Diaspora Dialogues

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DD-TD Black Playwrights Mentoring Program presents: FROM BREATH TO AIR. February 24, 7:00 PM online presentation

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FROM BREATH TO AIR a play by K.P. Dennis, presented by Obsidian Theatre.

About the Playwright:

K.P Dennis a Black, non-binary, multi-disciplinary artist, director, producer, and activist based on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. They were the 2016 Youth Poet Laureate of Victoria, the 2017 recipient of the VACCS Community recognition Award, and in 2020 they received the Witness Legacy Award for Social Purpose and Responsibility Through Art. Their work explores future building through a queer afro-surrealist lens, using magic and fantasy to explore what we will have to do, and who we have to become, to liberate our futures.

About the Play:

Esther is a Dream Weaver. Their job is to create new futures for generations to come. But when there are no more stars in the sky, and all paths lead to the same End, Esther and the audience must learn how to create new possibilities beyond anything they have ever done.

FREE registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__SpmXn1LTGqvLOefJuoSNg

DD-TD Black Playwrights Mentoring Program presents: La déception m’a ouvert les yeux. February 12, 2:00 PM online presentation

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La déception m’a ouvert les yeux, a play by Edwige Jean-Pierre , presented by Theatre Passe Muraille.

About the Playwright:

Born and raised in Ottawa, Edwige Jean-Pierre is a bilingual actor and playwright of Haitian and Congolese descent. A graduate of the University of Ottawa and Vancouver’s Studio 58, she is a past member of Obsidian Theatre and Tarragon Theatre’s Playwriting Units as well as Les Héritières de Toto B. (in collaboration with Théâtre français de Toronto).

She first came on to the scene with her solo show Even Darkness is Made of Light (dramaturgy and direction by Patrick Conner) at Buddies. Other plays she has written include Saint Bitch/Our Lady of Spills, SOS/MS/ ASAP, GOIN4BROKE, The Big Mess and Espoir/Espwa (co-written with Les Héritières de Toto B).

Her plays have been presented at many festivals such as Rhubarb Festival, Edgy Women Festival, Hysteria Festival, rock.paper.sistahz #7 and #11, AfriCanadian Playwrights’ Festival, Summerworks, InspiraTo Festival and Ohio Northern University’s International Playwright’s Festival.

She’s a recipient of Summerworks’ Spotlight Award in 2010 for her performance in Even Darkness is Made of Light.

Edwige’s work focuses on political and social issues. She lives in Toronto with her husband Andrew.

Merlin Simard (she/they/iel/elle) is a performer, playwright, dramaturge, and filmmaker originally from Tiohtiá:ke (Montréal) now based in Tkarón:to (Toronto). Her practice focuses on themes of access, gender euphoria, technology, and multilingual performance. They co-founded and co-run, bigT, a theatre collective seeking to uplift intersectional trans* voices. As a performer, Merlin has worked with Stratford, Crow’s, Outside The March, Buddies In Bad Times, and many other theatre companies across Canada. She has also acted on Grand Army (Netflix) and This Life (CBC). They are developing several projects spanning across theatre and VR with the support of Theatre Passe Muraille (FEAR OF MEN), Théâtre Français de Toronto (ZADDY ISSUES), and Nightwood Theatre (a free britney) amongst others. @hussy4hussy
Attached is also a headshot! 

Register for FREE here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BtW71ZX1RF2FH2k5_w8LKA

Diaspora Dialogues is Thrilled to Announce the “It Begins With a Book” Shortlist

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DD is thrilled to announce the shortlist for the It Begins with a Book project, celebrating four works from contemporary writers from Africa, Asia and Australia!

An Ordinary Wonder by Buki Papillon
The House of Rust by Khadija Abdalla Bajaber
How We Disappeared by Jing Jing Lee
Dark As Last Night by Tony Birch

The nominated books will be shared with our jury, Melanie Florence and Derek Mascarenhas. The final book chosen will serve as the foundation stone for a series of activities including the creation and presentation of new artistic works by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia, Thea Lim and Helen Knott, as well as musical composition by Lucas Haneman at a literary salon March 31, 2022.

The Public Lending Right with TWUC

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Attention writers! Are you considering joining The Writer’s Union of Canada? Join us for a workshop hosted by TWUC’s Executive Director John Degen and chair Rhea Tregebov. They will further explain what TWUC does and offers Canadian writers, as well as explain what the Public Lending Right is and how it can be beneficial.

Rhea Tregebov’s second novel Rue des Rosiers was short-listed for the 2020 BC and Yukon Book Prizes Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and won the 2020 Nancy Richler Memorial Prize for Fiction. An award-winning poet and celebrated author of children’s picture books, Tregebov has also edited numerous anthologies.

John Degen is Executive Director of The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC), and Chair of the International Authors Forum (IAF) in the UK – serving and representing over 700,000 authors worldwide. He is a poet and novelist with three published books. His novel, The Uninvited Guest, was shortlisted for the 2007 Amazon First Novel Award.

To register for the event, visit our Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-public-lending-right-with-twuc-tickets-224862789657

Diaspora Dialogues Lauches New Project “It Begins with a Book”

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Diaspora Dialogues is thrilled to announce a fresh and exciting project, It Begins with a Book, funded by Canada Council for the Arts.

As the world around us has gotten more intimate in the face of this unprecedented pandemic, DD seeks to spark travel of the imagination through the exploration of global fiction. We are currently holding a contest to choose one book of fiction (published originally in, or translated into, English within the past two years) from a contemporary writer in Africa, Asia or Australia. We invite you to submit your recommendation(s) along with a one-paragraph description of why that book would be important for Canadians to read. Deadline is December 20, 2021.

With the help of our community of diverse writers/artists, as well as with partners, arts organizations, and the general public, we’ll be requesting submissions of English language or translated work. People will be asked to submit their recommendation, and a one paragraph description of why that book would be important for Canadians to read.

The nominated books will be shared with a jury consisting of Reema Patel, Melanie Florence, and Derek Mascarenhas to consider and the final book chosen will serve as the foundation stone for a series of activities including the creation and presentation of new artistic works by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia, Thea Lim and Helen Knott, as well as musical composition by Lucas Haneman at a literary salon on March 31, 2022.

To submit a book for consideration, visit our submission form here.

ARCHIVED EVENT: Introduction to Self-Publishing

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With more writer’s looking for alternative options to traditional publishing, this workshop will provides an introduction to the essential elements of independent publishing. In the workshop, participants will learn about their publishing options, how to format and prepare their work for submission portals, royalties, important tools to help them along the way, marketing, and what comes after publication. The goal is to help answer common questions, demystify the independent publishing process and allow participants to make informed decisions about how to publish their work.

Tiara Jade Chutkhan is a book blogger. writer and editor born and raised in Toronto. Her love of literature led her to start blogging and sharing her reads, particularly those by BIPOC authors. Through her blogging, Tiara has had the opportunity to review books for HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Simon and Schuster, Dundurn Press and ZG Stories.

Tiara is the Editor-in-Chief at The Brown Girl Diary and Marketing Coordinator at Diaspora Dialogues. She is a regular contributor for The Brown Girl Diary and Caribbean Collection Magazine. Tiara is also working towards a certificate in Creative Writing from University of Toronto.​

Tiara’s first book, Two Times Removed: An Anthology of Indo-Caribbean Fiction, was released in May 2021.

To register, visit our Eventbrite below:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/introduction-to-self-publishing-tickets-195626804037

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