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.   

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 TIFA to Produce Three Engaging Author Talks

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Diaspora Dialogues is thrilled to partner with TIFA to produce three engaging author talks at this year’s festival! This collaboration brings together diverse voices to explore topics such as courage, loss, identity, and belonging through the power of storytelling.

Visit TIFA’s website for the full festival schedule as well as information about festival passes. We can’t wait to see you there!

Saturday, September 21, 2024, 11:00 AM: “Friendship, Home, and Identity”

Join us for an engaging discussion featuring Sadi Muktadir, author of Land of No Regrets, and Edward Y. C. Lee, author of The Laundryman’s Boy, moderated by Shyam Selvadurai. The event will explore the multifaceted concept of home, touching on themes of diaspora and community. Delve into critical issues impacting the notion of home, political upheavals and conflicts. This conversation promises a rich dialogue on how these elements shape our sense of belonging and identity.

Saturday, September 21, 2024, 2:30 PM: “Dislocation and Relocation”

Join us for an evening of literary exploration featuring Tasneem Jamal, author of I Never Said That I Was Brave, and Nazneen Sheikh, presenting her poignant collection I Left You Behind. Moderated by Ryan B. Patrick, this event promises insightful discussions on courage, loss and the power of storytelling. Don’t miss this opportunity to delve into the minds of two accomplished writers as they share their inspirations and journeys in crafting compelling narratives.

Sunday, September 22, 2024, 11:00 AM: “On the Outside Looking In”

Join us for an engaging literary discussion with Chido Muchemwa, author of the upcoming short story collection Who Will Bury You?, intimate stories about loss, identity and inequality, with characters in the liminal space between Toronto and Harare (Zimbabwe). Amal Elsana Alh’jooj is a key shaper of public opinion on marginalized minorities in Israel, Canada, and other developing countries. Hope is a Woman’s Name is the story of her journey navigating interweaving systems of power and oppression—the patriarchal and the nationalist—in her fight for justice and equality. The discussion will be moderated by Aparita Bhandari.

UPCOMING EVENT: DD Alumni Celebration

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September 10, 2024 | 5:30-7PM

As summer winds down, we invite you to join us for celebration of writing, books and the power of mentoring!

Featuring DD alum:

  • Leslie Shimotakahara. Leslie’s 2024 novel Sisters of the Spruce. Drawing on inspiration from her ancestors’ stories and experiences, Shimotakahara weaves an entrancing tale of female adventure, friendship, and survival set against the majestic landscape of a WWI-era logging camp on Haida Gwaii.
  • Christina Wong. Christina’s graphic novel (with Daniel Innes) which was shortlisted for Canada Reads, is a moving story told in visual art and fiction about gentrification, aging in place, grief, and vulnerable Chinese Canadian elders.
  • Akosua Amo-Adem. Akosua’s play, TABLE FOR TWO (developed through the DD-TD Black Playwrights Program), has been programmed into Soulpepper Theatre’s upcoming 2024/25 Season. Table for Two is a candid exploration of the digital dating landscape, where swipes, likes, and matches collide with cultural traditions and personal aspirations.

About Leslie: Leslie Shimotakahara’s memoir, The Reading List, won the Canada-Japan Literary Prize, and her fiction has been shortlisted for the KM Hunter Artist Award. She has written two critically acclaimed novels, After the Bloom and Red Oblivion. Her writing has appeared in the National Post, World Literature Today, and Changing the Face of Canadian Literature, among other anthologies and periodicals. She completed a PhD in English at Brown University. She and her husband live in Toronto’s west end.

About Christina: Christina Wong is a playwright, prose writer, and a multidisciplinary artist who also works in sound installation, audio documentaries, and photography. Her plays have been performed at Factory Studio, Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, and Palmerston Library Theatre. Her work has also appeared in TOK Magazine, the Toronto Star, and on CJRU 1280AM.

About Akosua: Akosua Amo-Adem is an actor, writer, and teacher/coach based in Toronto. Throughout her fifteen-year career Akosua has appeared in a variety of productions around the city. Her selected credits includeStratford Theatre’s Much Ado About Nothing (Ursla), Death and the King’s Horseman (Iyaloja); Soulpepper Theatre’s Three Sisters (Lolo), Billi, Sarah, and Ella…(Narrator) Pipeline (Naya), A Streetcar Named Desire(Eunice), For Colored Girls…(Lady in Green), Father Comes Home From The Wars…(Leader/Runaway), The Crucible (Tituba); Obsidian Theatre’s School Girls: or the African Mean Girls Play (Head Mistress Francis), Venus’ Daughters (Venus/Sarah); Canadian Stage’s Tartuffe (Dorine); Theatre Passe Muraille’s The Middle Place (Kaaliha/Dee). Akosua is currently developing her first full length play with Soulpepper Theatre called Table for Two! Her on screen credits include appearances on Odd Squad, Bitten, Frankie Drake Mysteries, 21 Black Futures, In The Dark, Most Dangerous Game, American Gods and Kim’s Convenience. Most recently, Akosua is a Dora Award winner for the Best Ensemble and Best Production of Three Sisters. You can find her online on Instagram @akos2030.

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