Quebec Writers' Federation

07/31/2026

Don't miss the next edition of the Show!

Hosted by Afreina R Noor and presented in partnership with Unsinkable, THIS IS FINE will explore mental health through musical improv, humour, and storytelling—creating space for playfulness, connection, and collective exhale without taking ourselves too seriously.

Featuring five incredible acts:
The Harold Angels
High Key/Low Key
JC No Relation
Le feu qui ne s’éteint pas..and The Marmaladies!

Saturday, Aug 1, 8:00 p.m.
Musical Improv Theatre (3716 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Montreal)

Get your tickets! 👇

You're invited to This Is Fine: A Musical Improv Show.Presented in partnership between Unsinkable and QWF's Words & Music Series, the show will explore mental…

07/30/2026

Announcing a brand-new QWF program: The LORI SCHUBERT WRITER IN RESIDENCE!

Named in honour of our outgoing executive director, the Lori Schubert Writer-in-Residence Program is an annual four-month residency, from January through April, for a Quebec-based English-language writer over the age of 60.

Thanks to the unprecedented generosity of a long-time supporter of QWF, the program is funded in perpetuity.

The selected writer will receive a stipend of $10,000 and divide their hours (25 per month, 100 total) between working on their own project and offering email or 30-minute online consultations with QWF members who have questions about writing or publishing or who would like feedback on short pieces of writing.

Through this program, we hope not only to support more senior writers but also to provide QWF members with invaluable guidance from an experienced literary professional.

Applications for the inaugural Lori Schubert Writer in Residence, which will take place in 2027, are now open. The deadline to apply is September 30, 2026.

Read the call for applications to learn more:

The selected writer will receive a $10,000 stipend and dedicated time to work on their project. Deadline to apply: September 30, 2026.

07/24/2026

Introducing the recipient of the 2026 Fresh Pages Editorial Mentorship: Maya Mohammad!

Maya Mohammad (they/them) is a writer located in Tiohtià:ke (Montréal, unceded territory of the Kanien’kehá:ka), where they study Sociology, Communication Studies, and Gender, Sexuality, Feminism, and Social Justice Studies at McGill University. As a native French speaker who learned English after immigrating to a predominantly English-speaking town, they first experienced translation as an act of care that fostered their sense of belonging. Writing became their way of returning that care: their work tends toward the poetic and cultural, tracing the textures of identity across tongues. Their work, mainly poetry and creative non-fiction, appears in Scatterbrain Magazine, Quist, and Snaps, among others. Find their work at mayasnebulousness.bearblog.dev.

Through this program, Maya will work with Translation Editor Nicola Danby to edit and curate the translation section of Issue 55 of carte blanche QWF's flagship literary magazine.

The Editorial Mentorship is part of our Fresh Pages Diversity Initiative, which provides paid professional development opportunities to writers who are Black, Indigenous, and people of colour. Learn more on our website: https://qwf.org/activities/programs/fresh-pages/guest-editorship-for-underrepresented-writers/

Congratulations, Maya!

06/26/2026

"The double standard in [school] dress codes hasn’t been erased with time. Girls are scrutinized for what they wear, and too often, an adult enforcing the rules will decide whether what a girl is wearing is appropriate. They are watching her, but do they think of how that scrutiny makes her feel about her body? We have to consider the long-term effects on the perception of 'being a girl' when all she hears is that her body is wrong, her body is too much, or her body is the problem."

In an interview about her latest book, NO BRAINER (Orca Book Publishers), QWF Featured Member Lea Beddia reflects on school dress codes and how their effects can linger long after one's left the classroom.

Read the rest of the interview on our website—and don't miss the Montreal launch of No Brainer at Livres Babar Books in Pointe-Claire this Sunday, June 28th, at 2:00 pm. Details 👇️
https://qwf.org/event/book-launch-no-brainer-by-lea-beddia/

06/22/2026

Calling all Quebec-based artists, storytellers, and performance poets!

The 2026 Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize is open to submissions July 8, 5:00 p.m. ET. One to three prizes totalling $3,000 will be awarded to the best submitted pieces, as determined by the jury.

Send us your video submissions (max 10 minutes). There's no submission fee, and all finalists will be invited to the 2026 QWF Awards Gala on November 9th, when the winners will be revealed.

See the eligibility criteria and submission instructions: https://qwf.org/awards/qwf-awards-calls-for-submissions/spoken-word/

06/20/2026

That’s a wrap! Last Saturday, we held the QWF Mentorship Reading to close out this year’s Mentorship Program and the inaugural year of the Youth Mentorship Program. Thanks to everyone who joined us online or in person—and thanks especially to our mentees and mentors for making it such a banner year. We look forward to seeing what comes next for these talented writers!

06/17/2026

🚨 New program alert! 🚨

QWF is thrilled to launch the Youth Mentorship Program, a Big Sibling–style partnership designed to help promising young writers aged 14–21 gain confidence and sharpen their writing skills. Each mentee is paired with an experienced professional writer, who meets with them once a week over 15 weeks to help them polish their work, generate new material, and prepare their work for publication.

Piloted in 2025 and 2026, the program is now going public. We're accepting applications for the Fall 2026 school term. It's free to apply, and we welcome both applications from young writers and nominations from educators. We can't wait to see what talent we can help foster!

Learn more, including how to apply: https://qwf.org/activities/programs/mentorship/youth-mentorship/

06/12/2026

TOMORROW! Don't miss the 2026 QWF Mentorship Reading. With 12 readers, this year's will be the biggest yet!

For four months, seven emerging writers and one emerging translator have worked to hone their craft through the QWF Mentorship Program. Each has received one-on-one guidance from a professional mentor to help them make the transition to the next stage of their career. Now, their journey culminates i...