Diaspora Dialogues

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ARCHIVED EVENT: How To Get An Agent: UK Edition

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Calling all fiction writers! UK-based agent, Madeleine Millburn, will be the panelist for June’s Lunch N’ Learn on How To Get An Agent.

During this workshop, Madeleine will address the following questions:

how do I write a query letter?

how do I get an agent?

what is the process of a UK agent acquiring a Canadian writer

And more! It is encouraged participants come with questions prepared. Note: Her presentation will be tailored specifically to fiction.

Madeleine founded Madeleine Milburn Ltd in 2012, and it is now a major international literary agency based in the UK. Working with a network of publishers and producers based all over the world, Madeleine represents debut writers, journalists, and established authors. With her tight-knit team, she handles all rights to every book including UK, US, international and Film & TV.

In 2018, Madeleine was named Literary Agent of the Year at the British Book Awards, and was shortlisted again in 2020. She has appeared on The Bookseller’s list of the 150 most influential people in the book trade every year since 2017.

The workshop will take place from 12pm-1pm.

To register, visit: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/how-to-get-an-agent-uk-edition-tickets-157531385615

Diaspora Dialogues and Dundurn Press Present: In Conversation with Silmy Abdullah

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Join us for a live conversation on June 29 at 1pm with DD alum, Silmy Abdullah, as she discusses her new book, Home of the Floating Lily.

Set in both Canada and Bangladesh, Home of the Floating Lily follows the lives of the characters as they navigate the complexities of migration, displacement, love, friendship, and familial conflict. A young woman moves to Toronto after getting married but soon discovers her husband is not who she believes him to be. A mother reconciles her heartbreak when her sons defy her expectations and choose their own paths in life. A lonely international student returns to Bangladesh and forms an unexpected bond with her domestic helper. A working-class woman, caught between her love for Bangladesh and her determination to raise her daughter in Canada, makes a decision after a dark secret from the past is revealed.

In each of the stories, characters embark on difficult journeys in the search of love, dignity, and a sense of belonging.

Silmy Abdullah is an author and lawyer. She was born in Bangladesh, spent her childhood in Saudi Arabia, and immigrated to Canada when she started high school. Home of the Floating Lily is her debut collection. She lives in Toronto.

The talk is free to attend but registration is required. Visit the link below to get your ticket!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-conversation-with-silmy-abdullah-tickets-153052027735

DD-TD Black Playwrights Program- Blood and Memory Live Reading (Obsidian Theatre)

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DD was thrilled to host a private reading of Blood and Memory, a new played by Dainty Smith, produced in partnership with TD and Obsidian Theatre as part of our DD-TD Black Playwrights Program.

Blood and Memory is a re-visioning of Lilith and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It is a conversation between Lilith and Eve, two Black women, who talk about life, sex, shadism and choices in the Garden of Eden, moments before Eve bites the fruit.

Dainty Smith is a Toronto based Actor, Burlesque Performer, Playwright, Producer and curator. She believes that through the art of storytelling and a willingness to be exposed that genuine human connections can be made. Her performances often tell deeply vulnerable stories regarding race, religion, sexuality and challenging social boundaries.

She wrote and self-produced a multidisciplinary play titled Daughters of Lilith, which is currently part of B Current Theatre’s Playwright Incubation 2021 season. The second play by Dainty Smith is titled Blood and Memory, which is currently being workshopped and supported by Obsidian Theatre in collaboration with Diaspora Dialogues.

Her diverse array of stage performances includes, Mayworks Festival, Rock. Paper. Sistahz for B Current Theatre, Caminos Festival for Aluna Theatre, The Rhubarb Festival at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, and the Luminato Arts Festival. She is the founder of Les Femme Fatales: Women of Colour burlesque troupe, the first burlesque troupe for women and femmes of colour in Canada.

DD-TD Black Playwrights Mentoring Program- Yellow Reading (Canadian Stage)

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In partnership with TD and Canadian Stage, DD is excited to present a reading of a new play by Kalale Dalton-Lutale, produced as part of our DD-TD Black Playwrights Program.

Yellow follows two artists/lovers trying to make work together while also sorting through their romantic relationship.

Kalale Dalton-Lutale is a Black queer playwright and performer originally from Tkaronto/Toronto. Her work embraces experimentation, mothers, loss and pop culture. Her current plays includes Pinky Swear (Geordie Productions, nominated for a Tom henry Award, directed by Mike Payette 2017), Crybaby (presented by Black Theatre Workshop and Playwrights Workshop Montreal, directed by Jesse Stong 2019), When We Were Young (Geordie Productions Festival Reading, directed by Dean Flemming 2019), and i am entitled to rest (New Words Festival Directer by Murdoch Schon, 2019), and Habibi’s Angels et la commission impossible (Talisman, directed by Sohpie Gee). Kalale is a graduate from the National Theatre school of Canada.

To register for the event, please visit:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/dd-td-black-playwrights-mentoring-program-yellow-reading-canadian-stage-tickets-148660586817

RECORDED EVENT: Literary Grant Writing 101

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Join Dance & Literary Grants Manager, Catalina Fellay-Dunbar, for a free workshop on literary grant writing.

About this Event

With the June 15th TAC Grant for Writers fast approaching, first time and repeat applicants may be wondering what they can do to strengthen their application and what things to avoid. Join Dance & Literary Grants Manager, Catalina Fellay-Dunbar, for a free workshop on literary grant writing tips, as well as advice on what applicants can do to create a strong application for their project.

Catalina Fellay-Dunbar is the Dance & Literary Grants Manager for the Toronto Arts Council, responsible for the management of dance and literary grants programs. Catalina has spent many years as a dance artist, educator and advocate. Her professional dance experience has long focused on a personal heritage in Flamenco and Classical Spanish dance. Catalina has a BFA and MA in Dance Studies at York University, an MA from the Drama Centre at the University of Toronto, and certification in Movement Analysis from the Laban Institute for Movement Studies. As a PhD candidate in Dance Studies at York University, her research examines the intersections between cultural policy and dance arts from fluid, pluralistic perspectives. Catalina comes to TAC after serving as co-chair of the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists – Ontario Chapter.

To watch a recording of the event:

Koffler Arts & Diaspora Dialogues Present: In Conversation with Tawhida Tanya Evanson with Sheniz Janmohamed

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DD is proud to partner with Koffler Arts for their latest Book & Ideas event.

Acclaimed Antiguan-Québecoise artist, Tawhida Tanya Evanson, discusses her new novel, Book of Wings, with spoken word artist and author, Sheniz Janmohamed. The Koffler’s Books & Ideas series is thrilled to present the new novel, Book of Wings, by Antiguan-Québecoise artist, Tawhida Tanya Evanson. In this sweeping, allusive novel, the celebrated poet, dervish, and oral storyteller comes to terms with what it means to stand on one’s own two feet in an uncertain world. Tracing a global journey, as a relationship with a lover and travel partner disintegrates, the artist finds herself on a path toward personal discovery and spiritual fulfillment that leads her deep into the North African landscape.

Tawhida Tanya Evanson will join spoken word artist, arts educator, and poet, Sheniz Janmohamed, in a virtual conversation.

Book of Wings can be purchased at A Different Booklist.

TAWHIDA TANYA EVANSON is an Antiguan-Québecoise poet, performer and producer. Author of two books of poetry, Nouveau Griot (Frontenac 2018) and Bothism (Ekstasis 2017), Book of Wings is her first work of fiction. With a 20-year practice in spoken word, she performs internationally and has released several studio albums and videopoems. Evanson is program director of Banff Centre Spoken Word. She has been named Poet of Honour at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, and has received the Golden Beret Award for her contribution to the spoken-word genre. Born and based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, she moonlights as a whirling dervish.

SHENIZ JANMOHAMED is a poet, artist educator, spoken word artist and nature artist. A graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing program at the University of Guelph, Sheniz has performed nationally and internationally for over 15 years, including features at the Jaipur Literature Festival, Aga Khan Museum, and Vancouver Writers Fest. Sheniz has been mentored by authors Dionne Brand, Kuldip Gill, and Janice Kulyk Keefer, and has been published in various journals and anthologies including Arc Poetry Magazine, Descant, CV2 and Quill & Quire. She is the author of two poetry collections: Bleeding Light (Mawenzi House 2010) and Firesmoke (Mawenzi House 2014), and her third collection, Reminders on the Path, is forthcoming with Mawenzi House.

The event will take place on Thursday, April 29, 2021 from 7-8 PM via Zoom.

To register, visit: https://kofflerarts.org/Events/Books-Ideas/Tawhida-Tanya-Evanson-with-Sheniz-Janmohamed

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