Diaspora Dialogues

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ARCHIVED EVENT: Who Ate Grandma? Using Family Mythology to Write Fiction

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December 16, 2024 | 12:30pm EST

In this workshop, through mini-lectures and writing exercises, you will learn to start writing when you’re stuck and draw on personal memory and family lore to craft compelling fiction. We will discuss how one’s cultural mythology and understanding of kinship can shape a narrative, and examine the risks of writing about intergenerational trauma, secret-keeping, and truth-telling.

About the Presenter

LINDSAY WONG is the author of the critically acclaimed, award-winning, and bestselling memoir The Woo-Woo, which was a finalist for Canada Reads 2019. She has written a YA novel entitled My Summer of Love and Misfortune. Wong holds a BFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and an MFA in literary nonfiction from Columbia University. She currently teaches creative writing at the University of Winnipeg. Follow her on Twitter @LindsayMWong, Instagram @Lindsaywong.M, or visit www.lindsaywongwriter.com.

ARCHIVED EVENT: The Art of the Pitch

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November 29, 2024 | 12:00pm EST

Attention Writers! Have you finished a fantastic manuscript and are looking to sell it? Join us for a workshop on the Art of the Pitch. Come prepared to talk about your project and have your pitch flash assessed during the workshop with other participants.

*NOTE: Please send your pitch to zalika@diasporadialogues.com no later than November 26 at 5:00PM.

Register here.

About the Presenters

Amy Tompkins has worked in publishing since 2002 and has been with the Transatlantic Agency since 2007. She represents children’s authors, adult authors, select illustrators, and is the international rights agent for Islandport Press. Amy is a graduate of the Publishing Program at Ryerson University, and has an MA in English Language and Literature. She is the Secretary of PACLA (the Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents), and teaches in the Creative Book Publishing Program at Humber College in Toronto.

Before joining the Transatlantic Agency, Marilyn worked at her own literary agency and consultancy practice for seven years, where she helped launch the careers of début and prize-winning authors. She had previously worked at McClelland & Stewart for twelve years, most recently as Vice President, Director, Rights and Contracts. At M&S, she handled the international rights for many renowned authors, including Leonard Cohen, Alistair MacLeod, and Madeleine Thien.

Marilyn is a member of the Law Society of Ontario, a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School, and also holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto in English Literature. She has guest-lectured at the publishing programs at Humber College, Ryerson University, Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia, and taught a course in the publishing program at Centennial College. She has also mentored many publishers under the auspices of the Association of Canadian Publishers and the Canada Council, and has acted as a juror in literary competitions. She has authored several papers on copyright law; served on the inaugural executive of the Professional Association of Canadian Literary Agents; and was a member for many years of the organizing committee for the International Visitors Program of the Toronto International Festival of Authors. She also, for many years, served as a member of the Professional Advisory Council for Sheridan College’s Creative Writing & Publishing Program, and as a board member, most recently as chair, of Canada’s dance magazine, The Dance Current. Marilyn is especially proud of her work with the St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog program.

PAST EVENT: The World of Self-Publishing

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November 28, 2024 | 12:00pm EST

Whether you’re just beginning your writing journey or are ready to publish, this lunch-and-learn will offer hard-to-find transparency about the publishing industry and expert advice for aspiring authors. Megan seeks to help you find answers to the question “what now?” and offer valuable insight in how you can maintain your creative process and amplify your unique voice.

About the Presenter

Megan Williams is the CEO and founder of the Forbes-featured publishing company, The Self Publishing Agency (TSPA) and the Award-Winning author of Our Interrupted Fairy Tale. With a roster of publishing professionals, including editors, designers, marketers, and project managers, TSPA is known for its ability to uphold trade publishing standards while ensuring authors maintain control of their work and receive 100% of their royalties.   

ARCHIVED EVENT: Publishing for Playwrights

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November 21, 2024 | 12:30pm EST

In this one-hour workshop, we’ll explore the unique world of publishing for playwrights, from understanding the submission procedures to navigating the editorial process. We’ll also discuss various play publishers, including major players and smaller independent presses. Whether you’re a seasoned playwright or new to the scene, this session will equip you with the knowledge to take your script from page to stage and into publication.

Register now.

About the Presenter

Annie Gibson is the publisher at Playwrights Canada Press. A graduate of the University of Toronto, Annie followed her love of theatre and books to its logical conclusion: publishing plays. She’s worked at Playwrights Canada Press since 2005, and as publisher since 2008. She also loves baseball and baking.

Annie is passionate about the book industry and the supply chain that gets books into the hands of readers. A former member of the board of directors of both the Association of Canadian Publishers and eBOUND Canada, Annie currently sits on the board of the Book and Periodical Council. She is an active member of the BPC’s Freight and Distribution Committee and is a co-chair of the ACP’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Open Call for Submissions: 2024 Long Form Mentorship

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Diaspora Dialogues invites submissions from emerging writers in both the GTA and across Canada who currently have a full or near-full draft of a manuscript. We accept novels, short story collections, creative non-fiction/memoir, works intended for young adults and poetry. Complete or near complete means that the writer has up to 85,000 words or 300 double-spaced pages of prose; or up to 25 poems (50 pages maximum). Submissions will consist only of excerpts from these works (see guidelines below).

Diaspora Dialogues is committed to supporting a literature that is as diverse as Canada itself. Writers are encouraged to keep this mandate in mind, but addressing this theme directly is not essential in the submission.

Notifications will be made at the end of December. The mentorships will begin in early 2025 and run for six months. Assigned mentors are at the discretion of Diaspora Dialogues.

The deadline to apply is 11:59 on November 29, 2024.

Please read all of the guidelines carefully and email your submission to
Zalika Reid-Benta at zalika@diasporadialogues.com. Submission forms can be found here.

DD Partners with Word on the Street to Produce Literary Scavenger Hunt

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Join us on Sunday September 29, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM and 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM for an exciting literary scavenger hunt that will lead Torontonians on a journey filled with poetic clues, hidden books, personalized readings, and literary surprises!

With a focus on urban ecology and sustainable neighborhoods, artists and writers will provide the clues for participants to collect on their hunt. Individuals or small groups who complete the challenge can win a book of their choosing from our prize table. Family-friendly, this event promises fun for all ages.

About the Artists:

Ai Jiang is a Chinese-Canadian writer, Ignyte, Bram Stoker, and Nebula Award winner, and Hugo, Astounding, Locus, Aurora, and BFSA Award finalist from Changle, Fujian currently residing in Toronto, Ontario. Her work can be found in F&SF, The Dark, The Masters Review, among others. She is the recipient of Odyssey Workshop’s 2022 Fresh Voices Scholarship and the author of Linghun and I AM AI. The first book of her novella duology, A Palace Near the Wind, is forthcoming 2025 with Titan Books. Find her on X (@AiJiang_), Instagram (@ai.jian.g), and online (http://aijiang.ca). 

Ashley Hasfal is a professional 2D Designer and Comic Artist from Toronto, ON. As a graduate of the Sheridan College Bachelor of Applied Arts Animation program, she trained to hone her craft in 2D TV animation, design and Illustration. Pages of her comic INITIUM were displayed in the Geppi Entertainment Museum as part of the Milestones: African Americans in Comics, Pop Culture and Beyond exhibit in Baltimore, Maryland in 2013. She held a graphic novel masterclass for artists with the Brampton Arts Organization in 2023. In 2021, she ran a graphic novel masterclass with Diaspora Dialogues and was a mentor with Project 10’s Line Up! Youth Comics Arts Mentorship Programme in 2020. Ashley’s current focus in comics is rooted in the supernatural, highlighting Caribbean mythology.

Charlie Petch (they/them, he/him) is a disabled/queer/transmasculine multidisciplinary artist who resides in Tkaronto/Toronto. A poet, playwright, librettist, musician, lighting designer, and host, Petch was the 2017 Poet of Honour for the speakNORTH national festival, winner of the Golden Beret lifetime achievement in spoken word with The League of Canadian Poets (2020), and founder of Hot Damn it’s a Queer Slam. Petch is a touring performer, as well as a mentor and workshop facilitator. Their debut poetry collection, Why I Was Late (Brick Books), won the 2022 ReLit Award, and was named “Best of 2021” by The Walrus. Their film with Opera QTO, Medusa’s Children, premièred 2022.  They have been featured on the CBC’s Q, were the Writer In Residence for Berton House (2023), were long-listed for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2021. Their solo show “No one’s special at the hot dog cart” debuted at Theatre Passe Muraille and is traveling to Peterborough’s Market Hall with Theatre Passe Muraille.

Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio is a Filipina-Canadian community worker, speaker, and founder of Filipino Talks– a program that builds bridges between educators and Filipino families. Her work with newcomers in Toronto’s schools and libraries and as a tour guide in Toronto’s Little Manila inspired her debut novel, Reuniting with Strangers. It was longlisted for Canada Reads, a finalist for the Jim Wong-Chu Emerging Writers Award, and won the silver medal for multicultural fiction at the Independent Publisher Book Awards. Jennilee is a founding member of Salaysay, a collective of Filipino writers based in Toronto. Reuniting with Strangers is a finalist for the 2024 Toronto Book Awards.

Martin Gomes (he/they) is an Afro/Latino, queer writer & composer born & based in downtown Toronto. Their poetry has allowed them to work with organizations such as CBC, Sony, TOLive, DesignTO, The Meridian Arts Centre, Withrow Common Art Gallery, The Harbourfront Centre, and the TTC in partnership with Poems in Passage. As an artist facilitator, poetry has taken Martin all over the GTA as an Artist Facilitator with organizations like Thrive Youth, Unity Charity, VIBEArts, and JAYU. As a performer, he’s graced stages in Toronto like Bluma Appel Theatre, Soho House, and Nuit Blanche, as well as stages in Ottawa and Lisbon. With their art, he hopes to set an example of authenticity and empathy wherever possible in an attempt to spread messages of loving each other even through all the noise.

Rasiqra Revulva is a disabled queer femme writer, multi-media artist, editor, musician, and performer; developer and co-editor of the Hybrid/Experimental Section at The Ex-Puritan Literary Magazine; and half of the experimental electronic duo The Databats (Slice Records). She has published three sold-out chapbooks of glitch-illustrated and/or augmented poetry: Cephalopography (words(on)pages, 2016), If You Forget the Whipped Cream, You’re No Good As A Woman (Gap Riot Press, 2018), and Sailor, C’est l’heure (The Blasted Tree, 2021). Cephalopography 2.0 (Wolsak & Wynn, 2020), is her award-nominated debut collection.

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