Canadian Literary Festivals and Reading Series are eligible to apply for funding through the Union's National Public Readings Program. Through this program, The Writers’ Union of Canada supports organizations across Canada that are hosting public author readings by providing payment for the author's reading fee and some travel expenses. This program is only open to authors who are members of the Union.
Have we missed a festival or reading series? Please email mail@writersunion.ca the name of the festival, the city and province it takes place in, and its website, and we will happily add it to the list. Thank you!
National
- Arabic Canadian Book Fair (events in Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec)
- Canadian Festival of Spoken Word
- Freedom to Read Week
- National Poetry Month
- Canadian Children’s Book Week
- The Word On The Street (events in Alberta, Ontario, and Saskatchewan)
British Columbia
- Bookfest: Children’s Book Festival (Vancouver Island)
- Canadian Individual Poetry Slam (Vancouver)
- Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival (Vancouver)
- Dead Poets Reading Series (Vancouver)
- Denman Island Readers and Writers Festival (Denman Island)
- Elephant Mountain Literary Festival (Nelson)
- Galiano Literary Festival (Galiano)
- Lit Fest New West (New Westminster)
- LiterASIAN (Vancouver)
- North Shore Writers’ Festival (Vancouver)
- Planet Earth Poetry reading series (Victoria)
- Sidney LitFest (Sidney)
- Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts (Sechelt)
- Surrey International Writers’ Conference (Surrey)
- The Pacific Festival of the Book (Victoria)
- Vancouver Writers Fest (Vancouver)
- Victoria Festival of Authors (Victoria)
- Whistler Writers Festival (Whistler)
- Words on the Water (Campbell River)
- Word Vancouver (Vancouver)
- Word on the Lake Writers' Festival (Salmon Arm)
Yukon
There are no active literary festivals in Yukon at this time.
Alberta
- Banff Mountain Book Festival (Banff)
- Calgary Spoken Word Festival (Calgary)
- Edmonton Poetry Festival (Edmonton)
- LitFest (Edmonton)
- STARfest - St. Albert Readers Festival (St. Albert)
- Stroll of Poets Society (Edmonton)
- Taleblazers: Young Alberta Book Society Literary Festival
- When Words Collide (Calgary)
- Wordfest (Banff and Calgary)
North West Territories
-
NorthWords (Yellowknife)
Saskatchewan
- Ânskohk Indigenous Literature Festival (Regina)
- Saskatchewan Festival of Words (Moose Jaw)
- Vertigo Series (Regina)
Manitoba
- Prairie Comics Festival (Winnipeg)
- THIN AIR, the Winnipeg International Writers Festival (Winnipeg)
Ontario
- 1000 Islands Writers Festival (Gananoque)
- Albanian Book Festival (Toronto)
- Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story (Wingham)
- Antler River Poetry (London)
- Art Bar Poetry Readings (Toronto)
- BookFest Windsor (Windsor)
- Brockton Writers Series (Brockton Village, Toronto)
- Canadian Author Series (Port Colborne)
- Common Readings (Toronto)
- County Reads Authors Festival (Picton)
- Day of the Poets (Orangeville)
- Draft Reading Series (Toronto)
- Eden Mills Writers’ Festival (Eden Mills)
- First Nations House (Toronto)
- The Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) (Brampton)
- gritLIT (Hamilton)
- Impossible Arts (Toronto)
- Junction Reads (Toronto)
- Killaloe Kids Book Fest (Killaloe)
- Kingston WritersFest (Kingston)
- Lakefield Literary Festival (near Peterborough)
- Life Rattle (Toronto)
- LitLive (Hamilton)
- Northwestern Ontario Writers Workshop (Thunder Bay)
- Ontario Book Fairs and Markets (across Ontario)
- Ottawa International Writers Festival (Ottawa)
- Prose in the Park (Ottawa)
- Riverbed Reading Series (Ottawa)
- Salon du livre du Grand Sudbury (Sudbury)
- Salon du livre de Hearst (Hearst)
- Shab-e She'r - Poetry Night (Toronto)
- Spoken Word Canada
- Spring Pulse Poetry Festival (Hamilton)
- Telling Tales Festival (Hamilton)
- Toronto International Festival of Authors (Toronto) – TWUC members receive a 50% discount on tickets.
- Toronto Poetry Slam (Toronto)
- Toronto International Storytelling Festival (Toronto)
- Tree Readings (Ottawa)
- Two Women Productions (Lanark County)
- Versefest (Ottawa)
- Voices of Today (Toronto)
- Wild Writers Literary Festival (Waterloo)
- Words in the Woods Dunedin Literary Festival (Dunedin)
- Wordstock Sudbury Literary Festival (Sudbury)
- Words Aloud (Durham)
Quebec
- Metropolis bleu / Blue Metropolis (Montreal)
- Montreal Mystery / Montréal Mystère (Montreal)
- Festival international de la Littérature (Montreal)
- Phenomena Festival (Montreal)
- Imagination Writers' Festival (Quebec City)
- Salon du livre de Montréal (Montreal)
- Trois-Rivieres International Poetry Festival (Trois-Rivieres)
- Wakefield Writers Festival des écrivains La Pêche (La Pêche)
Nova Scotia
- AfterWords Literary Festival (Halifax)
- Read by the Sea (River John)
- Cabot Trail Writers Festival (Baddeck)
- Lunenburg Lit Festival (Lunenburg)
New Brunswick
- Attic Owl Reading Series (Moncton)
- Fog Lit Festival (Saint John)
- Frye Festival (Moncton)
- Lorenzo Society Readings (Saint John)
- Word Feast (Fredericton)
Newfoundland and Labrador
- Ochre Fest (Ochre Pit Cove)
- Sparks Literary Festival (St. John’s)
- Winterset in Summer (Eastport)
- Writers at Woody Point (Woody Point)
Prince Edward Island
There are no active literary festivals in Prince Edward Island at this time.
