Diaspora Dialogues

Diaspora Dialogues is delighted to announce that we are partnering with the University of Guelph’s Creative Writing MFA program. UofG will be coming on as a sponsor for DD.

This years TOK Toronto Symposium will have two exciting masterclasses taught by staff from the UofG.

On September 25th, the Masterclass In Fiction and Writing For Theatre development sessions will be led by Catherine Bush and Judith Thompson.

Catherine Bush is the author of five novels, including the Canada Reads long-listed Accusation (2013), the Trillium Award short-listed Claire’s Head (2004), and the national bestselling The Rules of Engagement (FSG, 2000), a New York Times Notable Book and an L.A. Times Best Book of the Year. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Guelph and Coordinator of the Guelph Creative Writing MFA, based in Toronto.

Judith Thompson is a playwright, director, actor, artistic director (RARE Theatre Company), and professor of theatre at the University of Guelph. She is the author of 15 published plays, many of which are performed all over the world. They include The Crackwalker, Lion in the Streets, Perfect Pie, and Palace of the End. She has directed and co-created five plays with artists with exceptionalities including Body and Soul, Sick, RARE, Borne and Wildfire.

The MFA Program is located in Toronto and offers workshops in fiction, creative nonfiction, drama and poetry. Defining characteristics include innovative plenary courses, a semester-long mentorship with a professional writer, and the opportunity to design and teach creative writing workshops.

The program is currently accepting applicants 2021 applications. Interested writers can review admission requirements and apply by December 7, 2020.

Diaspora Dialogues looks forward to the future of this partnership and the exciting things it will bring for everyone in our communities!

Due to the great success of our 2019 TOK symposiums, Diaspora Dialogues is proud to be bringing back a new lineup of conversations for TOK Toronto 2020 in partnership with Word On The Street.

We’ll be kicking off conversations with Sarena Parmer, Andrew Puper, Saleema Nawaz, Faye Guenther, Souvankham Thammavongsa, Sheung-King, Francesca Ekwuyasi and Canisia Lubrin.

On September 24th and 25th you can also join us for professional development sessions on Racialized Writers, Editing Process, Writing for the Theatre and a Masterclass in Fiction.

Introducing the TOK Toronto 2020 Lineup You Won’t Want To Miss:

The Kickoff Event

From Stage to Page: In Conversation with Sarena Parmar (September 21st)

Guillermo Verdecchia interviews playwright Sarena Parmar about her play The Orchard (After Chekhov), an adaptation of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, told through the lens of a Punjabi-Sikh family in the Okanagan Valley.

Professional Development Sessions:

Racialized Writers And Working With Editors (September 24th)

Join award-winning authors Catherine Hernandez and Arielle Twist for a much-needed discussion on editing within publishing for QTBIPOC authors including how to advocate for one’s work and how to navigate the process.

The Editing Process (September 24th)

McClelland & Stewart’s Kelly Joseph will discuss what happens once you land your book deal; what the editing process is like, how long it will take, when books are scheduled to debut, how an agent lands a publisher, and more!

Writing For The Theatre (September 25th)

Are you a playwright looking to take their craft to the next level? A poet or prose writer curious about writing drama? Join Guelph Professor and one of Canada’s most celebrated playwrights, Judith Thompson, for DD’s masterclass in playwriting.

Masterclass in Fiction(September 25th)

Mastering both the basic elements of writing short stories and novels, as well as how to subtly craft character, plot, POV, style, setting and dialogue, is the goal of both emerging and advanced writers. Join four-time novelist and Guelph CW MFA Coordinator Catherine Bush as we explore the art form that has captured the imagination of readers for centuries.

Conversations:

In Conversation with Saleema Nawaz and Andrew Pyper (September 26th)

Join Quebec Writers’ Federation Paragraphe winner Saleema Nawaz (Song for the End of the World) and internationally bestselling author Andrew Pyper (The Residence) for an in depth conversation on their newly released novels that cover tragedy, apocalypse and resilience. Moderated by Terese Mason Pierre.

In Conversation with Faye Guenther and Souvankham Thammavongsa (September 26)

Join Faye Guenther and Souvankham Thammavongsa for a dazzling conversation as they delve into their new short story collections covering culture, identity and coming of age. Guenther’s Swimmers in Winter (Invisible Publishing, Aug 2020) is a haunting and beautiful debut collection of short stories, and Souvankham Thammavongsa How to Pronounce Knife (Penguin Random House, April 2020) has since been nominated for the 2020 Scotiabank Giller. Moderated by CBC’s Ryan B. Patrick.

In Conversation with Sheung-King (September 26th)

Sheung-King’s debut novel, You Are Eating an Orange. You Are Naked (Book*hug Oct 2020) is an intimate novel of memory and longing that challenges Western tropes and Orientalism. Embracing the playful surrealism of Haruki Murakami and the atmospheric narratives of filmmaker Wong Kar-wai, Sheung-King’s novel is at once lyrical and punctuated, and wholly unique, and marks the arrival of a bold new voice in Asian-Canadian literature. From Toronto to Macau to Hong Kong, Tokyo and Prague, this unexpected love story takes readers on a journey that both questions and delights.

In Conversation with Canisia Lubrin and Francesca Ekwuyasi (September 27th)

Canisia Lubrin’s second collection, The Dyzgraphxst, moves to mine meanings of kinship through the wide and intimate reach of language across geographies and generations.

Francesca Ekwuyasi’s debut novel Butter Honey Pig Bread (Arsenal Pulp Press, Oct 2020) is an intergenerational saga about three Nigeran women; a story of choices and their consequences, of motherhood, of the malleable line between the spirit and the mind, of finding new homes and mending old ones, of voracious appetites, of queer love, of friendship, faith, and above all, family. It has just been nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Moderated by Fiona Raye Clarke

That’s all for now folks!

We hope to see you at TOK Toronto 2020!

Registration here

Lue Boileau, a DD alum and writer of Black speculative fiction, will take participants on a tour of Black literary history of Bathurst, and then to the Lillian H. Smith Science Fiction Library at College & Spadina. This workshop will reference the work of many local Black historians, as well as oral storytelling, and will draw the connection between historiography and writing futurisms.

This workshop includes writing exercises in alternate history and world-building, as we explore a visual archive of Black and cultural literary history and futures. There will be audio soundbites from interviews, photographs, film, oral storytelling and the use of Google maps.

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Saturday, August 15th, 2020

with Lue Boileau

2:30pm EST

*Video chat link will be provided to those who signup.

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Lue Boileau is a writer of Black speculative and environmental fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry. She is based in Toronto Canada, with roots in Port Antonio, Jamaica. Her work has been shortlisted for PRISM International Grouse Grind Prize for short fiction and the Exile Writers Prize judged by Joyce Carol Oates, and has appeared in anthologies across North America. Her first full length collection of The Hungry River Bottom (working title) is forthcoming.

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During these strange and challenging times, Diaspora Dialogues continues to support those who create stories we turn to for comfort, solace, and strength — our authors. To do that we need your help.

This event is by donation, please consider supporting us at this time. Thank you.

This event is made possible with the support of Canada Council for the Arts