uncomfortable. They hold an element of uncertainty.

This writing workshop takes place over two three-hour Saturday sessions in Sutton, Quebec. Sutton is a few minutes from the US border, whose troubled or untroubled status has known eras filled with bloodshed, sorrow, and filial love and has experienced complex tensions today. Those of us who once crossed that border for an ice cream cone and a joyful waterfall swim may have a very different relationship with it now.

Similarly, our own interior border crossings are fertile with meaning: perhaps you are navigating a border between youth and age, or between health and frailty. Maybe you are in a process of losing or seeking something that profoundly affects how you are positioned in the world. Or maybe the past and the future have begun to feel intertwined instead of delineated, thus altering time itself.

This writing workshop will give you space and time to think and write about borderlands—interior or exterior—in your current experience. We will use conversation, art supplies, writing prompts, and writing materials to compose fluid-genre writing that helps us inhabit the uncertainty of the in-between places in our lives, with curiosity and hope rather than resistance or fear. Please bring coloured pens or pencils and something on which to write, such as paper or a notebook.

Once you have registered, please send a brief description of no more than 250 words of a place you know or remember—a place that makes you feel something—to riley@qwf.org. The subject line should read “For Kathleen Winter.”

Kathleen Winter writes novels, short stories, memoir, and essays. These include the novel, Annabel, and the Arctic memoir, Boundless (Anansi), both of which won or were shortlisted for multiple Canadian and international awards. Her latest novel, Undersong (Knopf Canada), is inspired by Dorothy Wordsworth’s late unpublished diaries. She is currently working on a book of poetry about a local mountain and its non-human voices. Winter was born in the U.K., grew up in Newfoundland, and in 2010 moved with her family to Montreal. For the past five years she has lived in Sutton, in Quebec’s Eastern Townships.

Solace: A Masterclass in Memoir
2026-06-06 10:00 - 12:30 | QC
Atelier ECHEVERRíA in the Laurentides
Memoir writing can be freeing. It can also leave an author feeling exposed or lost. Join New Quarterly (TNQ) consulting editor Susan Scott to understand how revising your work for publishers can help you find your footing and hone your voice. In this interactive session for writers drawn to nature, art, and lively conversation, we’ll explore thorny craft and submission issues, including how to work with publishing professionals when it’s your life story that is on the line.
atelier ECHEVERRíA is a bespoke studio-gallery at the foot of a pristine lake in the Laurentides, 80 minutes north of Montreal. Directions will be sent during registration.
Susan Scott (susanlscott.ca) is the editor of groundbreaking works in life writing, including the celebrated Body & Soul. She collaborates globally with artists, activists, and scholars from her home in Waterloo, Ontario, where she has been editing with the award-winning tnq.ca since 2007.
PLEASE BRING: A printed 2-page (500-word) excerpt from your work.
FEE: $85 workshop only | Optional: $285 includes a post-workshop manuscript assessment (max 3,500 words). Simply use e-transfer to complete your registration.
CONTACT: Email echeverria.art@gmail.com to register. Reach out to Susan Scott at sscott@tnq.ca for a manuscript evaluation.

Book Launch: Lisa Richter's Sublunary, with Gillian Sze, Misha Solomon and Jessica Bebenek
2026-06-04 19:00 - 20:30 | Librairie Pulp Books & Cafe, 3952 Wellington Street, Montreal, Quebec, H4G1V3, Canada
Join Pulp Books in launching Lisa Richter’s newest poetry collection, Sublunary on Thursday, June 4th at 7:00pm! Lisa will be joined by special guests Jessica Bebenek, Misha Solomon, and Gillian Sze, and host James Hawes. This event is supported by the League of Canadian Poets. Free to attend!
In Sublunary (University of Alberta Press), Lisa Richter explores what it’s like to live “under the moon” in a world that is simultaneously a heartbreak and a total wonder…From Atlantis to Mount Olympus to Christie Pits, these poems interweave moments of absurdity and awe, creating a nuanced portrait of what “a reckless intimacy with the world” might look like—for better or worse. Sublunary is a book of elegy, play, and rupture that advocates for an ethics of care, solidarity, and compassion for our perfectly imperfect selves and each other: a mode of survival that is full-throated and, at times, even joyous.
To reserve a spot, please visit the Pulp Books website event page: https://pulpbooks.ca/events/5411620260604

Book launch
2026-05-31 10:00 - 16:30 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
A book launch of whispers

Montréal Mystery Book Festival
2026-05-29 13:00 - 2026-05-30 21:00 | Centre Culturel Georges-Vanier, 2450 rue Workman, Montreal, Canada
The Montréal Mystery Book Festival returns May 29–30, 2026 at the Centre culturel Georges‑Vanier. This festival brings together 20+ acclaimed mystery and thriller authors from Québec, the rest of Canada, and the U.S. for panels, signings, and special events right in the heart of Montréal.

Shut Up & Write! with QWF (In Person)
2026-05-29 12:30 - 15:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Free, open to QWF members
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 for the session but can no longer attend, please email john@qwf.org.
If the session is full, email john@qwf.org to be put on the waitlist.

Book Launch: Wanted: Your House by Monique Polak
2026-05-28 17:00 - 19:00 | Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore, 2220 McGill College Ave, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 3P9, Canada
Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore and McNally Robinson present a book launch for Wanted: Your House by Monique Polak
Join us as author Monique Polak signs and discusses her new book Wanted: Your House
Admission is free.
Refreshments will be served.
About the Book
A resourceful twelve-year-old comes up with an unusual real estate plan in this moving middle-grade novel about what it means to have, and make, a family.
Cyril’s mom has been dragging him to open houses for as long as he can remember. It’s been her dream that one day the two of them will have a house of their own. So, when she decides she’ll never find one they can afford, Cyril is relieved, but also sad for her. Which leads him to an idea: What if they moved in with an older person living alone who needs companionship and housekeeping? And what if that person then leaves the house to his mom in their will? It’s a big “what if.” But one elderly gentleman named Mr. Hartt actually seems open to it. Could this grouchy, stubborn old man be their dream come true? Or will he turn out to be their worst nightmare?
Award-winning author Monique Polak has written a highly readable novel that sensitively explores the idea of found family and alternative family structures. Readers will appreciate how the novel’s lovable protagonist, Cyril, has caring relationships with his mom, his best friend and his friend’s family (refugees from the war in Ukraine), while also feeling normal middle-grade insecurities and frustrations as he tries to navigate the changes in his and his friend’s family’s lives. The book offers excellent lessons on adaptability and tolerance. The story’s focus on older people (Cyril is originally inspired by a school assignment to interview older adults) offers an opportunity for conversations about aging, and could inspire readers to cultivate their own intergenerational relationships and learn more about the older people in their lives.
About the Author
Monique Polak is a journalist and writing instructor. She is a three-time winner of the Quebec Writers’ Federation Prize for Children’s and YA Literature, recently renamed the QWF Janet Savage Blachford Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature. In 2016, Monique was the CBC/Quebec Writers’ Federation inaugural writer-in-residence. She lives in Montreal, Quebec.

Lunch & Learn: EnRoute
2026-05-27 12:00 - 13:00 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
Are you a writer or artist from an English-speaking regional community in Quebec? Are you looking for a way to share your work with a wider audience?
Join us for this Lunch & Learn about EnRoute, a bilingual storytelling app developed by the Regional Development Network (RDN) to connect locals and tourists with the artists, places, and landmarks at the heart of Quebec’s cultural heritage.
EnRoute is currently accepting submissions from writers and artists who wish to showcase their stories from the regions of Quebec on the app. This is an opportunity for you to promote your work while also highlighting your connections to Quebec’s English-speaking community.
In this hour-long session, RDN’s Culture and Tourism Agent Walter Willett will provide an overview of EnRoute, including a tour of the app. He will also explain how artists and writers can contribute their stories to it. A Q&A with the audience will follow.
Free and open to all. Discover this exciting new project that will showcase artists contributing to Quebec’s flourishing cultural landscape.
Presented in partnership between the Quebec Writers’ Federation, the English Language Arts Network, and the Regional Development Network
RSVP for Zoom link

Colors in the Night
2026-05-26 19:00 - 2026-05-30 21:00, 2026-05-25 19:00 - 2026-05-29 21:00, 2026-05-24 19:00 - 2026-05-28 21:00 | Salle Paul Buissonneau, 3819 Av. Calixa-Lavallée, Montreal, Quebec, H2L 3A7, Canada
Colours in the Night: A Living Tapestry of Stories
Step into a world where stories don’t just unfold… they are chosen.
Colours in the Night is a mesmerizing 90-minute theatrical experience inspired by the timeless storytelling tradition of Nezami, where fate shifts nightly and with it the performances themselves.
Guided by five enigmatic storytellers, the Ladies of White, Red, Blue, Gold, and Green, the audience becomes part of the magic. Each night, you help decide which three of the five tales will be brought to life. To witness them all, you’ll have to return… again and again.
Come once, and you’ll glimpse a story. Come again… and you’ll uncover the whole night.
For any questions don’t hesitate to email us at Therisetheatre@gmail.com
This show is inappropriate for children under the age of 10

Writers Out Loud: Chanel Sutherland and H. Nigel Thomas
2026-05-26 19:00 - 20:30 | De Stiil Booksellers, 351 Avenue Duluth, Montreal, Quebec, H2W1J3, Canada
The Quebec Writers’ Federation invites you to Writers Out Loud: Chanel Sutherland and H. Nigel Thomas.
CBC Radio’s Nantali Indongo sits down with two Vincentian-Canadian authors—H. Nigel Thomas, the winner of the 2022 Canada Council John Molson Prize for the Arts, and Chanel Sutherland, the winner of the 2021 CBC Nonfiction Prize, the 2022 CBC Short Story Prize, and the 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize—to discuss their recent books.
Thomas’s And Then Again Begin, the fourth and final novel in his No Safeguards Quartet, was published by Guernica Editions this April. Sutherland’s debut book, Layaway Child, a collection of short stories exploring Caribbean immigrant experiences, releases with House of Anansi this month.
Join us as we hear from these two esteemed Quebec-based authors.
Books by the authors will be available for purchase.
Part of QWF’s Writers Out Loud series of author interviews and panel discussions.
RSVP on Facebook
About the Participants
Photo: Wojtek Jakubiec
Chanel Sutherland is a Vincentian Canadian writer of fiction and creative nonfiction. She won the 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, which she was also longlisted for in 2022. Chanel is also the winner of the 2021 CBC Nonfiction Prize and the 2022 CBC Short Story Prize, was named one of CBC Books 30 Writers to Watch in 2022, and was the recipient of QWF’s 2022 Mairuth Sarsfield Mentorship. Layaway Child (House of Anansi)—a short story collection exploring Caribbean immigrant experiences, especially those of girlhood—is her first book. Chanel lives in Montreal.

Photo: J.A .Tony Hadley
H. Nigel Thomas is a Vincentian-Canadian, a retired professor of United States literature, and the coordinator and a co-founder of Lectures Logos Readings. He’s also the author of numerous essays and fifteen books. His novel A Different Hurricane was shortlisted for the 2026 OCM Bocas Prize for fiction. Spirits in the Dark (1993) and No Safeguards (2015) were shortlisted for the Hugh MacLennan Fiction Prize. His short story collection Des vies cases was shortlisted for the Carbet des lycéens award. His awards include the Canada Council John Molson Prize for the Arts (2022) and the Quebec Writers’ Federation Judy Mappin Community Award (2021).

Photo: Tim Chin
Nantali Indongo is the host-producer of The Bridge on CBC Radio One, which airs across the province from 3-4 p.m. on Saturdays and is also available on demand on CBC Listen and on SIRIUS XM. The one-hour program profiles the dreamers shaping arts and culture; delving into personal stories, and hot topics in the milieu with a guest’s curated selection of music. Born and raised in Montreal, Nantali started her career at CBC Quebec in 2010 as a writer-broadcaster and researcher with all of the current affairs programs, eventually becoming a radio producer. In March 2016, she produced the multi-platform series Real Talk on Race, which won local and national awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association. In 2019, Nantali won the Best Radio Host award at the Dynastie Gala. Her growth as a broadcaster led to opportunities to host other National Radio One and CBC Music programs as well as contribute to various Radio-Canada programs. Most recently, Nantali produced an internal 5 episode podcast series about inclusive work in journalism. After 17 years, she ended her journey as an emcee and vocalist with hip hop band, Nomadic Massive.

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Book Launch: YOU x ME by Ayla Vejdani
2026-05-26 18:00 - 19:30 | 1426 Rue Beaudry, Montréal, QC H2L 3E5, 1426 Rue Beaudry, Montréal, QC, H2L 3E5, Canada
Join us at L’Euguélionne for an evening of conversation, connection and community celebrating the launch of: YOU x ME. Author, Ayla Vejdani will be in conversation with award-winning author, francesca ekwuyasi to talk about all things queer romance. The evening will include: a reading, conversation, Q&A and book signing, along with special sweet treats. You don’t want to miss it!
Don’t forget to pre-order a copy of the book! youxmebook.com
May 26, 2026, 6 PM, at L’Euguélionne
About the Author:
Ayla Vejdani (she/her) is a storyteller, holder of space and curator of experience. Raised and educated all over the world, she has a master’s in human rights, is an inclusive leadership consultant, and the co-host of The SHIFT podcast. She speaks four languages and laughs in all. Ayla is a queer Iranian-Canadian from Tkaronto/Toronto living in Tiohtia:ke/Montréal, raising her two young children. She is an insatiably creative, romantic realist who believes in magic. Her forthcoming novel YOU x ME is a series of queer, BIPOC love stories. These modern entanglements are the kind of romances that make us lose sleep, love letters to the friendships we can’t live without, and a celebration of our endless journeys of self-discovery. @ayla.author
About the Moderator:
francesca ekwuyasi is the author of Butter Honey Pig Bread and co-author of Curious Sounds: A Dialogue in Three Movements. She won the Dayne Ogilvie Prize for Emerging LGBTQIA2S+ writers, and has been short and Longlisted for the Lambda Literary Award, the Governor General Award, the Amazon First Novel Prize, the Giller Prize, and the Dublin International Literary Award and others. She lives between Montreal and Halifax. @f.ekwuyasi

Book Launch: The ABCs of Black Stories in Canada by Dr. Dorothy Williams
2026-05-26 16:30 | Black Healing Centre, 449-2100 Marlowe Ave, Montreal, Quebec, H4A 3L5, Canada
