Diaspora Dialogues

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Events

ARCHIVED EVENT: Live Table Reading for A, Brazil flag emoji, 47

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Please join us this Friday June 16 at 7 PM for a Tarragon Theatre live table reading of Yago Mequita’s play A, Brazil flag emoji, 47. This has been developed through DD’s Playwright Mentoring Program’s Youth-at-Risk component, with generous assistance from the Charles H Ivey Foundation. Register here for the Zoom livestream. 

About the Playwright

Yago Mesquita (he/him) is a queer Brazilian-Canadian theatre artist from Toronto. He is a playwright and writer, producer, and performer who has worked with theatre companies such as Aluna Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Factory Theatre, fu-GEN Theatre, New Harlem Productions, Open Heart Surgery Theatre, Paprika Festival, and more.

 About A, Brazil flag emoji, 47

Yago creates slice-of-life-made-surreal character-driven work from a young, queer, first-generation Canadian lens, heavily informed by his experience and that of friends, family, and fellow artists. He currently has two works in development: CHEW, developed as part of The Foundry (Factory Theatre, 2021), and A, Brazil flag emoji, 47, which was presented at the CAMINOS Festival (Aluna Theatre, 2021). Yago was also a collaborator on fu-GEN Theatre’s MH370, and his short story, & Dawn burned, was shortlisted for The Malahat Review’s Far Horizons Award for Short Fiction (2021).

Call for Submissions: Short Form Mentorship

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Diaspora Dialogues invites submissions from emerging writers across Canada including short stories or creative nonfiction less than 3,000 words in length; or up to 5 poems, with each poem being no more than 75 lines. (See below for definition of “emerging.”) Applicants are welcome to enter more than one category, but no more than one submission per category, please.

We have four rotating deadlines a year: March 31, June 30, September 30, Dec 31. Submissions received between those dates will be considered for the next deadline. Through an adjudicated process, selected writers will receive feedback from a rotating writer-in-residence at Diaspora Dialogues, over the course of a month.

The writer-in-residence will address issues of story, character, structure, pace, writing style, structure and substantive aspects of the work.

Please read all of the guidelines on our website carefully and email your submission to
Zalika Reid-Benta at zalika@diasporadialogues.com.

Deadline to apply is June 30, 2023 at midnight.

ARCHIVED EVENT: Be Your Own Promoter

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Are you a writer looking to build your personal brand and effectively promote your work? In today’s digital age, writers have incredible opportunities to connect with their audience and establish a strong presence. However, self-promotion can be a daunting task, often requiring skills beyond writing itself. Led by author Nadia Hohn, this workshop will equip you with the strategies and mindset necessary to successfully promote your work and engage with your target audience.

Watch the replay:

About the Presenter

Toronto-born of Jamaican parents, Nadia L. Hohn is an award-winning author, educator, and “artivist” who advocates for diversity in children’s literature. Nadia L. Hohn is the author of Malaika’s Costume (2016) which was the 2021 TD Grade One Book Giveaway. Her other books in the series are Malaika’s Winter Carnival (2017), Blue Spruce-nominated Malaika’s Surprise (2021), and Malaika, Carnival Queen (2023), published by Groundwood Books. Nadia has also written Harriet Tubman Freedom Fighter (Harper Collins, 2018), Music (Grade 5) and Media (Grade 6) in the Sankofa Black Heritage Collection series (Rubicon Publishing Inc, 2015), and A Likkle Miss Lou: How Jamaican Poet Louise Bennett Coverley Found Her Voice (Owlkids Books, 2019). Nadia has edited a middle grade anthology which comes out in 2023. She continues to write plays as well as picture books and novels for young people.

ARCHIVED EVENT: The Great Debate: Self Publishing vs Traditional

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The publishing industry today looks much different than it did a decade ago. In that time, self-publishing has outgrown its longstanding ‘vanity’ stigma and become a viable publishing option for many writers. The traditional publishing industry has also experienced great changes and just isn’t what it used to be – even for those who’ve found success within the system.

This workshop will outline the ways in which self-publishing differs from traditional publishing, and how the unrestricted nature of this path might align better with your publishing needs. We’ll also discuss the process of preparing your manuscript for publication and offer advice on how to successfully navigate the industry.

Register here.

About the Presenter

Diane Cameron is a Publishing Consultant at Friesen Press – the largest publishing services provider in Canada.

Her publishing career spans over 15 years, which includes working for traditional, academic, and self-publishing companies in both Canada and abroad.

Diane’s vast experience and expertise has helped hundreds of authors successfully navigate the publishing landscape and bring their books to life.

ARCHIVED EVENT: Grant Writing 101 with Rudrapriya Rathore

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As 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 Literary Arts Program Manager, Rudrapriya Rathore 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.

VIEW VIDEO HERE:

About the Presenter

Rudrapriya Rathore is the Literary Arts Program Manager at the Toronto Arts Council. She holds an MA in English and Creative Writing from the University of Toronto and her writing can be found in The Walrus, Brick, Hazlitt, and Quill & Quire, among other publications, as well as in After Realism, a 2022 anthology published by Véhicule Press. In 2021, she was shortlisted for a National Magazine Award in the Essays category. She is the founder and manager of the Flying Books Mentorship Program.

Archived Event: From DD to Published Author

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Join us for a special workshop hosted by DD alum Denise Da Costa and Reema Patel. Denise and Reema, once mentees in DD’s mentorship programs, have gone on to become published authors. During the workshop, the two will share their writer’s journey as well as advice for aspiring authors who hope to see their work on shelves one day.

VIDEO:

About the Presenters

Denise Da Costa is a Canadian poet, novelist, and essayist whose work is featured in Subdivided: City Building in an Age of Hyper Diversity. She is an alumnus of the Humber School of Writers and 2017 Diaspora Dialogues program. Before earning her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from York University, she studied graphic design, showcasing her work at the annual Eden Mills Art Festival. She resides in the GTA with her husband. Her debut novel, And the Walls Came Down will be published in June 2023 by Dundurn Press.

REEMA PATEL holds a B.A. from McGill University and a J.D. from the University of Windsor. After working in Mumbai in the youth non-profit sector and in human rights advocacy, she has spent the last ten years working in provincial and municipal government. Such Big Dreams is her first novel, an excerpt of which won the Penguin Random House Student Award for Fiction at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies. She lives in Toronto, where she works as a lawyer.

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