Get local news like this every morning. Subscribe free below.Subscribe nowPulse NewsroomBishop’s University professor Linda Morra hosted the 2026 Quebec Writers’ Federation Literary Awards in Montreal Nov. 9, where two Eastern Townships writers were among the finalists.Morra, a full professor and chair of Canadian Studies at Bishop’s, led the ceremony at Cabaret Lion d’Or.
The annual awards recognize English-language literature in Quebec.She teaches Canadian and Indigenous literatures and hosts, writes and produces Getting Lit with Linda, a podcast about Canadian literature and its authors. The podcast won the Best Authors & Books category at the 2026 Women Podcasters Awards.The gala also marked the conclusion of the QWF awards competition for Townships finalists Brenda Hartwell and Vicky Bernard.
Neither won her category, according to the federation’s Nov. 10 announcement.Hartwell, who lives in Baldwin’s Mills, was shortlisted for the Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction for her debut novel, No Wrong Seasons. The award went to Zeenat Nagree for My Summer Vacation.Hartwell’s regional involvement includes serving as Townshippers’ Association’s community and culture chair and on the boards of The Townships Sun, the Lennoxville & District Women’s Centre and Townshippers Foundation.
She was also editor-in-chief of the five Taproot literary anthologies featuring Eastern Townships contributors.Bernard, based in Orford, was a finalist for the Prix de traduction de la Fondation Cole for Le trou dans le ciel, her French translation of Liz Howard’s Letters in a Bruised Cosmos.Olivia Tapiero won that prize for Arabes comme il faut, a translation of Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch’s The Good Arabs.Among the other winners, Arizona O’Neill received the Concordia University First Book Prize for her graphic memoir Opioids and Organs.QWF also named Edeet Ravel its inaugural Lori Schubert Writer in Residence.
The program provides a $10,000 stipend for a four-month residency beginning in January 2027, combining a writing project with feedback and guidance for QWF members.Don’t miss the next story that affects your community.Join thousands of readers getting The Pulse every morning—plus breaking news alerts when it matters most.If you value this kind of local journalism, consider supporting it.Subscribe, share and like!Subscribe nowShare
