Vancouver Writers Fest

Vancouver Writers Fest The Vancouver Writers Fest is one of North America's premiere literary events. Ideas create books, but people create the Festival.

The Vancouver Writers Fest turns reading into a community experience, bringing people together to share thoughts, explore ideas, and witness brilliant conversations. For the past 27 years, the Writers Fest has enriched our imaginations and the culture of our city and has touched and inspired thousands of lives by creating a forum for authors to connect with readers and by offering a vibrant exchan

ge of ideas and conversation. The Festival is a celebration of story, told by authors, poets, spoken word performers, and graphic novelists. For six days in October, this celebration takes place in the cultural oasis of Granville Island, and continues throughout the year with the Incite reading series at the VPL, special events with leading writers and the Spreading the Word education programs at Lower Mainland schools and in small BC communities. Through Spreading the Word, the Festival can reignite a teacher’s passion for teaching, mesmerize a teenager who rarely looks up from her phone or engage a child who is a reluctant reader. Festival events can encourage discussion and reflection, and connect old friends and introduce new ones. The Writers Fest brings people of all backgrounds together—writers, children, adults, staff and hundreds of volunteers—all of whom love to read. They also love what reading represents: the stirring of ideas, the sparks of recognition, and the realization that we are all connected.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who submitted to the Vancouver Writers Fest’s 2026 Youth Writing Contest! ...
06/19/2026

We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who submitted to the Vancouver Writers Fest’s 2026 Youth Writing Contest! We had an outstanding response, with 319 high school submissions and 240 elementary school submissions. 🎉✍️

Visit our website to read the stories from this year’s winners: https://writersfest.bc.ca/youth/youth-writing-contest

High School
• 1st place – “The Cartographer of Lost Sounds” by Angela Xiao from Southridge School, Surrey
• 2nd place – "I Used to Hear Colour First” by Karen Zhao from Collingwood School, West Vancouver

Elementary School
• 1st place – “Girl in Silk” by Meilin Li from Saint Pius X Elementary School, North Vancouver
• 2nd place – “The Lake at Bellmere” by Judy D**g from James McKinney Elementary School, Richmond

Shannon Ozirny, judge of the high school contest, remarked: “Reading through all 319 entries was a joy. This contest attracts so much burgeoning talent that opening each piece feels like checking a lottery ticket... Please keep writing and sharing your work as widely as you can.”

Jamie Fong, judge of the elementary school contest, had this to say: “Congrats to all of our young writers! I believe this is the most entries we've received since I've been judging this contest... I'm always surprised and impressed by the quality and unexpected maturity in so many of the entries... I encourage all our young writers to keep writing and reading widely while developing your unique writing voice.”

Congratulations to the winners, and thank you once again to everyone who entered!

At our recent special event, Carley Fortune shared the inspiring story of her journey from journalist to bestselling aut...
06/17/2026

At our recent special event, Carley Fortune shared the inspiring story of her journey from journalist to bestselling author to celebrate her new novel, Our Perfect Storm.

Her conversation partner was her good friend, Meredith Marino, making for an incredibly entertaining and intimate dynamic. The crowd loved their deep dive into how she writes the perfect book boyfriend, the Taylor Swift songs that best represent her books, and her behind-the-scenes teasers for the newly released Every Summer After adaptation.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this wonderful evening, and to our bookseller, BLACK BOND BOOKS.

Our next event takes place on July 13: Ann Patchett at The Playhouse Theatre. (Sold out!)

📸 Catalina Echeverry

This year’s Festival lineup is growing more remarkable every day, with over 100 authors (and counting!) currently confir...
06/16/2026

This year’s Festival lineup is growing more remarkable every day, with over 100 authors (and counting!) currently confirmed to join us at Festival Week from October 18–25, 2026. 📚

Members of the Vancouver Writers Fest got a sneak peek last week at the Summer Preview event, where they browsed the list over canapés and drinks. Our thanks, as always, to the team at the lovely , located inside the Granville Island Hotel.

Mark your calendars, and prepare your wallets for some serious book hauls: the 2026 Festival Reading List will be revealed to all on Monday, June 29!

📸 Catalina Echeverry Uribe

This is not a drill! 📣 R. F. Kuang returns to Vancouver on September 26, on tour for her forthcoming novel, Taipei Story...
06/11/2026

This is not a drill! 📣 R. F. Kuang returns to Vancouver on September 26, on tour for her forthcoming novel, Taipei Story.

The ticket on-sale date is currently TBA, so be sure to follow us here or subscribe to our mailing list so you don’t miss the announcement: https://writersfest.bc.ca/subscribe

The #1 New York Times bestselling author joins us at St. Andrew’s Wesley on Saturday, September 26 at 7:30 PM. Tickets for this event will include a pre-signed, deluxe limited edition copy of Taipei Story. 📖

06/08/2026

The Reading List is taking shape! 📚 Representing the latest books by authors who will be joining us this fall at the Vancouver Writers Fest from October 18–25, the Reading List is your comprehensive Summer 2026 reading guide. 🏖️

Members of the Vancouver Writers Fest get a sneak peek this Wednesday, June 10! The list of confirmed authors will be revealed at the summer preview event, and emailed to all current members.

Although the summer preview event is at capacity, you can still become a member to receive the Reading List sneak peek by email. Membership is only $45/year, and comes with additional perks like early access to Festival tickets and a 10% discount on standard tickets. Link in bio to learn more and sign up.

Look out for the full reveal later this month!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Spring Matching Campaign over the past couple of months. We are delighted t...
06/08/2026

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Spring Matching Campaign over the past couple of months. We are delighted to share that the $40,000 goal has been reached. So, with matching funds, that's $80,000 towards VWF programming! 🎉

This was an ambitious campaign for the VWF made possible by the unwavering commitment of our matching gift donors: Bonnie Mah, Sonia Wong and the M.A. Faris Foundation.

We are so grateful for every dollar that has been donated to the Vancouver Writers Fest this spring. Thanks to your generous support, Vancouver Writers Fest continues to thrive and grow. We cannot wait to share all of the exciting programming still to come for 2026! ❤️

06/05/2026

At Incite earlier this week, Ruby Smith Díaz shared a thoughtful video presentation and a reading from her shortlisted book, Searching for Serafim: The Life and Legacy of Serafim “Joe” Fortes. Our event promotion focused on the authors in the panel conversation, and we did not do enough in advance to highlight Ruby’s contributions to the event, which were significant and powerful. We regret the omission, and deeply apologize to Ruby for the harm this caused. We hope our community will explore Ruby’s book, which is shortlisted for the Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes, as well as the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize.

Searching for Serafim is a layered exploration of the life of Serafim “Joe” Fortes, the trailblazing Black lifeguard who was was heralded as a hero, and became a cultural icon in a racist society. Ruby Smith Díaz draws from historical documents to form an insightful critique of the role that settler colonialism and anti-Black racism played in Fortes’s publicized story and reconstructs his life, from over a century later, through a contemporary Black perspective, weaving poetry and personal reflections alongside archival research.

The full event is available to watch on VWF’s YouTube channel (link in bio).

The second year of our Books & Ideas series on Granville Island wrapped up earlier this month! We were honoured to close...
06/03/2026

The second year of our Books & Ideas series on Granville Island wrapped up earlier this month! We were honoured to close out the season with author and ecologist Suzanne Simard in conversation with Robert Moor, the author of In Trees.

Thanks to everyone who joined us for this inspiring talk about Simard’s latest work, When the Forest Breathes, and the event’s bookseller Upstart & Crow.

Though the Books & Ideas series has ended, there is much more coming up in 2026. A series of exciting fall Special Events will build up to our flagship week-long Festival, featuring over 100 authors from October 18–25. Stay tuned!

📸: Catalina Echeverry Uribe

Less than a week away! Connect with nature and learn about our interconnected forest ecosystems at the Books & Ideas sea...
05/15/2026

Less than a week away! Connect with nature and learn about our interconnected forest ecosystems at the Books & Ideas season finale event on Thursday, May 21.
https://writersfest.bc.ca/event/suzanne-simard

Discover a powerful vision for the future of our forests with Suzanne Simard, the author of Finding the Mother Tree and the new book, When the Forest Breathes; and Robert Moor, the author of On Trails and the new book, In Trees.

🗓️ Thursday, May 21 at 7:30 PM
📚 Books for sale at the event from Upstart & Crow , with a book signing after the talk!
📍 Lindsay Family Stage on Granville Island
🎟️ Tickets on sale now!

Address

1398 Cartwright Street Suite 202
Vancouver, BC
V6H3R8

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Tuesday 9:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 5pm
Thursday 9:30am - 5pm
Friday 9:30am - 5pm

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+16046816330

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