Diaspora Dialogues

Supporting new fiction, poetry, and drama

Donate

Social Links Widget

News

ARCHIVED EVENT: Funny Boy: A Screenwriting Case Study

by

Join award-winning author and screenwriter Shyam Selvadurai in a special one hour workshop focused on screenwriting. Shyam co-wrote the screenplay for his novel “Funny Boy” alongside the award-winning Deepa Mehta. Shyam will use the film as a case study to guide participants through the process and techniques to screenwriting.

Register here.

About the Presenter

Shyam Selvadurai ‘s Funny Boy, won the W.H. Smith/ Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Lambda Literary Award in the US. He is the author of Cinnamon Gardens, Swimming in the Monsoon Sea and The Hungry Ghosts. His work has been translated into 9 languages and published worldwide. Funny Boy was made into a film, for which Shyam co-wrote the screenplay, and for which he won the Canadian Screen Award and the New York Cinema Independent Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Shyam’s new novel Mansion of the Moon, a historical novel about the Buddha’s wife, was released by Knopf and Penguin India. His website is www.shyamselvadurai.com

ARCHIVED EVENT: Literary Image Description Best Practices

by

Please join DD alum and CNIB Audio Producer Joanne Pak as she discusses the Literary Image Description (LID) project.

This information session will inform writers about the LID project and how they can make their works accessible to the Blind/low vision community and to take that into consideration even as they plan and write their works, creating born-accessible books for an underserved audience.

Video here.

About the Presenter

Joanne Pak is an accessible media specialist with an extensive career in both broadcasting and publishing. She is the official Canadian NER certifier of live caption accuracy, and she is an instructor and subject matter expert for the Toronto Metropolitan University. Joanne has worked for numerous broadcasters, nonprofits, and educational institutions, specializing in accessible media. At CNIB, Joanne led the audiobook production for CELA’s pilot project on accessible graphic novels. She is the lead for the eBOUND Literary Image Description (LID) project and the author of the LID Best Practices Guide, which she uses to train writers and publishers.

ARCHIVED EVENT: Legal 101 for Writers

by

Join us for an informative workshop with entertainment lawyer, Michael Duboff. In this session, we will cover essential legal aspects that every writer should be aware of to protect their creative work and navigate the publishing landscape successfully. From copyright and intellectual property rights to understanding contracts and licensing agreements, participants will gain valuable insights to safeguard their written content. We will also address common legal challenges faced by writers and provide practical strategies for resolving them.

Register here.

About the Presenter

Michael Duboff is a Canadian entertainment lawyer with a professional focus on music, film and television, publishing, and corporate matters. He has worked with a variety of artists and creative businesses helping to facilitate projects, performance opportunities locally and across borders, and organizational matters.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Michael’s practice spans across Manitoba where he carries on clients and representation in addition to the firm’s primary residence in Ontario.

Prior to working as a lawyer, Michael has worked professionally in both the music and film/tv industries, as a musician in an alternative rock band and as a freelance director/writer/producer in Toronto and Vancouver. His passion for the arts and artists helps drive his practice and makes him grateful to be able to continue to work for and with the vibrant arts communities.

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

by

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).

ARCHIVED EVENT: Be Your Own Promoter

by

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: Perfecting Your Pitch

by

December 22, 2022 | 12pm

After completing your manuscript, there is still more writing to do! The query letter is the next step if you’re planning on finding an agent and selling your book to a publisher. Join us for a workshop on Perfecting Your Pitch with Transatlantic Literary Agency Agent, Chandler Crawford. Come prepared to talk about your project, ask questions and have your pitch flash assessed!

Register here. Spaces are limited!

About the Presenter

Chandler Crawford has worked in publishing for 39 years, beginning with a stint at the Ghana Publishing Corporation in West Africa in the early 1980s. She worked at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates in New York City as a foreign scout for 14 years representing international publishers and film producers. She was instrumental in finding American books – both fiction and nonfiction – for translation and feature film adaptation for her clients, from works by Paul Auster, Louise Erdrich to John Grisham and a myriad of non-fiction authors. While at Greenburger Associates, she sold international rights for various clients, most notably, Vaclav Havel and Robert Musil on behalf of Rowohlt Verlag, Germany and selling the queen of Japanese crime fiction, Shuzuku Natsui on behalf of Tuttle-Mori Agency, Japan.

Top