Quebec Writers' Federation

Launch: Linda Leith Publishing
2026-04-26 12:00 - 13:30 (America/New_York) | Hotel 10, 10 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec, H2X 4C9, Canada
The Blue Metropolis Literary Festival presents the launch of English and French language books from Linda Leith Publishing, including titles from Fall 2024 to Spring 2025.
Authors and translators will be present.
Location: Hôtel 10 — Suite 10
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Linda Leith Publishing lance les titres publiés entre l’automne 2024 et le printemps 2025. Présenté en partenariat avec le Festival Metropolis Bleu.
En présence des auteurs et traducteurs.
Lieu : Hôtel 10 — Suite 10

Imagination Writers' Festival: Valentine in Montreal with Heather O'Neill and Arizona O'Neill
2026-04-25 20:00 - 21:00 | Morrin Centre, 44 Chaussée des Écossais, Quebec City, Quebec, G1R 4H3, Canada
Meet Heather O’Neill and Arizona O’Neill, the writer and illustrator of the novel Valentine in Montreal, during this live interview followed by a Q&A!
Host: Julia Caron, CBC journalist
This activity is presented with the collaboration of the Writers Out Loud program of the Quebec Writers’ Federation, and CBC Radio.

Arizona O’Neill
Arizona O’Neill is a Montreal author and illustrator. She is the illustrator of Nelly Arcan’s L’enfant dans le miroir and Heather O’Neill’s Valentine in Montreal. Her comics have appeared in Hazlitt, Exclaim!, Canadian Geographic, and The Montreal Gazette. She has created animated videos for many outlets, including CBC. A regular contributor to Radio-Canada’s Il restera toujours la culture, she is one half of the Bookstagram page @ONeillReads. Her graphic novel Opioids and Organs is coming out in May 2026 with Drawn & Quarterly.

Heather O’Neill
Heather O’Neill is a novelist, short-story writer, and essayist. Her most recent novel is The Capital of Dreams. Her previous works include When We Lost Our Heads, which was a #1 national bestseller and a finalist for the Grand Prix du Livre de Montréal; The Lonely Hearts Hotel, which won the Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction and was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and CBC’s Canada Reads; and Lullabies for Little Criminals, The Girl Who Was Saturday Night, and Daydreams of Angels, which were shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, the Orange Prize for Fiction, and the Scotiabank Giller Prize two years in a row. O’Neill has also won CBC’s Canada Reads and the Danuta Gleed Award. Born and raised in Montreal, she still lives there today.

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Belonging: Who Really Belongs in Quebec?
2026-04-25 15:30 - 17:00 | Hotel 10 – Salle Saint-Laurent, 10 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec, H2X 4C9, Canada
This event is held in partnership between the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival and the Quebec Writers’ Federation.
In keeping with the theme of this edition of the Festival, ‘Words to Understand Each Other,’ two gripping and passionate discussions about Québécois identity and who can claim it. Two consecutive and uninterrupted discussions in English and French.
First discussion: What does it mean to be a Québécois? Is being born here enough? Whatever success you may have here, however many generations you are removed from those who arrived here, are you ever fully accepted as l’un des nôtres? Last year, author Kim Thúy suffered dramatic backlash after speaking out about the injustice she has witnessed—and experienced—in spite of being widely lauded as an iconic author in francophone Quebec. Award-winning journalist Toula Drimonis has written movingly about the challenges for immigrants and their descendants in Quebec, both in her column in The Gazette and in her 2023 book We, the Others (Nous, les autres, translated to French by Mellisa Verreault). Be a fly on the wall as they share their ideas about where Quebec is on this issue, and where it might be going.
Second discussion: Immigrants or those who are considered “outsiders” have had to face the different challenges of trying to make Quebec their home. Over time, they have begun to experience a strong sense of belonging and become fully integrated into their adoptive chez nous. They have subsequently seen changes in Quebec that have made them question that sense of belonging. Writer and director Guy Rex Rodgers transformed Quebec’s linguistic landscape with his book, What We Choose to Forget, an account of a three-year tour of his film What We Choose to Remember. Journalist Francine Pelletier has reflected on the question of who Québécois in her book Dream Interrupted: The Rise and Fall of Quebec Nationalism.
Discussions in English and French.
Participants: Discussion 1: Kim Thúy, Toula Drimonis; Discussion 2: Guy Rex Rodgers, Francine Pelletier
Moderator: Anne Lagacé Dowson
The Participants
Photo by John Kenney
Toula Drimonis is a Montreal-based journalist, opinion columnist, and writer. A former news director for TC Media, her byline appears in national and international publications, with a focus on politics, social justice, immigration, and women’s issues. She currently writes a weekly column for the Montreal Gazette and Cult MTL, and a monthly for The Walrus. She’s worked in television, radio, and print in English, French and Greek. She was on the advisory board for Use the Right Words, a national media guide on how to report on sexual violence. In 2022 she published her first book, We, the Others: Allophones, Immigrants, and Belonging in Canada. Her second book, Seeking Asylum: Building a Shareable World was published in 2024.

Kim Thúy a quitté le Vietnam avec les boat people à l’âge de dix ans et s’est installée avec sa famille au Québec. Diplômée en traduction et en droit, l’écrivaine a travaillé comme couturière, interprète, avocate et propriétaire de restaurant. Kim Thúy a reçu plusieurs prix, dont le Prix littéraire du Gouverneur général 2010, et a été l’une des quatre finalistes du Nobel Alternatif en 2018. Ses livres, dont les ventes montent à plus de un million de copies partout dans le monde, sont traduits en 31 langues et 43 pays et territoires. Kim Thúy vit à Montréal et se consacre à l’écriture.

Anne Lagacé Dowson is a bilingual Montrealer by choice, born in Toronto with a Québécoise mother and an Ontarian dad. A long-time aficionado of the arts, libraries and everything connected to them, she is an avid reader with an MA in Social and Women’s History. Anne was a reporter, editor, researcher, host and commentator at CBC, BellMedia and Radio-Canada for over 25 years, prioritising authors, libraries, education, public interest issues, and literacy in her on-air work. She is very proud of her two daughters, who are bilingual products of Québec’s public school system.

Francine Pelletier is a journalist based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and former co-host of CBC’s Fifth Estate (1995-2000). She is the co-founder of a feminist magazine, La Vie en Rose, and has written for La Presse, Le Devoir, and the Montreal Gazette.

Photo by Pantea Pezeshkan
Guy Rex Rodgers arrived in Quebec as a young adult to study at the National Theatre School. He has been a writer, columnist, interviewer, translator, filmmaker and community activist: founder of the English Language Arts Network (ELAN). In 2015, he was appointed a companion in l’Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec. In 2020, Rodgers began filming a series of eight documentaries about waves of immigration, and how immigrants successfully adapted to Quebec since it adopted the first language laws half a century earlier. His three-year tour of Quebec with We Choose To Remember, as the government imposed harsh new language laws, is the story of What We Choose To Forget.

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Affair with China – The Dragon Through Gabriel Safdie’s Lens
2026-04-25 11:00 - 12:00 | Hôtel 10 – Salle JAG, 10 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec, H2X 4C9, Canada
A Blue Metropolis Festival Event
In Affair with China, Gabriel Safdie’s photography and narrative cover over four transformative decades in his extensive travels throughout the entire country from the 1980s to 2020s while working in trade and in the arts. As he wrote, “China’s one-eyed dragon rose, learned to fly, spread its wings and soared. Will this country, so driven to extremes, learn to find balance and a sense of proportion between the forces of yin and yang, resolving those always contrary tendencies?” Gabriel Safdie answers questions from writer Charlie Foran (Butterfly Lovers; Mordecai: The Life & Times; Just Once, No More).
Book signing after the event at the Festival’s official bookstore at Salle JAG.
Participants: Gabriel Safdie
Interview: Charlie Foran
Language(s): English

Tickets: https://lepointdevente.com/billets/fmb260425006

The Ears Have It: A One-Day Intensive on Narrative Podcasting
2026-04-25 10:30 - 16:30 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Please note that this workshop does not cover technical production skills such as audio engineering, editing software, or equipment training.

The Ears Have It is a one-day immersive workshop designed to introduce participants to the art and craft of narrative podcasting, with a special focus on story development and writing for the ear. Whether you’re an aspiring podcaster, educator, journalist, or creative storyteller, this workshop offers a practical, energizing foundation for building audio stories that resonate.

We begin with a guided tour of the narrative podcast landscape. We ask what makes a compelling story, how audio differs from other media, and why structure is the backbone of every strong episode. From there, we break down core building blocks of story: character, stakes, arc, and theme. Through case studies, listening exercises, and discussion, participants will explore how acclaimed podcasts like Radiolab, Heavyweight, and Wind of Change use writing to create intimacy, tension, and emotional depth.

A major focus of the day is writing for audio. Participants will learn how to craft narration that sounds natural when spoken, how to weave tape and narration together, and how to revise with rhythm, clarity, and listener experience in mind. Hands-on writing prompts and group feedback help emerging storytellers develop their voice, sharpen dialogue, and strengthen narrative instincts.

We will also cover outlining strategies, interview preparation from a narrative perspective, and scripting approaches for a range of podcast formats. To round out the day, participants will receive a brief overview of what comes after the script, including recording best practices and how to position a new podcast for launch and audience discovery.

By the end of the workshop, participants will leave with a rough outline or script excerpt, a deeper understanding of story mechanics, and a practical set of tools to elevate their next episode.

Participant Preparation:Please come with a podcast idea—anything from a loose concept to a story you’ve already begun developing. Advance listening: one episode each of Heavyweight, Radiolab, or Wind of Change.

Shut Up & Write! with QWF (Virtual)
2026-04-25 10:00 - 12:30 | 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.

Slantwise: Writing the Prose Poem
2026-04-23 20:00 - 22:00, 2026-04-16 20:00 - 22:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
For poets, prose writers, and curious in-betweeners. All levels welcome.

What happens when a poem refuses the line? Or when a paragraph shifts under the influence of rhythm, repetition, and associative logic? The prose poem claims a wonderfully hybrid space between genres. It’s written using sentences as units of meaning but driven by compression, imagery, voice, and lyric intensity. What actually differentiates poetic prose from a prose poem? The ambiguity itself can be useful creative fuel.

Our workshop will invite poets to explore possibilities beyond the line break, and prose writers to loosen their attachment to traditional narrative. Each week, we will:

Read and discuss a prose poem and/or short craft-focused text

Respond to a generative writing prompt meant to inspire new writing

Workshop participants’ pieces in a supportive and inclusive environment

We’ll also explore a range of prose poem variations such as the haibun, list poems, persona poems, collage-based prose, constraint-driven pieces, and more.

Expect some reading and drafting to happen outside of the workshop. Our shared time will be devoted to generative discussion and thoughtful feedback. Prior workshop experience is helpful but not necessary. Either way, participants should come ready to both receive and offer critique in the spirit of curiosity and care.

Crafting a Compelling Personal Essay (Thursdays)
2026-04-23 17:45 - 19:45, 2026-04-16 17:45 - 19:45 | QC
The personal essay sits at the crossroads of memory, imagination, and reflection. It is a form that invites vulnerability and experimentation, asking writers to turn the lens inward while reaching outward toward readers. This ten-week workshop explores the craft of creative nonfiction through readings, discussion, and guided writing exercises. Together, we’ll study a wide range of contemporary essayists and thinkers such as Sheila Heti, Alicia Elliott, Maggie Nelson, James Baldwin, Leslie Jamison, and Joan Didion, whose work challenges and expands our understanding of form, voice, structure, and truth-telling.

Each week, participants will write in response to prompts designed to help them develop their voice, experiment with structure, and explore the ethical and emotional complexities of writing about real lives (our own and others’). We will discuss fragments and braids, confession and restraint, intimacy and distance, always returning to the central question: how do we shape lived experience into compelling art?

By the end of the workshop, participants will have generated several essay fragments and drafts, gained tools for revision, and deepened their understanding of the essay as both a personal and public act. Writers will leave with at least one essay draft they can continue to refine beyond the course. No prior experience is required—just a willingness to read closely, write bravely, and share generously.

Week 1 — What Is a Personal Essay?Theme: Truth, memory, and the boundaries of nonfiction.Readings:Sarah Manguso, The Two Kinds of Decay (selections)Joan Didion, “On Keeping a Notebook”In-Class:Introductions & course goalsDiscuss “truth” vs. “fact” in essayPrompt: Write a short scene from memory, then annotate where memory failsHomework: Write a 600–800-word vignette about a formative memory.

Week 2 — Memory and FragmentTheme: Shaping nonlinear memory.Readings:Sheila Heti, Motherhood (fragmented passages)Maggie Nelson, Bluets (selections)In-Class:Discussion: how fragment builds resonanceExercise: Write three fragmentary takes on the same memoryHomework: Develop a mosaic-style essay (1,000 words).

Week 3 — Intimacy and ConfessionTheme: The essayist’s voice and vulnerability.Readings:Alicia Elliott, “A Mind Spread Out on the Ground” (title essay)Leslie Jamison, The Empathy Exams (title essay excerpt)In-Class:Confessional vs. performative honestyPrompt: Write a letter to someone you cannot send it toHomework: Expand into a 1,200-word letter-essay.

Week 4 — Deepening Voice, Tone & Emotional RegisterTheme: How voice, tone, and emotional distance shape the personal essay.Readings:Zadie Smith, “Fail Better”Katherena Vermette, selected interviews on writing community, trauma, and point of viewIn-Class:Discuss tonal shifts: intimacy, distance, authority, hesitanceExercise: Rewrite a paragraph in three distinct tonal registers (tender, analytical, ironic)Homework: Revise your Week 3 letter-essay with purposeful tonal modulation.

Week 5 — Structure and FormTheme: Chronology, braiding, and experimentation.Readings:Jenny Offill, Dept. of Speculation (fragmented passages on structure)Eula Biss, “Time and Distance Overcome”In-Class:Discuss braiding personal + cultural historyExercise: Write a short braided passage (memory + outside text/reference)Homework: Draft a braided essay (1,200–1,500 words).

Week 6 — The Self as CharacterTheme: Distance between narrator and narrated self.Readings:Sheila Heti, How Should a Person Be? (essayistic passages)James Baldwin, “Notes of a Native Son” (opening sections)In-Class:Compare Baldwin’s authority with Heti’s uncertaintyPrompt: Write a scene twice — once from the past self’s POV, once from the present self’s POVHomework: Develop one version into a polished essay draft.

Week 7 — Risk, Ethics, and ResponsibilityTheme: Writing what feels dangerous; truth vs. harm.Readings:Katherena Vermette, interview excerpts on writing community, family, traumaAlexander Chee, “The Autobiography of My Novel”In-Class:Debate: what’s “too much” to share?Workshop 2–3 student essaysHomework: Revise draft based on feedback.

Week 8 — Revision and CompressionTheme: Re-seeing, cutting, deepening.Readings:Jenny Offill, Dept. of Speculation (compression and brevity passages)Joan Didion, “Goodbye to All That”In-Class:Revision strategies (How to “write coldly”)Prompt: Take a draft and cut it to 70% length without losing essenceHomework: Prepare a near-final essay draft (1,500–2,000 words).

Week 9 — Workshop Intensive & Thematic ExcavationTheme: Deep structural and thematic revision.Readings:None — focus on student manuscripts.In-Class:Half-class workshopIdentifying the essay’s “governing question”Discuss strategies for expansion vs. contractionHomework: Revise based on workshop + draft your artistic statement.

Week 10 — Final Workshop & Publication PathsTheme: Reflection and sharing.Readings:None — focus on participant work.In-Class:Final peer workshopDiscuss venues for publishing personal essays (journals, anthologies, online mags)Closing: Write a brief artistic statement on your personal essay practiceHomework: Submit final essay + artistic statement.

By the end, students will have:

A stronger sense of their essayistic voice and relationship to truth.

A good command of how to craft a compelling personal essay.

Experience with both traditional and experimental essay forms.

Creative Play for Writers (In Person)
2026-04-23 17:45 - 19:45 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
This workshop is designed for writers from any genre but artists from other mediums are welcome to join.

You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.

~ Maya Angelou

Many writers have other creative outlets. Maya Angelou danced. D.H. Lawrence painted. Miranda July makes films. Creativity thrives across disciplines; when writers tap into other art forms, surprising things can happen on the page.

Creative Play for Writers is a hands-on, exploratory workshop that uses visual art, music, movement, film, and more to spark new writing. Each session invites you to engage with a different form of creative expression—not to master it, but to play with it—and discover how it can fuel your storytelling.

You’ll respond to rich, sensory prompts, collaborate with others, and experiment freely. Whether you’re feeling stuck, looking for new inspiration, or simply aiming to reconnect with the joy of making things, this workshop offers a playful and supportive space to expand your creative practice.

We will explore exercises and readings from Syllabus by Lynda Barry, Workbook by Steven Heighton, and The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad. We will also touch on the ideas and art of Rebecca Belmore and Elizabeth Zvonar, among others, as inspiration. Weekly exercises and homework will be given.

2026 Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival
2026-04-23 - 2026-04-26 | Hotel 10, 10 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec, H2X 4C9, Canada
150 AUTHORS AND CULTURAL MEDIATORS, 110 EVENTS, 9 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
The 28th edition of the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival will revolve around the theme: “Words for Understanding One Another”.
As in past years, the Festival will be full of interviews, discussions, lectures, debates, masterclasses and more to delight our audiences. Discover all the festival has to offer below.
The Blue Metropolis Literary Festival is also a Youth Festival which takes place in April until early May. Across many libraries, schools and institutions in Montreal, there will be meet and greets, animated workshops and many more events with various children’s authors. Our new Draw Me A Sun exposition will also be on display in 4 libraries across Montreal. Learn more about what we have to offer for the youth by clicking the orange button below.
Blue Metropolis favours a diversity of viewpoints and freedom of expression. The opinions expressed by Festival participants are theirs alone.
Learn more on the Blue Metropolis website.

Sustaining Dramatic Tension in Long-form Fiction (Wednesdays)
2026-04-22 20:00 - 22:00 | QC
The feeling of losing an audience is one of the most terrifying experiences a theatre actor can have. With fiction writing, the relationship to the reader is far less immediate but, I would argue, no less important. The energy created in the first pages of a novel begins a relationship between an author and her reader and must be tended throughout for the relationship to flourish.

Stories were spoken aloud long before they were written down. The ability to convey information in compelling packets is innate to all of us, as important to human survival as hunting or farming. From the 911 call to a teen’s excuse for why their homework is late, we are in a near constant state of story-making. But how to hold your reader’s attention for 300+ pages?

This workshop proposes to look at long-form fiction’s rules of craft through the lens of theatre to breathe new and exciting life into familiar concepts. It is open to writers at all levels; all aspects will be explained and explored in depth. Writing exercises and selected reading will supplement in-class discussions.

Week #1: Dramatic Tension – What is it? How is it created? How is it sustained? From the actor’s toolkit: actions, objectives, obstacles, tactics, and super-objectives.

Week #2: Unity of Action – We will look at Aristotle’s definition of action and Shakespeare’s use of verbs to see how every action in every chapter of your novel is contributing to the larger overarching action of the novel.

Week #3: Causality – How to discern if a chapter or scene is following the scene before it out of necessity. When a novel is propulsive, you can be sure the author understands causality.

Week #4: Character and the importance of contrast of characters.

Week #5: Show Don’t Tell and the actor’s version of this famous writing rule: acting is visual first.

Week #6: Language, Diction, and Tone – Style choices, syntax, and the nitty gritty at the line level.

Week #7: Writing Constraints as maps. How writing constraints allow you to access the buried treasures of your subconscious and still find your way back to your core ideas.

Week #8: Know Your Writing– Michael Crummey, Toni Morrison, and Louise Erdrich are three very different writers, but they are each completely and consistently themselves. Who are you as a writer? Participants will be asked to bring in a longer sample of writing than for previous workshops. Through positive constructive feedback, we will use the elements we have learned as a guideline to get a sense of where each writer’s strengths lie, and what in their voice or style makes them uniquely themselves.

Excerpts (2-4 pages) from the following works will be provided: The Poetics by Aristotle, Prophet Song by Paul Lynch, Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, Self-Help by Lorrie Moore, A Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George Saunders, Beloved by Toni Morrison, Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich, True Grit by Charles Portis, Foster by Claire Keegan, Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, Room by Emma Donahue, Tell Me Everythi

Saudade and Mind the Gap Digital Book Launch
2026-04-22 19:00 - 20:30 | Online – Please RSVP
Join us from the comfort of your own home, wherever that may be, to celebrate the launch of two of NeWest’s spring books this year!

No matter where you are, you can join us digitally from the comfort of your own home to celebrate the launch of two NeWest spring books this season – Saudade and Mind the Gap. Authors Thomas Trofimuk and Alice Zorn will be joined by their respective editors, Thomas Wharton and Suzette Mayr for an evening of readings and discussions.
Visit Eventbrite to RSVP and get the meeting link.

Translating Quebec Fiction
2026-04-22 17:45 - 19:45 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Curious about literary translation? This eight-week workshop is an opportunity to experiment with translating contemporary French-language fiction from Quebec in a supportive setting where we will discuss the challenges and possibilities of different texts in translation together as a group.

Each week, participants will take home a short excerpt from a work of fiction to translate from French to English. We will then discuss and workshop our translations together during the following session. We’ll work on texts that pose a variety of different challenges in translation, such as cultural references; jokes; regional slang and Québécismes; the inclusion of other dialects, accents, or languages; period-specific dialogue in historical fiction; experimental prose; and rendering voice in a first-person narrative.

Throughout the workshop, we will also think together about audience, adaptation, research, and the role and responsibility of the translator, and we’ll look at examples of existing translations to see what we can learn from different approaches. In our final session, we’ll take a look at the process of translating a book for publication, from choosing a project to writing a pitch to working with a reviser.

No previous translation experience is necessary for this workshop, but participants should be comfortable reading and analyzing texts in French in order to write their own English translations.

Creative Play for Writers (Online)
2026-04-21 20:00 - 22:00 | Online via Zoom
This workshop is designed for writers from any genre but artists from other mediums are welcome to join.

You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.~ Maya Angelou

Many writers have other creative outlets. Maya Angelou danced. D.H. Lawrence painted. Miranda July makes films. Creativity thrives across disciplines and when writers tap into other art forms, surprising things can happen on the page.

Creative Play for Writers is an online exploratory workshop that uses visual art, music, movement, film, and more to spark new writing. Each session invites you to engage with a different form of creative expression—not to master it, but to play with it—and discover how it can fuel your storytelling.

You’ll respond to rich, sensory prompts, collaborate with others, and experiment freely, both during the Zoom sessions and with set exercises in between classes. Whether you’re feeling stuck, looking for new inspiration, or simply aiming to reconnect with the joy of making things, this workshop offers a playful and supportive online space to expand your creative practice.

We will explore exercises and readings from Syllabus by Lynda Barry, Workbook by Steven Heighton, and The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad. We will also touch on the ideas and art of Rebecca Belmore and Elizabeth Zvonar, among others, as inspiration. Weekly exercises and homework will be given.

Crafting a Compelling Personal Essay
2026-04-21 17:45 - 19:45 | Online via Zoom
The personal essay sits at the crossroads of memory, imagination, and reflection. It is a form that invites vulnerability and experimentation, asking writers to turn the lens inward while reaching outward toward readers. This ten-week workshop explores the craft of creative nonfiction through readings, discussion, and guided writing exercises. Together, we’ll study a wide range of contemporary essayists and thinkers such as Sheila Heti, Alicia Elliott, Maggie Nelson, James Baldwin, Leslie Jamison, and Joan Didion, whose work challenges and expands our understanding of form, voice, structure, and truth-telling.

Each week, participants will write in response to prompts designed to help them develop their voice, experiment with structure, and explore the ethical and emotional complexities of writing about real lives (our own and others’). We will discuss fragments and braids, confession and restraint, intimacy and distance, always returning to the central question: how do we shape lived experience into compelling art?

By the end of the workshop, participants will have generated several essay fragments and drafts, gained tools for revision, and deepened their understanding of the essay as both a personal and public act. Writers will leave with at least one essay draft they can continue to refine beyond the course. No prior experience is required—just a willingness to read closely, write bravely, and share generously.

Week 1 — What Is a Personal Essay?

Theme: Truth, memory, and the boundaries of nonfiction.Readings:

Sarah Manguso, The Two Kinds of Decay (selections)

Joan Didion, “On Keeping a Notebook”

In-Class:

Introductions & course goals

Discuss “truth” vs. “fact” in essay

Prompt: Write a short scene from memory, then annotate where memory fails

Homework: Write a 600–800-word vignette about a formative memory.

Week 2 — Memory and Fragment

Theme: Shaping nonlinear memory.Readings:

Sheila Heti, Motherhood (fragmented passages)

Maggie Nelson, Bluets (selections)

In-Class:

Discussion: how fragment builds resonance

Exercise: Write three fragmentary takes on the same memory

Homework: Develop a mosaic-style essay (1,000 words).

Week 3 — Intimacy and Confession

Theme: The essayist’s voice and vulnerability.Readings:

Alicia Elliott, “A Mind Spread Out on the Ground” (title essay)

Leslie Jamison, The Empathy Exams (title essay excerpt)

In-Class:

Confessional vs. performative honesty

Prompt: Write a letter to someone you cannot send it to

Homework: Expand into a 1,200-word letter-essay.

Week 4 — Deepening Voice, Tone & Emotional Register

Theme: How voice, tone, and emotional distance shape the personal essay.Readings:

Zadie Smith, “Fail Better”

Katherena Vermette, selected interviews on writing community, trauma, and point of view

In-Class:

Discuss tonal shifts: intimacy, distance, authority, hesitance

Exercise: Rewrite a paragraph in three distinct tonal registers (tender, analytical, ironic)

Homework: Revise your Week 3 letter-essay with purposeful tonal modulation.

Week 5 — Structure and Form

Theme: Chronology, braiding, and experimentation.Readings:

Sarah Manguso replaced here to avoid repetition →NEW reading:

Jenny Offill, Dept. of Speculation (fragmented passages on structure)

Eula Biss, “Time and Distance Overcome”

In-Class:

Discuss braiding personal + cultural history

Exercise: Write a short braided passage (memory + outside text/reference)

Homework: Draft a braided essay (1,200–1,500 words).

Week 6 — The Self as Character

Theme: Distance between narrator and narrated self.Readings:

Sheila Heti, How Should a Person Be? (essayistic passages)

James Baldwin, “Notes of a Native Son” (opening sections)

In-Class:

Compare Baldwin’s authority with Heti’s uncertainty

Prompt: Write a scene twice — once from the past self’s POV, once from the present self’s POV

Homework: Develop one version into a polished essay draft.

Week 7 — Risk, Ethics, and Responsibility

Theme: Writing what feels dangerous; truth vs. harm.Readings:

Katherena Vermette, interview excerpts on writing community, family, trauma

Alexander Chee, “The Autobiography of My Novel”

In-Class:

Debate: what’s “too much” to share?

Workshop 2–3 student essays

Homework: Revise draft based on feedback.

Week 8 — Revision and Compression

Theme: Re-seeing, cutting, deepening.Readings:

Jenny Offill, Dept. of Speculation (compression and brevity passages)

Joan Didion, “Goodbye to All That”

In-Class:

Revision strategies (How to “write coldly”)

Prompt: Take a draft and cut it to 70% length without losing essence

Homework: Prepare a near-final essay draft (1,500–2,000 words).

Week 9 — Workshop Intensive & Thematic Excavation

Theme: Deep structural and thematic revision.Readings:

None — focus on student manuscripts.

In-Class:

Half-class workshop

Identifying the essay’s “governing question”

Discuss strategies for expansion vs. contraction

Homework: Revise based on workshop + draft your artistic statement.

Week 10 — Final Workshop & Publication Paths

Theme: Reflection and sharing.Readings:

None — focus on participant work.

In-Class:

Final peer workshop

Discuss venues for publishing personal essays (journals, anthologies, online mags)

Closing: Write a brief artistic statement on your personal essay practice

Homework: Submit final essay + artistic statement.

By the end, students will have:

A stronger sense of their essayistic voice and relationship to truth.

A good command of how to craft a compelling personal essay.

Experience with both traditional and experimental essay forms.

Being There: Research for Writers
2026-04-21 17:45 - 19:45 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
How do you get that “being there” feeling? How much do you need to know about a particular time and place you’re after before launching yourself into a writing project? And what are the differing needs for fiction and nonfiction writers?

The objective in this workshop is two-fold: finding out what you need to bring your project to completion, and listening to what you are discovering and letting your discoveries guide you. The art of the accident, the coincidence, changing on the fly, is very much part of the research process.

A quick note for potential participants: Is this workshop for fiction or nonfiction writers? Both. I have reported as a journalist from the same zones of conflict I later used in a novel, and getting the necessary information on events there was the same for both types of writing. As a novelist, I was free to mix and match and fantasize about what I had found, whereas as a journalist, I was bound by the facts.

This is how the workshop will proceed, respecting the needs of the participants, of course. We will bring in our research issues, resolved or not, pending or not, real or imagined (“what if I wanted to know this?”). We’ll then turn to the work of learning what we want to know, and how. Always with the question in mind: why? Why do we want to know such-and-such? How will it fit into the story we need to tell? How can we avoid over-researching, or failing to assimilate our research into our writing?

We’ll pay special attention to the moral aspects of turning over stones when writing about friends, family, people we are or have been intimate with. We’ll look into topics very much on page 1 of people’s work, like PTSD, family violence, etc. And no workshop can be carried out without looking at the technological advances (such as the Global Investigative Journalism Network) that allow us to gaze upon a landscape or a battlefield from the comfort of our living rooms.

Participants should bring in their own work to the group, but also examples from other books and articles they feel provided the “being there” feeling. As a group, we will create a community of fellow writers that will hopefully outlive this short workshop.

Lunch & Learn: Delivering and Listening to Land Acknowledgements
2026-04-21 14:00 - 15:30 | Online – Please RSVP to receive a Zoom link
Tuesday, April 21, 20262:00–3:30 pm ETFree, open to all—register for Zoom link

Learn about delivering and listening to land acknowledgements in this presentation led by Suzanne Keeptwo.

Land acknowledgements of today are intended to be an act of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples of the territory upon which non-Indigenous Canadians reside. Yet, too many iterations are routine and formulaic, and sorely absent of environmental and social justice initiatives.

Beyond simply words, land acknowledgements are an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of Indigenous truths, Canadian realities, and concepts of relationality.

In this Lunch & Learn, writer Suzanne Keeptwo will highlight essential truths and knowledge for implementing an effective, Iiving, breathing land acknowledgement. She will inspire the creation of impactful land acknowledgements intended to raise awareness about connections to, and responsibilities toward, the land.

This presentation is free and open to all. Organization leaders and decision-makers are particularly encouraged to join. Those who are responsible for—or conscientious about—the development of meaningful land acknowledgements will understand them as ongoing testaments to reconciliation between all peoples and the Earth. A Q&A period will follow the presentation.

About the Presenter

Suzanne Keeptwo is a professional writer, editor, and consultant. From 2006 to 2016, she was a contributing journalist for the Anishinabek News and has since worked with numerous publishers as a freelance editor. Suzanne also works directly with writers to help develop their manuscripts, including the soon-to-be published Older Than The Moon (Breakwater Books). Suzanne is the author of We All Go Back to the Land, The Who, Why, and How of Land Acknowledgements (2021). She is now focused on her own creative writing and storytelling. Her True Tales of Wonder was first performed in 2024 at Odyssey Theatre’s Creative Arts Festival.

Register for Zoom link

2026 Imagination Writers' Festival
2026-04-21 - 2026-04-26 | Morrin Centre, 44 Chaussée des Écossais, Quebec City, Quebec, G1R 4H3, Canada
What’s the Imagination Writers’ Festival?

A dynamic and convivial celebration. Pop-up activities, wine and tea tastings, workshops, concerts, discussions, and more.
A cultural meeting space. Meet authors, translators, and artists face to face; chat about books, drinks, food, arts, and more with other Festival attendees; discover new books, new universes, new friends.
An unforgettable experience. 30+ authors and artists, 40+ activities at the Morrin Centre and in nearby schools and partner organizations.

The Imagination Writers’ Festival aims to promote Canadian literature in its many forms, showcase the diverse literary landscape of our country, and be a marker of the vitality of our culture. To that effect, this year, we are embracing the theme of connections! The Festival team is delighted to present a series of events and activities held in partnership with cultural and literary organizations, or inspired by (and put together with advice from) other literary festivals.
Among these activities are:

Languages Intertwined discussion, in collaboration with the Kwahiatonhk! Festival
Silent Writing activity, inspired by the GritLit Festival
Pop-Up-Cartoonist activity, in collaboration with QuébecBD
Literary Translation panel, in collaboration with the Maison de la littérature
Pop-Up-Poet activity, inspired by and with advice from the Whistler Writers Festival (and poet Bronwyn Preece) and the Vancouver Writers’ Fest (and poet Elliott Slinn)

Sustaining Dramatic Tension in Long-form Fiction
2026-04-20 20:00 - 22:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
The feeling of losing an audience is one of the most terrifying experiences a theatre actor can have. With fiction writing, the relationship to the reader is far less immediate but, I would argue, no less important. The energy created in the first pages of a novel begins a relationship between an author and her reader and must be tended throughout for the relationship to flourish.

Stories were spoken aloud long before they were written down. The ability to convey information in compelling packets is innate to all of us, as important to human survival as hunting or farming. From the 911 call to a teen’s excuse for why their homework is late, we are in a near constant state of story-making. But how to hold your reader’s attention for 300+ pages?

This workshop proposes to look at long-form fiction’s rules of craft through the lens of theatre to breathe new and exciting life into familiar concepts. It is open to writers at all levels; all aspects will be explained and explored in depth. Writing exercises and selected reading will supplement in-class discussions.

1. Week #1: Dramatic Tension – What is it? How is it created? How is it sustained? From the actor’s toolkit: actions, objectives, obstacles, tactics, and super-objectives.

Week #2: Unity of Action – We will look at Aristotle’s definition of action and Shakespeare’s use of verbs to see how every action in every chapter of your novel is contributing to the larger overarching action of the novel.

Week #3: Causality – How to discern if a chapter or scene is following the scene before it out of necessity. When a novel is propulsive, you can be sure the author understands causality.

Week #4: Character and the importance of contrast of characters.

Week #5: Show Don’t Tell and the actor’s version of this famous writing rule: acting is visual first.

Week #6: Language, Diction, and Tone – Style choices, syntax, and the nitty gritty at the line level.

Week #7: Writing Constraints as maps. How writing constraints allow you to access the buried treasures of your subconscious and still find your way back to your core ideas.

Week #8: Know Your Writing– Michael Crummey, Toni Morrison, and Louise Erdrich are three very different writers, but they are each completely and consistently themselves. Who are you as a writer? Participants will be asked to bring in a longer sample of writing than for previous workshops. Through positive constructive feedback, we will use the elements we have learned as a guideline to get a sense of where each writer’s strengths lie, and what in their voice or style makes them uniquely themselves.

Excerpts (2-4 pages) from the following works will be provided: The Poetics by Aristotle, Prophet Song by Paul Lynch, Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, Self-Help by Lorrie Moore, A Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George Saunders, Beloved by Toni Morrison, Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich, True Grit by Charles Portis, Foster by Claire Keegan, Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, Room by Emma Donahue, Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout, All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews, and several Shakespearean monologues.

Morality Bites VI
2026-04-20 19:30 | QC
Theatre Ouest End invites you to MORALITY BITES VI– a night of new short play readings!
Since our first dramatic reading event in 2019, and continuing with Still Got Something to Say: 6 Plays on Age, The Covenant, What Rough Beast, and Mickey & Joe (Good. Bad. Ugly. Dirty.), Theatre Ouest End has always been committed to making theatre that asks the big questions about who we are as individuals in our political, historical and social context. With that commitment in mind, we are offering a fifth evening of 2 short plays, each examining a different bite-size moral dilemma with a side of humor.
The Last Relay by Debra Kirshenbaum and Failure To Launch by Ann Lambert
It promises to be a night of dramatic readings with a difference—you, the audience will be invited (if you want) to weigh in on the choices the characters make. Did they do the right thing? What is the right thing? Is there a right thing?
This event will feature a terrific local cast (details to come!) and will happen in the gallery at the Centaur Theatre.
Join us for a drink, a snack, and an entertaining and engaging night of theatre.
Some responses from our other Morality Bites events:
“You are doing great work in making theatre relevant in our increasingly difficult task of coming to terms with the world we live in. It is so helpful to have artistic productions that inspire us to share our concerns with friends and neighbours, and to search with them for ways of making a better world.”
“Wonderful evening with 2 new short seasonal pieces from Theatre Ouest End and an engaged audience!”
“I resonated a lot with the plays, especially with pushing conversation boundaries forward and in turn curating them in a safe space!” + “Morality Bites was really fun. Can’t wait for the next one!”
Bring your friends and family. We can’t wait to see you!
TICKETS: are FREE but a donation of $10 would be very appreciated. $20 even better!
DATE: April 20, 2026
TIME: 7:30 PM
LOCATION: Centaur Theatre (gallery) thanks to our partnership with Centaur Theatre where we are a guest company for the 2025-2026 season.
FACEBOOK LINK: https://www.facebook.com/share/1HxdubUDPy/

Poetic Transformations: Revising as Re-Seeing
2026-04-20 17:45 - 19:45 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Most poets move through a process of honing our work. We draft, workshop, revise, and polish our poems. But what possibilities await if we reframe revision as transformation?

This workshop will build a new toolkit for revising poetry—one that valorizes artistic possibility over the idea of a single finished draft. Together, we will embrace each poem’s power to contain and reveal multiple versions of itself—versions that can stand alone or in conversation.

Through generative exercises, craft wisdom, and workshop-style feedback, we will inhabit poet and composition scholar Wendy Bishop’s idea of radical revision. Each week, we will enact experiments on our work to shake us out of the poems we thought we knew and into new stylistic territory. By embracing revision as an act of re-seeing, we will confound our own expectations, deepen into the inherent promise of our work, and slough off stale writerly habits. A delightful, productive defamiliarization may result.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, not known how to revise, or felt too attached to a draft to change it, this workshop is for you. If you’ve ever wanted to create an inventive sequence of poems stemming from a single impulse, this workshop is for you. If you’ve ever wanted to turn your linguistic sandcastle into a lexical dragon or syllabic shore bird, this workshop is for you.

The strategies you will learn are designed to serve you both within and beyond the workshop. You can expect to leave the workshop with a newly articulated, personalized philosophy of revision. You might leave with 8 radically different versions of a single poem. You might leave with a whole new sequence of poems that could scaffold a collection. Regardless, you will leave with some substantially revised poetry along with the concrete tools and feedback to make future revision a process of expansive growth.

The workshop is open to practicing poets of all levels — with the following caveats:

1) you must already be writing and revising poems;

2) you must be willing to abandon the idea of single finished version of any given poem; and

3) you must bring 3 to 5 of your own poems that you are willing to revise beyond recognition.

Scrivener Issue 48 Launch Party
2026-04-19 19:00 - 22:30 | Cardinal Tearoom, 5326 St Laurent Blvd, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Join Scrivener Creative Review for the launch of the magazine’s “Longhand Issue” at 7PM on 19 April 2026 at Cardinal Tea Room. Doors open at 6:45PM, readings begin at 7:30PM sharp.
Buy tickets.

Solving the Picture Book Puzzle
2026-04-18 10:30 - 16:30 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
During the day, we will read and deconstruct six picture books. Our goal will be to answer the following questions: What stories are best suited to the picture book genre? What are the conventions of the picture book? What are the central themes of the picture book? What kind of language works best in a picture book?

Our reading list (these books do not have to be read in advance):

Pierre, by Maurice Sendak. This book will allow us to look at the role of humour in picture books. It will also help us understand the importance of “caring” about our subject matter.

When We Were Alone, by David A. Robertson. This stunning book will let us see how picture books can tackle painful subjects, in this case the residential school system.

Knuffle Bunny, by Mo Willems. This book is funny and charming, but it deals with the key themes of loss and growth.

The Funeral by Matt James. This book shows us that death and loss are often central themes of picture books. James gives us the child’s view of a funeral.

Proud as a Peacock, Brave as a Lion, by Jane Barclay. A story about war, but also about friendship, love, and loss.

I’m Glad That You’re Happy, by Nahid Kazemi. Simple, exquisite poetry. As we will see throughout the day, the best picture books aren’t just for kids.

We will also do an exercise designed to help participants return – via memory – to their own childhoods. This exercise, which focuses on the five senses, may help participants find the inspiration for a picture book project. Participants who wish to may share their memory. This exercise often has a “cross-pollination” effect, leading to even more memories and possible stories.

Some workshops participants may turn up at the workshop with a picture-book-in-progress. We will also make time to hear these stories, and the group will offer feedback, applying principles covered during our day together.

Book Launch & Art Exhibition with Live Music and Cocktail—Free Admission
2026-04-17 19:00 - 21:00 | Viva Vida Art Gallery, 278 Lakeshore Road, suite 2, Pointe-Claire, Quebec, H9S 4K9, Canada
Have you ever loved so deeply that it left an echo?
Have you ever tried to let go only to find pieces of them still tangled in your soul?
Then this event is for you!
Join us on April 17, 19:00–21:00 for a special evening celebrating the launch and signing of Ebbs and Flows of the Heart by Chedia El Khouri.
Mixed Media Art Exhibition
Live Music by RachelDara
Complimentary Cocktail
Q&A Session hosted by poet Samara O’Gorman
Viva Vida Art Gallery and Art Centre in the heart of the Pointe Claire Village
FREE ADMISSION
Come experience an inspiring night of art, poetry, and connection. We look forward to seeing you there!

Shut Up & Write! with QWF (In Person)
2026-04-17 12:30 - 15:00 | QWF Office, 1200 Atwater Avenue, Room 3, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1X4, Canada
Friday, April 17, 2026, 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.

This session is now full. To be put on the waitlist, email John Wickham at john@qwf.org.

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

Book Launch: Banished Rose by Leila
2026-04-16 19:00 - 20:30 | Le Bon Vieux Temps, 2051B rue Saint-Denis, Montreal, Quebec, H2X 3K8, Canada
Join Montreal author Leila for the launch of her poetry collection Banished Rose.
About the Book
Banished Rose is a luminous collection of poetry spanning over two decades, tracing the delicate arc of one woman’s journey from adolescence to creative maturity. From her first verses at age twelve to a reflective voice of thirty-four, Leila conjures vivid imagery and deep emotion to illuminate her journey.
Each poem becomes a moment of immersion, a meditation on the present. With raw honesty and lyrical grace, she invites listeners into an intimate world shaped by love, heartbreak, personal transformation, and spiritual awakening.
Banished Rose is a testament to the healing power of words, a companion for anyone navigating life’s joys and sorrows, and a reminder that within every heartache lies the possibility of grace.
About the Author
Daniela Beatriz Leal Reyes (Leila), is a Chilean independent author and poet, based in Montreal, Canada since 2018. She published her first book of poetry in October 2025, Banished Rose, a work published in English, which brings together 47 poems and traces the author’s journey originally written in Spanish and translated into English by the poet herself.
One of his works, Toque de Libertad, included in his book, was also published in the poetry anthology Trazos de hojas secas (2025), by Ediciones Converso.

RSVP

I Remember: A Writing Workshop
2026-04-16 19:00 | Parquette, 1345 Rue de Bellechasse, Montreal
Organized in partnership between the Blue Metropolis Literary Festival, Rodaisun, and Grapeseed Books.
Hosted by Rodaisun, a writing workshop that incorporates sound and performance, on the theme of what it means to take stock of our personal inventory, in order to turn that into poetry (which is the backbone of RDS). This investigation will be conducted through the lens of Joe Brainard’s book I Remember — a NY painter and poet who died prematurely of AIDS-related complications. The audience will be guided with a writing prompt during two 30-40min sets of live improvised jazz. The sound charges the space and serves as the anchor for the stream of conscious writing. There will be a 15-minute break between sets. At the end, people will be invited to read what they’ve written.
Writing prompts by RODAISUN, music by Aaron Dolman, Kevin LaFleur, and Zach Bachand. Second hand books for sale by Pome’s Books.
Get tickets: https://www.grapeseedbooks.com/product-page/i-remember-w-rodaisun-x-blue-metropolis

borders, boundaries, margins: an evening of poetry readings
2026-04-16 19:00 | Rocket Science Room, #204-170 Jean Talon O., Atlas Building Little Italy, Montreal, Quebec, H2R 2X4, Canada
Thursday, April 16, 2026, 7:00 pm ET

Poetry Matters warmly invites you to borders, boundaries, margins, an evening of poetry readings with Shanice Nicole, Carlos A. Pittella, and Elizabeth Wood.

Free and open to the public

Please register here

The following day, we will extend our exploration of poetry in a roundtable discussion featuring members of the Poetry Matters research project, in collaboration with McGill Psychology. This will take place in Arts W-120, from 12-3 pm (Friday, April 17th). All are welcome.

Shanice Nicole is a Black feminist educator, facilitator, writer, (out)spoken word artist, and mother based in Montreal. Her debut children’s book, Dear Black Girls, published in 2021 by Metonymy Press, is described by Shannon Ozirny of Quill and Quire as a “powerful, honest affirmation of belonging that is striking in its poeticism.” She is also the curator of free community resources such as Jobs & Things and All Black Everything Montreal. Shanice Nicole was nominated as Gala Dynastie’s Author of the Year in 2022 and named as one of CBC’s Black Changemakers in 2024.

Carlos A. Pittella is a Latinx poet and editor currently residing in Lethbridge/Sikóóhkotoki. He is the recipient of a 2022 Frontier Global Poetry Prize. While completing his MA in English and Creative Writing at Concordia University, he was also awarded a 2023 Forces AVENIR award as part of the Headlight Anthology editorial team. His poetry is haunted by borders and bureaucracies and often inhabits the movement of being in-between places, languages, and times. “There is such a lovely propulsion to Pittella’s lyrics,” writes poet and publisher Rob McClennan. Pittella’s writing has appeared in places such as Shō, Jacket2, Glyphöria, & The Capilano Review. His first chapbook in English footnotes after Lorca was published in 2024 by above/ground press, and in 2025 he published Propersitions with Cactus Press. His latest work, the manifesto Dante’s Bureau, will be published by Anstruther Press in 2026.

Originally from rural Ontario, Elizabeth Wood is a Montreal-based educator, visual artist, art writer, and poet. She “distill[s]” poetry from “rending moments,” Dawn MacDonald observes. Wood’s first chapbook Outlaw, Rainy Day appeared in 2022 (Turret House Press). Wood is a contributor to their collective chapbook XTRACTS Studio #7 (2022). Her chapbook, The quiet only knows half of itself, was published through Anstruther Press in 2025. Wood’s poems and writing on art have appeared in numerous arts publications, exhibition catalogues, and poetry journals.

register
