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DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231006T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T223142
CREATED:20230111T152322Z
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SUMMARY:Emerging Writers Residency: Poetry 2023
DESCRIPTION:Overview\nThis two-week writing program supports new writers in poetry at varying levels of accomplishment\, from not-yet-published writers to those with one published book. In this workshop-based residency\, you will work closely with our faculty\, Suzanne Zelazo\, Sharanpal Ruprai\, and professional guest Helen Hajnoczky\, to expand your practice and focus on improving writing skills. \nThe Emerging Writers Residency is an energizing\, transformative experience\, designed to help you take your writing to a new level. This residency is a perfect entry point into Banff Centre’s full suite of Literary Arts programs\, offering new writers the opportunity to work on a portion of a manuscript in a workshop setting directly with faculty. The program will help you build your critical vocabulary\, making you better critics of your own and others’ work. You will also learn more about the craft of writing\, and about the conventions and possibilities for innovation in poetry. \nWhat does the program offer?\nThis two-week residency provides thematic teaching from faculty members and professional guests\, Q&A sessions\, public readings\, and one-on-one workshopping. Mentors will discuss ideas\, experiences\, and obstacles that you may be encountering with your writing from across poetic genres. \nIn addition to a single room\, and a small private studio\, you will be surrounded by a community of artistic peers. The flexible program format allows you to choose the amount of support you are looking for. All program elements are optional. \nWho should apply?\nAny new writer of poetry interested in structured feedback from faculty and fellow participants will benefit from this program. The program is open to writers with no publications\, a few publications\, or even a first book. \n*Financial Aid available. \nProgram Dates: September 25 – October 06\, 2023\nApplication Deadline: June 14\, 2023\nLearn more and apply online: http://bit.ly/3ilinBK
URL:https://qwf.org/event/emerging-writers-residency-poetry-2023/
LOCATION:Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity\, 107 Tunnel Mountain Drive\, Banff\, Alberta\, T1L 1H5\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Workshops
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231001T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231001T190000
DTSTAMP:20260404T223142
CREATED:20230915T132739Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230918T182631Z
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SUMMARY:Garden of Literary Delights 2023
DESCRIPTION:Sunday\, Oct 1\, 5-7 pmAtwater Library Auditorium\n\n\nReadings by four\, wonderful Canadian authors of South Asian origin followed by a discussion. Book sale\, giveaways and more! \nRSVP at info@centrekabir.com Please use side entrance to the venue at 4023 Tupper St. \nFarzana Doctor is a Tkaronto-based author\, activist and psychotherapist who has written four critically acclaimed novels\, including the bestselling\, Seven\, which explores the issue of female genital mutilation/cutting. Her most recent work is a poetry collection. \nShailee\, based in Montreal\, is a writer\, poet\, playwright and literary scholar who recently published her first book\, a graphic novel: My Story\, My Voice: Sita and Helen (yes\, Helen of Troy). \nToronto-based Angela Misri is an award-winning journalist (CBC and more)\, educator and author of YA\, adult and children’s fiction. She will regale you with the adventures of her creation\, Portia Adams\, Sherlock Holmes’ granddaughter! \nPlaywright and short story writer\, Zahida Rahemtulla has won accolades for plays\, The Wrong Bashir (a comedy about mistaken identity) and The Frontliners both of which premiered in her hometown\, Vancouver. \nA celebration of diverse genres and voices as well as Muslim Heritage Month (October)\, this event is part of the NexGen MultiArts Festival\, 2023\, organized by the Kabir Cultural Centre\, Montreal.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/garden-of-literary-delights-2023/
LOCATION:Atwater Library Auditorium\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, 2nd floor\, Westmount\, QC
CATEGORIES:Festival,Performance
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231002T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231002T170000
DTSTAMP:20260404T223142
CREATED:20230719T144029Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230926T140601Z
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SUMMARY:Advanced Memoir: Maintaining Momentum
DESCRIPTION:This workshop on memoir is designed for people who have already studied at the intermediate  or advanced level with Elaine Kalman Naves. Please don’t be daunted by the “advanced” label. All of you are at a level to benefit from this workshop if you’re interested in writing\, reading\, and talking about memoir! \n\n\n\nThough you need not be working on a book- length narrative\, you will be expected to have a specific project in mind. It can be something you were working on in a previous workshop or something entirely new. \n\n\n\nDuring the course of the workshop\, you will have the opportunity to submit a piece of up to 3000 words\, and with luck you will have a chance to present a second time. (More details about this once we get rolling.) \n\n\n\nInstead of a text\, you will have the opportunity of reading some fine memoirs and the long lead-up to this fall workshop will give you a chance to do some advance reading. Please give priority in your summer reading to the terrific memoirs by the three writers who will be guest lecturers over the course of the session. (See below.) Once we have established who the actual workshop participants will be\, I will also supply you with a list of suggested optional works to enjoy over the course of the summer. \n\n\n\nThe emphasis is – as always in any workshop – on student input. Participants will not only be presenting their own work to the group but will also be expected to give careful reading of each other’s pieces in order to provide vital critical feedback. This element of the program is equally important to the writing. As in the past there will also be in-class exercises and discussion of topics of writerly interest. In a new departure\, we will start critiquing participants’ pieces at the very first session. Participants who volunteer to present early in the session will be much appreciated! Getting a head start will make it possible to present second drafts. Again\, we will work out these details ahead of time once the class list is established. \n\n\n\nHere are the names of the guest lecturers and their respective titles: \n\n\n\nCharles Foran\, Just Once\, No More \n\n\n\nHarriet Alida Lye\, Natural Killer \n\n\n\nMerrily Weisbord\, The Strangest Dream; Our Future Selves; Love Queen of Malabar \n\n\n\nAnd please don’t forget that William Zinsser’s On Writing Well is a great resource for matters of grammar and style! \n\n\n\nTo apply\, please send an email to Riley@QWF.org with the subject line “Advanced Memoir Application” no later than June 30\, 2023. Your email must include: \n\n\n\n1.      a 3-5-page double-spaced writing sample (non-fiction or fiction) that you feel is representative of your abilities. \n\n\n\n2.      a paragraph or two outlining the writing project you plan to pursue in the workshop. \n\n\n\nElaine Kalman Naves is a long-time literary journalist and the author of seven non-fiction titles\, and of a novel.  She is a two-time recipient of the Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction\, the winner of two Canadian Jewish Book Awards\, and of a Canadian Literary Award for Personal Essay. Her memoir Journey to Vaja: Reconstructing the World of a Hungarian-Jewish Family has been made into a documentary film. Elaine’s novel\, The Book of Faith\, was nominated for the Leacock Prize for Humour. She has led workshops at the QWF since their inception in 1998.  To find out more about Elaine\, visit her website at http://www.elainekalmannaves.com/.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/advanced-memoir-maintaining-momentum/2023-10-02/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231002T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231002T180000
DTSTAMP:20260404T223142
CREATED:20230926T212414Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231002T145915Z
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SUMMARY:As Being Is: Poetry Reading
DESCRIPTION:Monday October 2 at 6pmInnovation CommonsMcLennan-Redpath Humanities and Social Sciences Library\, main floor\n\n\n\nPlease join Poetry Matters for a reading with Canadian poets leading from neuroaesthetics. Alongside recent work\, they will share ekphrastic responses to bill bissett’s painting “as being is” guided by cognitive psychology. Featuring Robert Colman\, Geoffrey Cook\, Kevin Andrew Heslop\, Jeremy Luke Hill\, Jim Johnstone\, and Shane Neilson. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRobert Colman is a Newmarket\, Ont.-based writer and editor. His fourth collection of poems\, Ghost Work\, is forthcoming from Palimpsest Press in February 2024. \n\n\n\nGeoffrey Cook‘s poetry and translations have been widely published and anthologized. Postscript (Signal\, 2004) was shortlisted for the Alfred G. Bailey and Gerald Lampert Memorial awards. He teaches English at John Abbott College in Montreal. \n\n\n\nKevin Andrew Heslop is a wandering polyvalence whose debut poetry collection\, the correct fury of your why is a mountain\, appeared in 2021. In 2023\, he mounted his second art exhibition and released his directorial debut. \n\n\n\nJeremy Luke Hill is a publisher at Gordon Hill Press in Guelph\, Ontario. He is the author of Ordinary Perpetual Machinery (845 Press\, 2021)\, among others. His writing has appeared widely. \n\n\n\nJim Johnstone is a Toronto-based poet\, editor\, and critic. He curates Anstruther Books for Palimpsest Press. His seventh book of poetry\, The King of Terrors\, was recently published by Coach House Books. \n\n\n\nShane Neilson is a poet and physician from New Brunswick. His Dysphoria (PQL\, 2017) won the Hamilton Arts Council Literary Award for Poetry in 2018. With Roxanna Bennett\, he published The Suspect We (Palimpsest Press) in 2023 along with Saving: A Doctor’s Struggle to Help His Children (Great Plains Publications).
URL:https://qwf.org/event/as-being-is-poetry-reading/
LOCATION:McLennan-Redpath Humanities and Social Sciences Library
CATEGORIES:Reading
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231003T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231003T210000
DTSTAMP:20260404T223142
CREATED:20230809T183851Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230814T160804Z
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SUMMARY:Mille-Feuille: Writing Layered Nonfiction
DESCRIPTION:Eight Tuesdays\, Oct 3-Nov 21\, 7-9pmOpen to allLimited to 12 participantsOnline via Zoom \n\n\n\nThe Book of Delights\, by Ross Gay. Ongoingness\, by Sarah Manguso. Persephone’s Children\, by Rowan McCandless. Citizen\, by Claudia Rankine. Safekeeping\, by Abigail Thomas. What these and many other contemporary memoirs and book-length essays share is that they build in fragments. Each fragment may be less than a page long\, and the one that follows may or may not appear to be related. Yet somehow\, layer upon layer\, the fragments cohere into a rich and satisfying whole. In this online generative workshop\, we’ll take a cue from books like these. We’ll practice writing as a process of accretion\, starting small and layering\, adding texture and depth to our memoirs or personal and lyric essays.  \n\n\n\nEach class will begin with a warm-up invitation\, followed by conversation about a short reading related to the technique or form of the day. A second writing invitation will give you the chance to practice what we’ve discussed. You’ll also get opportunities to share your work. \n\n\n\nYou’ll come away with one or more short essays (in draft) and/or the beginning of a longer piece. \n\n\n\nThis workshop is suitable for participants at all levels. Poets wanting to move to prose and fiction writers may also enjoy it\, because the exercises will be adaptable to these genres. Come prepared to write\, to read\, to experiment\, to share. \n\n\n\n\nWeek 1: The Fragment and the Flash.\n\n\n\nWeek 2:  Collage. Contrast\, juxtaposition\, the unexpected. \n\n\n\nWeek 3:  The Braid. Parallel narratives.\n\n\n\nWeek 4:  The Hermit Crab. The borrowed form.\n\n\n\nWeek 5: The Hermit Crab. More borrowings.\n\n\n\nWeek 6: Diptych or Triptych.\n\n\n\nWeek 7: Visual Essay.\n\n\n\nWeek 8: Accretion as Method and Aesthetic.\n\n\n\n\nNote: Participants might wish to read one or more of the books mentioned above before the course begins\, but there’s no requirement to do so. I’ll provide reading material before or during each class\, and a list of suggested resources at the end. \n\n\n\nSusan Olding is the author of Big Reader: Essays\, a finalist for the Canadian Authors Association Fred Kerner Award and the Alberta Publishing Awards Trade Nonfiction Book of the Year\, and Pathologies: A Life in Essays\, selected by 49th Shelf and Amazon.ca as one of 100 Canadian books to read in a lifetime. She mentors writers through the Vancouver Manuscript Intensive and holds the 2023 Southam Residency in Personal Journalism at the University of Victoria. You can find her at www.susanolding.com.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/mille-feuille-writing-layered-nonfiction/2023-10-03/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231003T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231003T220000
DTSTAMP:20260404T223142
CREATED:20230809T185739Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230814T163856Z
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SUMMARY:Fundamentals of Short Fiction
DESCRIPTION:Eight Tuesdays\, Oct 3-Nov 21\, 8-10pmOpen to allLimited to 12 participantsHybrid Workshop \n\n\n\nThis is an eight-session long\, interactive\, hybrid workshop\, exploring basic concepts related to short fiction. The workshop will be a space to receive constructive feedback on works in progress. Experimentation is encouraged. \n\n\n\nEach two-hour session will focus on a different element of style: \n\n\n\n\ncharacter development\n\n\n\ndialogue\n\n\n\ndescriptive writing\n\n\n\nsetting\n\n\n\npoint of view\n\n\n\nvoice\n\n\n\ntheme\, and\n\n\n\nstructure.\n\n\n\n\nParticipants will receive prompts a week before each session (including before the first meeting) and will be asked to submit a short piece of writing (500-1000 words) to the group prior to each session. Participants are welcome to bring material generated in response to the weekly prompts or any other work that they would like feedback on (as long as it stays within the word count). \n\n\n\nEveryone will have an opportunity to read aloud from their submitted work and receive in-depth feedback from the workshop leader and their peers. Participants will also receive written feedback on their submitted work from the workshop leader after each session. \n\n\n\nEach week’s prompts will focus on a particular element of short fiction\, and we will begin the session with a conversation about the role that element plays in creating a cohesive and immersive world. Then we will move into hearing and discussing submitted work. \n\n\n\nEva Crocker is a freelance editor and author based in Montreal. Her debut novel All I Ask was long-listed for the 2020 Giller Prize and won the 2020 BMO Winterset Award. Her short story collection Barreling Forward was shortlisted for Dayne Ogilvie Prize for Emerging LGBTQS2 Writers\, the NLCU Fresh Fish and the Award for Emerging Writers. It won the Alistair MacLeod Award for Short Fiction and the CAA Emerging Author’s Award\, and was a National Post Best Book. Her forthcoming novel Back in the Land of the Living will be published by House of Anansi Press in August 2023. She is a PhD student in Concordia University’s Interdisciplinary Humanities program where she is researching visual art from Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland).
URL:https://qwf.org/event/fundamentals-of-short-fiction/2023-10-03/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231004T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231004T200000
DTSTAMP:20260404T223142
CREATED:20230809T191911Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230913T142843Z
UID:10003468-1696442400-1696449600@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Playwriting Circle: Do Be So Dramatic
DESCRIPTION:Eight Wednesdays\, Oct 4-Nov 22\, 6-8pmOpen to allLimited to 12 participantsIn-Person Workshop \n\n\n\nThis will be a Learn-by-Doing-as-You-Go\, anecdotal (in a theatre history way)\, ease-you-into-it experience that’s not scary or overwhelming and will result in the participants having something dramatic to show for it at the end of the session. If you have always wanted to write a play or already have a play idea in the works\, this is the workshop for you. I’m quite motivational\, coach-like and pushy in a good way. I will get that play out of you if you’re willing to try. I am all for deadlines\, discipline\, and contests. Since I have more of a comic bent\, there could be more emphasis on comedy at times. The workshop will evolve as it goes\, based on what everyone hopes to accomplish.  I am often surprised and quite happy to see what happens when I throw ideas and writing games at writers in the workshop. I am very careful about how feedback is given because everything is so new. This does not mean that there won’t be plenty of opportunity to share your work or prove that you are indeed writing. One of my past QWF workshops resulted in Picturesque: Voices from Beaver Hall\, which saw productions at Redpath Museum and Dawson Theatre as well as museums in Hamilton and Calgary. \n\n\n\nColleen Curran is an award-winning playwright\, novelist\, actor\, and teacher. Her comedy Cake-Walk premiered at the Blyth Festival in 1984 and has had more than 50 productions across North America. It was brought to the attention of Showtime Network by Whoopi Goldberg. Curran’s many plays include Villa Eden\, Sacred Hearts (winner of the International Gabriel Award and most recently done by Zeitgeist Stage in Boston)\, Maple Lodge (Winner Best Canadian Play\, Samuel French Inc. Competition)\, Another Labour Day (Best New Play QDF 1984)\, El Clavadista\, A Brave Girl\, Sybil and Sylvia\, Casa de Mary Margaret\, Ceili House\, and Ireland’s Own Carmel O’Reilly Tonite! Her three novels about Montreal singing waitress Lenore Rutland are Something Drastic\, Overnight Sensation\, and Guests of Chance. Her stage adaptation of Something Drastic premiered in 2002 and has been seen in Winnipeg\, Toronto\, Athens\, and Melbourne. Her True Nature launched the 2011-2012 season at Centaur Theatre. Out for Stars\, her latest novel\, made the Long List for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. During the pandemic\, Colleen created Kitty Calling starring Debra Hale and Lorna Wilson\, it won best Canadian web series in Toronto’s Now magazine.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/playwriting-circle-do-be-so-dramatic/2023-10-04/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231004T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231004T220000
DTSTAMP:20260404T223142
CREATED:20230809T193305Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230908T152332Z
UID:10003476-1696449600-1696456800@qwf.org
SUMMARY:So You've Written a Novel - Now What?
DESCRIPTION:Eight Wednesdays\, Oct 4-Nov 22\, 8-10pm \n\n\n\nOpen to writers who have completed\, or are close to completing\, a fiction manuscript. There is no submission required prior to the first session\, but participants will be expected to write loglines and query letters and share them with the group as the workshop progresses. They will also be expected to read and critique one another’s work. \n\n\n\nLimited to 12 participants \n\n\n\nHybrid Workshop \n\n\n\nThe first time I typed THE END on a manuscript\, I didn’t know what to do next. There’s a lot of information and encouragement on HOW to write a book\, but not a lot on what to do after you’ve written the thing. And the advice you find online can be woefully misleading\, confusing\, or at its very worst\, fraudulent. \n\n\n\nThis 8-week workshop aims to fully lay out the roadmap to traditional publishing for someone who’s finished\, or is close to finishing a fiction manuscript. The journey of getting your story from your laptop to an actual book you can pick up at !ndigo follows a very specific series of steps. From landing an agent\, to signing with a publisher\, to contract details\, this course will take you\, in minute detail\, through every step\, with a centerpiece intensive workshop formulating your all-important Query Letter\, along with details on crafting your logline\, your synopsis\, and your pitch kits. \n\n\n\nDesigned for absolute newbies to the world of publishing\, this workshop will offer you tips and tactics to maximize your chances at every step\, and by its end you should have the knowledge and confidence to approach this perilous enterprise knowing exactly what you need to do next. Because typing THE END is only the start. \n\n\n\n— \n\n\n\nToronto-born\, Montreal-based writer and illustrator Sherwin Sullivan Tjia has written many odd and eclectic books. Their 2005 collection of pseudohaikus\, The World is a Heartbreaker\, was a finalist for the Quebec Writers’ Federation’s A. M. Klein Poetry Award. Their 2010 graphic novel\, The Hipless Boy\, was a finalist for the Doug Wright Award for best emerging talent\, as well as being nominated for 4 Ignatz Awards. Their 2011 Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style book from the POV of a housecat named Holden Catfield titled You Are a Cat! won that year’s Expozine Award for best English-language book and spawned a sequel\, and a prequel. Their latest graphic novel\, from 2019\, entitled Plummet\, is about a woman who wakes up one day to find herself in literal\, perpetual freefall. \n\n\n\nFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/inconsolablecat/ \n\n\n\nInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/inconsolablecat/ \n\n\n\nTwitter: https://twitter.com/inconsolablecat
URL:https://qwf.org/event/so-youve-written-a-novel-now-what/2023-10-04/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231005T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231005T200000
DTSTAMP:20260404T223142
CREATED:20230809T194623Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230814T160907Z
UID:10003484-1696528800-1696536000@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Opening the Floodgates: A Short Fiction Workshop
DESCRIPTION:Eight Thursdays\, Oct 5-Nov 23\, 6-8pmOpen to allLimited to 12 participantsHybrid Workshop \n\n\n\nAn eight-week workshop designed to help fiction writers open the creative floodgates. Feeling stuck in your writing? You are not alone! Participants in this workshop will spend four weeks using prompts and writing exercises to generate new stories before expanding and revising one story to workshop with the group. \n\n\n\nWith inspiration from masters of the craft such as Ursula LeGuin\, George Saunders\, and Matthew Salesses\, participants will be encouraged to experiment with narration\, structure\, character arcs\, and other story elements. We will also unpack the critiquing process to provide participants with the confidence and tools to refine their editor’s eye\, read each story on its own terms and provide helpful feedback to fellow writers. \n\n\n\nOther discussion topics will include how to create a writing routine\, how to tackle revisions between drafts\, where to submit finished stories and how to find a writing community. Participants should emerge from this workshop with clear ideas and strategies to invigorate their writing practice both on and off the page. \n\n\n\nRebecca Morris is a Montreal writer of literary fiction. Her stories won the Humber Literary Review’s 2022 Emerging Writers Fiction contest and the 2017 Malahat Review Open Season Award for Fiction. She also earned Honourable Mention in Prairie Fire’s 2018 Short Fiction contest and was long-listed in Room Magazine‘s 2018 Fiction contest. Other stories have been published in various Canadian literary magazines\, including FreeFall\, carte blanche\, and the Antigonish Review. Rebecca attended the 2019 Banff Spring Writers Retreat to work on her first novel\, Other Maps\, which is forthcoming with Linda Leith Publishing. Visit her online at rebeccamorris.ca
URL:https://qwf.org/event/opening-the-floodgates-a-short-fiction-workshop/2023-10-05/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=QWF Office 1200 Atwater Avenue Room 3 Westmount QC H3Z 1X4 Canada;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3:geo:-73.5864377,45.4886431
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231005T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231005T203000
DTSTAMP:20260404T223142
CREATED:20230906T144811Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230906T145151Z
UID:10003527-1696530600-1696537800@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Mille-Feuille: Writing Layered Nonfiction
DESCRIPTION:Eight Thursdays\, Oct 5-Dec 7 (no meeting Oct 26 and Nov 23)\, 6:30-8:30pmOpen to allLimited to 12 participantsOnline via Zoom \n\n\n\nThe Book of Delights\, by Ross Gay. Ongoingness\, by Sarah Manguso. Persephone’s Children\, by Rowan McCandless. Citizen\, by Claudia Rankine. Safekeeping\, by Abigail Thomas. What these and many other contemporary memoirs and book-length essays share is that they build in fragments. Each fragment may be less than a page long\, and the one that follows may or may not appear to be related. Yet somehow\, layer upon layer\, the fragments cohere into a rich and satisfying whole. In this online generative workshop\, we’ll take a cue from books like these. We’ll practice writing as a process of accretion\, starting small and layering\, adding texture and depth to our memoirs or personal and lyric essays.  \n\n\n\nEach class will begin with a warm-up invitation\, followed by conversation about a short reading related to the technique or form of the day. A second writing invitation will give you the chance to practice what we’ve discussed. You’ll also get opportunities to share your work. \n\n\n\nYou’ll come away with one or more short essays (in draft) and/or the beginning of a longer piece. \n\n\n\nThis workshop is suitable for participants at all levels. Poets wanting to move to prose and fiction writers may also enjoy it\, because the exercises will be adaptable to these genres. Come prepared to write\, to read\, to experiment\, to share. \n\n\n\n\nWeek 1: The Fragment and the Flash.\n\n\n\nWeek 2:  Collage. Contrast\, juxtaposition\, the unexpected. \n\n\n\nWeek 3:  The Braid. Parallel narratives.\n\n\n\nWeek 4:  The Hermit Crab. The borrowed form.\n\n\n\nWeek 5: The Hermit Crab. More borrowings.\n\n\n\nWeek 6: Diptych or Triptych.\n\n\n\nWeek 7: Visual Essay.\n\n\n\nWeek 8: Accretion as Method and Aesthetic.\n\n\n\n\nNote: Participants might wish to read one or more of the books mentioned above before the course begins\, but there’s no requirement to do so. I’ll provide reading material before or during each class\, and a list of suggested resources at the end. \n\n\n\nSusan Olding is the author of Big Reader: Essays\, a finalist for the Canadian Authors Association Fred Kerner Award and the Alberta Publishing Awards Trade Nonfiction Book of the Year\, and Pathologies: A Life in Essays\, selected by 49th Shelf and Amazon.ca as one of 100 Canadian books to read in a lifetime. She mentors writers through the Vancouver Manuscript Intensive and holds the 2023 Southam Residency in Personal Journalism at the University of Victoria. You can find her at www.susanolding.com.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/mille-feuille-writing-layered-nonfiction-2/2023-10-05/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231005T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231005T190000
DTSTAMP:20260404T223142
CREATED:20230828T210052Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230828T210134Z
UID:10003517-1696532400-1696532400@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Book Launch: Protocolo 48 by Gloria Macher
DESCRIPTION:Thurs\, October 5\, 7 pm\n\n\n\nYou are invited to the book launch of Gloria Macher’s Protocolo 48 (published by Editorial Verbum Spain) at Maison Notman House\, 51 Sherbrooke Street West\, Montreal\, on Thursday\, October 5 at 7:00 PM. Doors open at 6:30 PM.  \n\n\n\nThe event will feature special guest Paul Brunet\, health activist and President of the Conseil pour la protection des malades du Québec\, and other distinguished writers and artists.  \n\n\n\nAbout Protocolo 48: https://www.gloriamacher.com/en/critiques
URL:https://qwf.org/event/book-launch-protocolo-48-by-gloria-macher/
LOCATION:Maison Notman House\, 51 rue Sherbrooke Ouest\, Montreal\, Quebec\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Bilingual/Multilingual,Book Launch
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231005T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231005T220000
DTSTAMP:20260404T223142
CREATED:20230809T195911Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230814T160912Z
UID:10003492-1696536000-1696543200@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Temporarily Stairs: Developing and Refining Long-Form Fiction
DESCRIPTION:Ten Thursdays\, Oct 5-Dec 7\, 8-10pmOpen via application to those with a novel-in-progress \n\n\n\nLimited to 10 participants \n\n\n\nHybrid Workshop \n\n\n\nAs Mitch Hedberg pointed out\, escalators are never broken—if they stop running\, they still work just fine as stairs. In the same way\, a story of any length is never broken\, even if it sometimes feels that way. If you’ve been working on a novel or novella and are feeling stuck\, overwhelmed\, or just plain lost\, this workshop is here to help you look at your manuscript anew and get things moving again. \n\n\n\nThis workshop is intended for writers who are looking for resources and encouragement while working on a novel or novella already in progress. Ideally\, you’ll have a significant portion (a minimum of about 30–50 pages) of your novel or novella already completed\, as well as a solid grasp of the story you’re working on. \n\n\n\nWriting long-form fiction on your own or with few readers can be exhilarating\, but can also leave you with incomplete drafts\, discarded chapters\, and the feeling that things have stalled. If you have pages of text\, a cast of fantabulous characters\, an amazing idea\, and a story no one else can tell\, but you sometimes want to call it a day and throw the whole thing out the window—don’t! I’ve been there\, and I’m here to help. \n\n\n\nGaining insight from unbiased readers—myself and the other members of the group—in a supportive\, creative atmosphere will help you identify issues\, clarify your intent\, and find real ways to improve your manuscript. To this end\, our focus will be on crafting outlines and workshopping sections of each participant’s novel or novella. You will be invited to submit pages from your work in progress to receive feedback and notes from your fellow writers (including me!). You’ll also be encouraged to include one or two questions about your work with each submission\, and you will have the opportunity to engage in informal question-and-answer sessions in each workshop. \n\n\n\nWorkshopping will be combined with lectures\, discussions\, and writing exercises to help you gain new insight to constructing and completing your novel or novella. We’ll explore ways to reinforce the structure of your existing manuscript\, gain deeper understanding of characters\, fix plot holes\, tie up storylines\, and approach publishers and editors. We’ll also work on sharpening another skill invaluable to any writer: the ability to pinpoint what might not be working and cut or rework if need be. Because writing a novel or novella takes as long as it takes\, this workshop is designed to help you stay motivated and focused through the difficult parts of writing a long piece\, and aims to give you the tools to get things moving and finish your manuscript in your own time. \n\n\n\nTo apply for a spot in this workshop\, please submit the following to Riley at QWF (riley@qwf.org) by Wednesday\, September 13 : \n\n\n\n\nA short summary of your novel or novella (about one or two lines).\n\n\n\nA maximum of 10 pages from your novel or novella\, double-spaced (if these are not the opening pages\, please include a brief note to let me know where we are in the story).\n\n\n\nOne or two questions about your novel\, the process of completing a long work\, and/or what to do with it when you feel it’s finished.\n\n\n\n\nSextant (Conundrum Press)\, Maya Merrick’s first novel\, was released to critical acclaim in 2005\, followed by The Hole Show (Conundrum Press) in 2007. She works with the Quebec Writers’ Federation as a mentor and workshop/master class facilitator\, was an instructor at Concordia University’s Centre for Continuing Education\, and served as the editorial and administrative assistant at Conundrum Press. She is an active writing coach\, mentor\, editor\, copyeditor\, and manuscript consultant. Maya is currently completing The Ride\, a collection of microfiction. 
URL:https://qwf.org/event/temporarily-stairs-developing-and-refining-long-form-fiction/2023-10-05/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:QWF Workshops,Workshops
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X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=QWF Office 1200 Atwater Avenue Room 3 Westmount QC H3Z 1X4 Canada;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3:geo:-73.5864377,45.4886431
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231006T123000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231006T150000
DTSTAMP:20260404T223142
CREATED:20230930T142049Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231006T142640Z
UID:10003551-1696595400-1696604400@qwf.org
SUMMARY:Shut Up & Write! with QWF—In Person!
DESCRIPTION:Friday\, October 6\, 12:30 pm–3:00 pmFree\, In PersonQWF Office (Room 3\, 1200 Atwater Ave.\, Westmount)\n\n\n\nLooking for some dedicated\, quiet writing space? \n\n\n\nJoin us for another in-person Shut Up & Write session since the pandemic! \n\n\n\nBased on feedback from our membership survey last spring\, we’ve decided to hold regular Shut Up & Write events at the QWF office. \n\n\n\nDo 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. \n\n\n\nThis event is for QWF members only. Not a member? Learn about becoming a member.  \n\n\n\nPlease note that these sessions are designed for silent writing\, rather than discussing or getting feedback on work. \n\n\n\n12:30–12:55: 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 \n\n\n\nTo register\, RSVP below.Note: RSVPs will close 24 hours before the event starts. If there is no option to RSVP\, RSVPs are closed. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGetting to the QWF Office\n\n\n\nOur office is located on the top floor of the Atwater Library and Computer Centre\, in Room 3. \n\n\n\nAddress: 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3Westmount\, QC H3Z 1X4 \n\n\n\nClosest Metro: Atwater Station \n\n\n\nClosest Bus lines: 24\, 63\, 90\, 104\, 138\, 144\, 150 \n\n\n\nAccessibility:\n\n\n\nThe 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. \n\n\n\nLearn more about the office location and accessibility.
URL:https://qwf.org/event/shut-up-write-with-qwf-in-person-2/
LOCATION:QWF Office\, 1200 Atwater Avenue\, Room 3\, Westmount\, QC\, H3Z 1X4\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Shut Up & Write!
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END:VCALENDAR