…Tracey Waddleton!
The Quebec Writers’ Federation is delighted to announce that the recipient of the 2020 Max Margles Writing Residency is Montreal writer Tracey Waddleton!
Tracey will spend the month of August 2020 in St Patrick’s Park Lodge, Dublin, Ireland, to work on her next writing project, a novel about a cold missing-person case and a small town unusually adept at keeping secrets.
She said,
“It’s an honour to be the first recipient of the Max Margles Writing Residency. How lovely to have space and support for dedicated writing time, and in such a beautiful city. I can’t believe I get to live in Dublin for a month! Looking forward to working with the Irish Writers Centre, the University College Dublin and MoLI – the Museum of Literature Ireland. I am very grateful to Roslyn Margles and the Quebec Writers’ Federation for giving me this wonderful opportunity.”
Tracey Waddleton is from Trepassey, Newfoundland and now lives and writes in Montréal. Her stories have been shortlisted for the NLCU Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers and have been published in Riddle Fence, The Telegram, NQ, Paragon 6 and several volumes of the Cuffer Anthology. In 2015, she received the Lawrence Jackson Writers’ Award. She published her first book, Send More Tourists… the Last Ones Were Delicious (Breakwater Books Ltd), in 2019, a few months shy of her 40th birthday. This will be her first time travelling out of Canada.
In her application, she wrote ‘While I’ve been writing since I was quite young, I didn’t find the confidence to pursue fiction writing seriously until I turned 30. Despite my late start, I was met with a lot of support from members of the literary community. My work gained acceptance quickly, I received several awards, and I was assisted by mentors who helped me tremendously in launching my writing career. These days, I try to write as much as time and finances allow. I am plagued by the idea that having started so late in life, I am running out of time to realize my projects. As such, I am hopeful for opportunities that might provide me with new perspective and that will help me continue to grow as a writer.”
Jury member Mike McCormack said of her application ”I marvelled how the rhythms and music of her prose renewed old themes and circumstance, how her ear recast a dangerous world.”
There were nearly 60 applications for the inaugural Max Margles Writing Residency, which places a Quebec-based English language writer in St Patrick’s Park Lodge, Dublin, Ireland, for a month of intense writing time. The writer receives flights, accommodation, per diems and a stipend of $2000, and will work with the Irish Writers Centre to deliver a workshop for Irish writers. The Residency is sponsored by Roslyn Margles – you can read more of the story of how it was developed here.
The three jury members in 2020 were Leilah Nadir, Saleema Nawaz, and Mike McCormack. They congratulated Tracey on her powerful application, and wished her great success for her time in Ireland.
QWF has been delighted by the enthusiastic engagement from authors in Quebec for this new international Residency, with the richness and diversity of the English-language writing community reflected across the submissions. Long may it continue!