Wild Writers Literary Festival 2022
Saturday October 29
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9:30 A.M. Character and Plot in Fiction
with Alexander MacLeod.
Character and plot. For many readers and writers, these are the two most important narrative elements in any story, but how are they related to each other?
Join award winning author Alexander MacLeod in this workshop that explores the vital interdependence of plot and character. Using a few famous examples and some short exercises, we will study the way that characters come to be embedded in the social space of their fictional worlds, and how they are often produced and /or revealed by what happens to them inside the completely artificial borders of a well-constructed literary scene.NOTE: Please contact us at info@newquarterly.net if you’d like to be on the waitlist as this event has sold out.
-
9:30 A.M. Getting Published: The Things They Don’t Tell You
with Laura Rock Gaughan, Emmy Nordstrom-Higdon, Pamela Mulloy, and Aimee Wall.
Are you an aspiring writer with traditional publishing in mind? This event is for you.
There are many unique industry quirks that factor into the experience of trying to get your book published. Find out from industry experts Laura Rock Gaughan, Emmy Nordstrom-Higdon, Pamela Mulloy, and Aimee Wall what you can expect, how to make the publishing journey smoother, and what tools you’ll need to achieve your publishing goals.
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9:30 A.M. Poetry and the Environment
with Madhur Anand, Rae Armantrout, Forrest Gander, and Faisal Moola.
The solution to most environmental challenges are at their core human issues.
Join Governor General Award winner Madhur Anand and Pulitzer Prize Winners Rae Armantrout and Forrest Gander in conversation with Faisal Moola to explore the connections between poetry and the environment and how artistic invention can empower us to re-examine the past and imagined environmental futures.
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11:10 A.M. Exciting Times, Unsettling Times: Writing Romance
with Zoe York, Jackie Lau, Molly O'Keefe, Sonya Singh, and Sue Danic.
What can writers learn from the romance industry and romance writing? This panel is for those who write romance and those who are curious. Join award winning romance authors Jackie Lau, Molly O’Keefe, and Zoe York in a dialogue with debut rom com author Sonya Singh as they explore what all writers need to know about the romance industry and romance writing. They’ll share their journeys to publication, as well as why they’ve chosen romance, and how it responds to important social and political issues. Moderated by Sue Danic.
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11:10 A.M. Echoes of History: Writing the Overlooked Stories
with Pamela Mulloy, Aimee Wall, and Laura Rock Gaughan.
Writers often look to the past to make sense of the present and use historical events as a way of examining contemporary life. So how do writers give overlooked stories a new life? How do they introduce and develop characters that are relevant to the modern-day reader?
Join Pamela Mulloy and Aimee Wall in conversation with Laura Rock Gaghan as they look back at history’s forgotten stories in their most recent works. This session will also look at how to find these stories, how to conduct research, and what we can learn when exploring the events of the past.
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11:10 A.M. The Poem as Mask
with Luke Hathaway.
Sometimes poets are at their most confessional when they are most apparently hidden because putting on a mask allows poets to speak the truth.
Join Luke Hathaway in this poetry workshop that will explore the use of assumed personae in poetry, and writing in the voice of a character or characters as a way of getting at the complex truths of lived experience.
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Gourmet Boxed Lunches
from EVO Kitchen
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1:30 P.M. Nothing Personal: Poets Who Write About Their Lives
with Luke Hathaway, Shani Mootoo, Farzana Doctor, Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang, and Tanis MacDonald.
Writing poetry from our own experience has a long lyric tradition, but what does that mean in the contemporary moment? What happens when poets write their personal histories?
Join Luke Hathaway, Shani Mootoo, Farzana Dcotor, and Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang in conversation with Tanis MacDonald as they discuss the twists, turns, and clashes of experience with poetry.
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1:30 P.M. Writing From Life
with Emily Urquhart, Martha Batiz, and Lara El Mekkawi.
Can you hide the truth in fiction, or can you be truer to yourself in nonfiction?
Join Lara El Mekkawi in conversation with Martha Batiz and Emily Urquhart as they explore how they took life experiences and turned them into literature – in fiction and nonfiction respectively. They will discuss how to determine whether fiction or creative nonfiction is the best way to tell your story, what materials to leave in, and what to exclude.
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1:30 P.M. Top Tips on Editing Your Work from the Experts
with Carrie Snyder, Heather O'Neill, and Tasneem Jamal.
You’ve written a draft of your novel. Now what?
Join award winning authors Heather O’Neill and Carrie Snyder as they share their approaches to editing their own work. They will discuss how editing shapes the structure, develops the characters, and sets the style for the final draft. Moderated by Tasneem Jamal.
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3:10 P.M. Spiritual Life Writing: The New Kid on the Block?
with Clarence Cachagee, Hollay Ghadery, Natalie Wigg-Stevenson, and Susan Scott.
The word “spiritual” is freighted in literary circles. Why is that? Why is it that writers trying to plumb experiences with faith, spirituality, religion, or communities of practice find so little support for their work?
Join Clarence Cachagee, Hollay Ghadery, and Natalie Wigg-Stevenson for a lively session for skeptics and seekers to explore wise, whimsical, and worldly takes on an ancient genre–oral and written, personal and communal, private and shared. Moderated by Susan Scott.
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3:10 P.M. Working with an Archive: How to Balance Research with Creativity
with Helen Humphreys.
Research is a critical part of the writing process, but how much is needed and when should you do it?
Join award-winning author Helen Humphreys in this nonfiction writing workshop that explores whether to research before, during, or after writing, and the pros and cons with each. This workshop will also explore how to integrate research into writing without it seeming forced or over-explanatory and when to stop researching.
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3:10 P.M. Making Mosaics: Understanding Short Story Collections
with Alexander MacLeod, Kathy Friedman, Cynthia Flood, and Lara El Mekkawi.
Mosaics are compiled by inlaying small pieces of variously colored material to form a uniform or complementary picture. Short story collections can function in a similar manner, with a series of various narratives coming together to create a cohesive collage.
Join us for a lively discussion on short story writing and collecting with Kathy Friedman, Alexander MacLeod, and Cynthia Flood as they tell tales of lives altered, human connection and adaptation, and existence in the world today. Moderated by Lara El Mekkawi.
Friday October 28
Sunday October 30
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$100 Donation to the Wild Writers Literary Festival
By donating $100 to the Wild Writers Literary Festival, you will also receive a complementary ticket to our Wild Writers Brunch event.
Please Note: Since the Wild Writers Literary Festival is not a registered charity, we are unable to issue a tax-receipt for your donation.
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1:30 P.M. Nothing Personal: Poets Who Write About Their Lives
with Luke Hathaway, Shani Mootoo, Farzana Doctor, Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang, and Tanis MacDonald.
Writing poetry from our own experience has a long lyric tradition, but what does that mean in the contemporary moment? What happens when poets write their personal histories?
Join Luke Hathaway, Shani Mootoo, Farzana Dcotor, and Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang in conversation with Tanis MacDonald as they discuss the twists, turns, and clashes of experience with poetry.
-
1:30 P.M. Top Tips on Editing Your Work from the Experts
with Carrie Snyder, Heather O'Neill, and Tasneem Jamal.
You’ve written a draft of your novel. Now what?
Join award winning authors Heather O’Neill and Carrie Snyder as they share their approaches to editing their own work. They will discuss how editing shapes the structure, develops the characters, and sets the style for the final draft. Moderated by Tasneem Jamal.
-
1:30 P.M. Writing From Life
with Emily Urquhart, Martha Batiz, and Lara El Mekkawi.
Can you hide the truth in fiction, or can you be truer to yourself in nonfiction?
Join Lara El Mekkawi in conversation with Martha Batiz and Emily Urquhart as they explore how they took life experiences and turned them into literature – in fiction and nonfiction respectively. They will discuss how to determine whether fiction or creative nonfiction is the best way to tell your story, what materials to leave in, and what to exclude.
-
11:10 A.M. Echoes of History: Writing the Overlooked Stories
with Pamela Mulloy, Aimee Wall, and Laura Rock Gaughan.
Writers often look to the past to make sense of the present and use historical events as a way of examining contemporary life. So how do writers give overlooked stories a new life? How do they introduce and develop characters that are relevant to the modern-day reader?
Join Pamela Mulloy and Aimee Wall in conversation with Laura Rock Gaghan as they look back at history’s forgotten stories in their most recent works. This session will also look at how to find these stories, how to conduct research, and what we can learn when exploring the events of the past.
-
11:10 A.M. Exciting Times, Unsettling Times: Writing Romance
with Zoe York, Jackie Lau, Molly O'Keefe, Sonya Singh, and Sue Danic.
What can writers learn from the romance industry and romance writing? This panel is for those who write romance and those who are curious. Join award winning romance authors Jackie Lau, Molly O’Keefe, and Zoe York in a dialogue with debut rom com author Sonya Singh as they explore what all writers need to know about the romance industry and romance writing. They’ll share their journeys to publication, as well as why they’ve chosen romance, and how it responds to important social and political issues. Moderated by Sue Danic.
-
11:10 A.M. The Poem as Mask
with Luke Hathaway.
Sometimes poets are at their most confessional when they are most apparently hidden because putting on a mask allows poets to speak the truth.
Join Luke Hathaway in this poetry workshop that will explore the use of assumed personae in poetry, and writing in the voice of a character or characters as a way of getting at the complex truths of lived experience.
-
3:10 P.M. Making Mosaics: Understanding Short Story Collections
with Alexander MacLeod, Kathy Friedman, Cynthia Flood, and Lara El Mekkawi.
Mosaics are compiled by inlaying small pieces of variously colored material to form a uniform or complementary picture. Short story collections can function in a similar manner, with a series of various narratives coming together to create a cohesive collage.
Join us for a lively discussion on short story writing and collecting with Kathy Friedman, Alexander MacLeod, and Cynthia Flood as they tell tales of lives altered, human connection and adaptation, and existence in the world today. Moderated by Lara El Mekkawi.
-
3:10 P.M. Spiritual Life Writing: The New Kid on the Block?
with Clarence Cachagee, Hollay Ghadery, Natalie Wigg-Stevenson, and Susan Scott.
The word “spiritual” is freighted in literary circles. Why is that? Why is it that writers trying to plumb experiences with faith, spirituality, religion, or communities of practice find so little support for their work?
Join Clarence Cachagee, Hollay Ghadery, and Natalie Wigg-Stevenson for a lively session for skeptics and seekers to explore wise, whimsical, and worldly takes on an ancient genre–oral and written, personal and communal, private and shared. Moderated by Susan Scott.
-
3:10 P.M. Working with an Archive: How to Balance Research with Creativity
with Helen Humphreys.
Research is a critical part of the writing process, but how much is needed and when should you do it?
Join award-winning author Helen Humphreys in this nonfiction writing workshop that explores whether to research before, during, or after writing, and the pros and cons with each. This workshop will also explore how to integrate research into writing without it seeming forced or over-explanatory and when to stop researching.
-
9:30 A.M. Character and Plot in Fiction
with Alexander MacLeod.
Character and plot. For many readers and writers, these are the two most important narrative elements in any story, but how are they related to each other?
Join award winning author Alexander MacLeod in this workshop that explores the vital interdependence of plot and character. Using a few famous examples and some short exercises, we will study the way that characters come to be embedded in the social space of their fictional worlds, and how they are often produced and /or revealed by what happens to them inside the completely artificial borders of a well-constructed literary scene.NOTE: Please contact us at info@newquarterly.net if you’d like to be on the waitlist as this event has sold out.
-
9:30 A.M. Getting Published: The Things They Don’t Tell You
with Laura Rock Gaughan, Emmy Nordstrom-Higdon, Pamela Mulloy, and Aimee Wall.
Are you an aspiring writer with traditional publishing in mind? This event is for you.
There are many unique industry quirks that factor into the experience of trying to get your book published. Find out from industry experts Laura Rock Gaughan, Emmy Nordstrom-Higdon, Pamela Mulloy, and Aimee Wall what you can expect, how to make the publishing journey smoother, and what tools you’ll need to achieve your publishing goals.
-
9:30 A.M. Poetry and the Environment
with Madhur Anand, Rae Armantrout, Forrest Gander, and Faisal Moola.
The solution to most environmental challenges are at their core human issues.
Join Governor General Award winner Madhur Anand and Pulitzer Prize Winners Rae Armantrout and Forrest Gander in conversation with Faisal Moola to explore the connections between poetry and the environment and how artistic invention can empower us to re-examine the past and imagined environmental futures.
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All-Inclusive Pass to the 2022 Wild Writers Festival
Why choose when you can have it all?
Book your All-Inclusive Pass today and enjoy:
✔ Entrance to the Opening Showcase with Heather O'Neill and Farzana Doctor
✔ 3 Writer's Craft Classes
✔ A Gourmet Boxed Lunch from EVO Kitchen
✔ Entrance to The Literary Brunch with Harley Rustad, Helen Humphreys, & Emily Urquhart
✔ A One-Year Subscription to The New Quarterly, a national literary magazine based in Waterloo!
In Advance $150 • Not Available at the Door!
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Essential Pass to the 2022 Wild Writers Festival
Why choose when you can have it all?
Book your Essential Festival Pass today and enjoy:
✔ Entrance to the Opening Showcase with Heather O'Neill and Farzana Doctor
✔ 3 Writer's Craft Classes
✔ A Gourmet Boxed Lunch from EVO Kitchen
✔ A One-Year Subscription to The New Quarterly, a national literary magazine based in Waterloo!
In Advance $105 • Not Available at the Door!
-
Gourmet Boxed Lunches
from EVO Kitchen
-
Opening Showcase
with Heather O'Neill and Farzana Doctor.
Award winning author Heather O’Neill joins Farzana Doctor for a discussion on the intense relationship between two charismatic friends in her latest book, When We Lost Our Heads. World building, detailed research, and a complex exploration of human nature have become hallmarks of O’Neill’s style and will be explored in this reading and discussion.
Heather O’Neill’s most recent bestselling novel The Lonely Hearts Hotel, won the Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction and was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and CBCs Canada Reads. Her previous work, which includes Lullabies for Little Criminals, The Girl Who Was Saturday Night and Daydreams of Angels, has been shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Scotiabank Giller Prize two years in a row. She has won CBC’s Canada Reads and the Danuta Gleed Award.
The Opening Showcase will also feature short readings from The New Quarterly magazine’s annual writing contest winners Hollay Ghadery, Thom Vernon, and Sandhya Thakrar.
This event will be live-streamed. Attendees can attend the event in-person or virtually.
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The Literary Brunch
with Harley Rustad, Helen Humphreys, Emily Urquhart, and Alysia Kolentsis.
Join us for a refreshing Sunday morning with award-winning authors Helen Humphreys, Emily Urquhart, and Harley Rustad who will discuss their latest work, writing process, and lives as writers. Intimate, casual, and engaging – an ideal way to spend a Sunday morning. Moderated by Alysia Kolentsis.
Hosted at the Delta Hotel on Erb Street. Doors open and coffee is served at 9:30am. Brunch will be served piping hot at 10:15.
Brunch Options:
Eggs Natural: Skillet Style 3 egg omelet, breakfast sausage, hashbrown potatoes, buttermilk tea biscuit, sliced fruit
Eggs Forrestier: Skillet style 3 egg omelet, wild mushroom and roasted red pepper ragout, hashbrown potatoes, buttermilk tea biscuit, sliced fruit
Morning Power Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, chia seed pudding, grapefruit, guernsey cheddar cheese, whole grain muffin