Wordfest is one of Canada’s largest international literary festivals, taking place each October in Alberta, Canada.

For six days WordFest showcases 70 writers, both big-name stars and new talents, in a mix of 65 events and performances throughout Calgary, Banff and the Bow Valley.
The Festival offers a wide variety of public events: readings, panel discussions, interviews, multimedia performances, cabarets, book signings, informal public receptions and more.

In addition to adult literature, Wordfest has a children’s component. The First Calgary Savings Book Rapport Programme is the award-winning education component of WordFest and runs throughout the Festival.

Festival Alumni include: Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...

, Roch Carrier

Roch Carrier

Roch Carrier, OC is a Canadian novelist and author of "contes" . He is among the best known Quebec writers in English Canada....

, Austin Clarke

Austin Clarke

Austin Ardinel Chesterfield Clarke, is a Canadian novelist, essayist and short story writer who lives in Toronto, Ontario. Born in St...

, Douglas Coupland

Douglas Coupland

Douglas Coupland is a Canadian novelist. His fiction is complemented by recognized works in design and visual art arising from his early formal training. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, popularized terms such as McJob and...

, Roddy Doyle

Roddy Doyle

Roddy Doyle is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. Several of his books have been made into successful films, beginning with The Commitments in 1991. He won the Booker Prize in 1993....

, Timothy Findley

Timothy Findley

Timothy Irving Frederick Findley, OC, O.Ont was a Canadian novelist and playwright. He was also informally known by the nickname Tiff or Tiffy, an acronym of his initials.-Biography:...

, Richard Ford

Richard Ford

Richard Ford is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel The Sportswriter and its sequels, Independence Day and The Lay of the Land, and the short story collection Rock Springs, which contains several widely anthologized stories.-Early...

, Nancy Huston

Nancy Huston

Nancy Louise Huston, OC is a Canadian-born novelist and essayist who writes primarily in French and translates her own works into English.-Biography:...

, Tomson Highway

Tomson Highway

Tomson Highway, CM is a celebrated Canadian and Cree playwright, novelist, and children's author. He is the author of the plays The Rez Sisters and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, both of which won him the Dora Mavor Moore Award and the Floyd S...

, Wayne Johnston

Wayne Johnston

Wayne Johnston may refer to:* Wayne Johnston , Canadian novelist* Wayne Johnston , former Australian rules footballer* Wayne A. Johnston, president of Illinois Central Railroad in the mid-20th century...

, Tom King

Tom King

Thomas King or Tom King may refer to:* Tom King, Baron King of Bridgwater , British Conservative politician* Thomas King , English boxer, Heavyweight Champion of England...

, Alistair MacLeod

Alistair MacLeod

Alistair MacLeod, OC is a noted Canadian author and retired professor of English at the University of Windsor.- Academic career :...

, E. Annie Proulx

E. Annie Proulx

Edna Annie Proulx is an American journalist and author. Her second novel, The Shipping News , won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for fiction in 1994, and was made into a film in 2001...

, the late Mordecai Richler

Mordecai Richler

Mordecai Richler, CC was a Canadian Jewish author, screenwriter and essayist. A leading critic called him "the great shining star of his Canadian literary generation" and a pivotal figure in the country's history. His best known works are The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Barney's Version,...

, Jane Urquhart

Jane Urquhart

Jane Urquhart, OC is a Canadian novelist and poet.-Biography:Born 200 miles north of Thunder Bay, Ontario in Little Longlac , Ontario, Jane Urquhart is the third of three children and the only daughter of Marian and Walter Carter, a prospector and mining engineer...

 and Guy Vanderhaeghe

Guy Vanderhaeghe

Guy Clarence Vanderhaeghe, OC, SOM is a Canadian novelist and short story writer, best known for his two Western novels, The Englishman's Boy and The Last Crossing, set in the 19th century American and Canadian West...

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Wordfest is supported by the Government of Canada.

External links

• GlobalFest website
• History
• Latest Word
• http://wordfestblog.wordpress.com/