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.

09/03/2026

We are lucky to count Catalyst Agents as a partner and Collector’s Edition Sponsor for ! CEO Florence Leung shares why she chose to support the Vancouver Writers Fest—and some of the different ways you can, too. 💗

Keep watching here for more videos from Catalyst Agents featuring the authors and events at this year’s Vancouver Writers Fest, taking place October 18–25 (plus special events from September through November)!

🧑‍🏫 Calling teachers and school librarians across Metro Vancouver! In all the excitement about the program announcemen...
09/02/2026

🧑‍🏫 Calling teachers and school librarians across Metro Vancouver! In all the excitement about the program announcement, don’t forget to submit your application for Writers in the Classroom by September 30. Fourteen fantastic authors are available to visit your classroom between October to December 2026.

https://writersfest.bc.ca/youth -in-the-classroom

💛 Writers in the Classroom is offered FREE of cost to schools, thanks to the support of the Government of British Columbia, Modo, Hamber Foundation, and Bonnie Mah.

📖 Tanya Boteju, Lake Life (Gr. 8–12)
📖 Joanna Cheek, It’s Not You, It’s the World (Gr. 11–12)
📖 Emily Chou, On Your Way (Gr. 8–12)
📖 Faith Erin Hicks, Inbetweens (Gr. 4–7)
📖 f***y kearse, writing and/or spoken word workshop for Gr. 5–12
📖 Sophie Li, Last Night I Dreamed of Home (Gr. 8–12)
📖 Hayley Lowe, Juni and the Anything Tree (Gr. 1–3)
📖 Willie Poll, Minnow and A Salmon Story(Gr. 4–7)
📖 Danny Ramadan, Salma Keeps Her Word (Gr. 3-4)
📖 Alex Ritany, Maybe Tomorrow I’ll Know and All the Way Home (Gr. 8–12)
📖 Erika Rodriquez Medina, Paulina and the Picadillo (Gr. 2–4)
📖 Coltrane Seesequasis, The Crucible of Pain (Gr. 8–12)
📖 Kim Spencer, Springtime in Kitkala (Gr. K–2)
📖 Robin Stevenson, The Book of Jupiter (Gr. 5–9)

The Program Guide has landed! Visit our website to browse all 94 Festival Week events now. 📖📣https://writersfest.bc.ca...
09/01/2026

The Program Guide has landed! Visit our website to browse all 94 Festival Week events now. 📖📣
https://writersfest.bc.ca/2026-festival

The 39th annual Vancouver Writers Fest takes place from October 18–25, on Granville Island and other venues across Vancouver. The themes for the 2026 Festival emerged during a year of reflection. How can a world so full of bad news still hold such remarkable beauty that sustains us? The books featured at this year’s Festival provide answers to this question, and renewed energy to resist the urge to stand idle. Join us this fall to READ, RESIST, and REPAIR; and to discover exceptional new titles from 150+ local and international authors.

Visit our website to explore the schedule, or look for copies of the guide soon in bookstores, libraries, coffee shops, and other venues across Metro Vancouver.

🎟️ Tickets go on sale to the public September 17. 🎟️

The VWF Program Guide was designed by with gorgeous artwork by local artist ❤️

We’re delighted to introduce another batch of authors joining us at , from October 18–25 on Granville Island and beyond...
08/30/2026

We’re delighted to introduce another batch of authors joining us at , from October 18–25 on Granville Island and beyond.

L.E. Fox – This Book is a Knife
Kim Fu – The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts
Elee Kraljii Gardiner – sometimes, forest
Keum Suk Gendry-Kim – My Friend Kim Jong Un
Camilla Gibb – I Used to Be a Pisces
Jess Gibson – The Good Eye
Jami Gigot – Mac and Croc
Brian Goldman – The Casino Shift: Stories from an ER on the Edge

Visit writersfest.bc.ca to browse the full list now. Full event details will be available this Tuesday!

08/28/2026

Neither storms, nor rain, nor paper cuts could stop us from getting the program guide in your hands. This coveted book contains details about the staggering 94 events that will take place at the Vancouver Writers Fest from October 18–25, 2026.

VWF Members—as well as teachers and schools across the Lower Mainland—look for the program guide in your email inbox now, and in your mailbox in the days to come! 📫

Readers everywhere can find the program guide online at writersfest.bc.ca starting Tuesday, September 1, and soon after in bookstores, coffee shops, libraries, community centres, etc. Further details to come on where you can pick up a copy of the program guide, so make sure to follow us here. 🗞️

This year’s program will engage with some of the most pressing issues of our time, celebrate books of every genre, and offer possibilities for resistance, repair, and renewal. We can’t wait for you to discover the schedule.

Each year, we are grateful to work with HarperCollins Canada and to have so many of their incredible authors join us at ...
08/26/2026

Each year, we are grateful to work with HarperCollins Canada and to have so many of their incredible authors join us at the Vancouver Writers Fest. This year is no exception.

Check out these HarperCollins Canada authors who are coming to the Festival, October 18–25, and our Special Events!

Special Events:
🥅 Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid
🇹🇼 Taipei Story by R. F. Kuang
🚨 Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel

Festival:
🎹 Partita by Barbara Kingsolver
💕 This Changes Everything by Danielle McKechnie
🐟 Lake Life by Tanya Boteju
🌺 The Golden Boy by Patricia Finn
👻 The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts by Kim Fu
🩻 The Casino Shift by Dr. Brian Goldman

Meet more featured guests from the lineup of 150+ authors who will be joining us at this year’s Vancouver Writers Fest, ...
08/25/2026

Meet more featured guests from the lineup of 150+ authors who will be joining us at this year’s Vancouver Writers Fest, October 18–25!

Aaron Cully Drake – When the World was Twice as Big
Kim Echlin – Tell Others: Storytelling for a World in Turmoil
Amal El-Mohtar – Seasons of Glass and Iron
Portia Elan – Homebound
Sarah Ellis – My Year in Fairyland: Grief, MAID, and a Lifetime of Books
Leilani Farha – Housing Inc.: A Global Takeover and Our Fight for Home
Patricia Finn – The Golden Boy
Ellie Foumbi – A New Kind of Clean

Visit writersfest.bc.ca to browse the full list now. Event details will be available in early September!

Volunteer applications are open for ! 📚💛https://writersfest.bc.ca/volunteer-information Our incredible team of 350+ vol...
08/24/2026

Volunteer applications are open for ! 📚💛
https://writersfest.bc.ca/volunteer-information

Our incredible team of 350+ volunteers is the backbone of our flagship October Festival. Vancouver Writers Fest volunteers are high school students, retirees, and everything in between. They represent a diverse and impressive range of skills and backgrounds.

👉 Volunteers must be 16 or older to apply.
👉 Volunteer roles are available from September through October.
👉 Volunteer Orientation sessions for Festival Week (October 18–25) roles will be held on the evenings of Oct. 13 and 15 on Granville Island. Festival Week volunteers must attend one of these sessions.

Apply by September 28, 2026 at midnight!

Cancel your weekend plans because we’ve found your next great romance reads. 💌📚Prepare to meet the couples from these in...
08/21/2026

Cancel your weekend plans because we’ve found your next great romance reads. 💌📚

Prepare to meet the couples from these incredible stories that are sure to make you swoon, cry, and kick your feet in excitement. The authors of these romances will also be at the Festival, so be sure to catch them from October 18–25.

🥷🏼 Love Among Thieves by Katrina Kwan
🏯 Behind Five Willows by June Hur
💧 The River She Became by Emily Varga
🥅 Embrace by Bal Khabra
📰 Let's Kiss and Tell by Joss Richard
🎬 This Changes Everything by Danielle McKechnie

We’re thrilled to introduce the next batch of authors joining from October 18–25. Mark your calendars to meet them in ...
08/21/2026

We’re thrilled to introduce the next batch of authors joining from October 18–25. Mark your calendars to meet them in Vancouver!

Andrew Coyne – The Crisis of Canadian Democracy
Molly Crabapple – Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund
Gregor Craigie – Sticking to the Facts: 10 Ways to Fight Misinformation
Edwidge Danticat – Dèy
Camille de Peretti – Portrait of an Unknown Woman
Dina Del Bucchia – Tougher Than the Rest
Patrick deWitt – Dodge City
Cory Doctorow – The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI

Visit https://writersfest.bc.ca/2026-books/reading-list-2026 to browse the full lineup now. Event details will be available in early September!

Address

1398 Cartwright Street Suite 202
Vancouver, BC
V6H3R8

Opening Hours

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

Telephone

+16046816330

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