Canadian writers’ conferences FOR THE WIN!

Wherein I chat about When Words Collide and MORE upcoming writerly events!

Subscribers of the PulpFemme newsletter might have read about my shenanigans at When Words Collide, a fantastic writers’ conference held each year in Calgary, Alberta. Because it was such a great weekend, despite bringing home a rather feisty respiratory virus, I’m gonna keep waxing on about it.

First

I went on a plane. I know. It was scary. Also, confession time: I was my first airplane trip in Canada. I’ve lived here twenty-three years, and I’ve flown to LA, Wisconsin, Chicago, and New York City in that time, but I’ve never flown to a destination in Canada. And the Rockies are beautiful! All these turquoise ponds collected at the top of the peaks from glacier melt—like, I kind of wanted the plane to keep going just so I could get a tour of the rest of this ginormous country. Also, I saw my first magpies and gas was only $1.26 a litre. Wow!

Second

With help from two friends travelling with me, I checked four bags. I spent almost as much money on luggage as I did on the airfare. Extra luggage was required as I took bookish treasures to sell at our Bard & Bloom table in the merchant room—tote bags, buttons, magnets, bookmarks, etc. This bookish bounty included my own novels and a stack of Pulp Literature magazines, plus a custom order of magnets and buttons for Favourite Human and esteemed scribe and Pulp Lit alum Finnian Burnett. (The security folks at the airport opened and tore apart the suitcase containing the 120 custom magnets. Guess it looked insidious to their scanners. Imagine their surprise when they were met with nerd merch—a bunch of Shakespeare quotes and hilarious Finnian-esque sayings!)

Third

I taught a Romance 101 class and made inappropriate jokes about Jeffrey Dahmer (forgive me); I was on a live slush panel that was an absolute blast and OMG, these writers brought the talent! Saturday morning, I participated in a panel about indie vs. traditional publishing with Order of Canada recipient and sci-fi demigod Robert J. Sawyer and award-winning author Bradley Somer (Fishbowl, Extinction). No, my impostor syndrome was not raging behind that cool façade like a coked-out banshee, not at all.

After this panel, I took novel pitches for PulpFemme—my first time taking in-person pitches for our new imprint, and it was uh-maaaaaa-zing! The Saturday night showcase entertainment was an incredible drag show—I have not laughed, cheered, whooped, hollered, and—yes, danced—that much in at least a century. It was so freaking fun, you guys. Thanks to a dear friend and tablemate, there might even be a photo of me completely blissed out on the absolute joy of the evening. We don’t judge; we joy. (Yes, I just verbed that noun.)

I made new friends, met online friends in real life finally, and hugged approximately 412 people. I’m a hugger. I can’t help it. And I get very excited when I’m surrounded by hundreds of humans just as amped up and hyper about writing and books and publishing as I am. Pretty much the whole weekend, my battle cry was Romance is social justice! and I handed out at least 100 buttons to that effect. Remember: Every story, at its molten core, is about love.

Honestly, if I could make a living from attending/teaching/presenting/paneling at writers’ conferences, I would. Just the best energy, the coolest people, SO much inspiration. (Then again, my liver might have something to say about that, even if I suspect they were watering down those gin & tonics.)

All this to say: If you have an opportunity to go to a writers’ conference in real life, DO IT.

Seriously. Do it. When Words Collide is ridiculously affordable—their early-bird price ends August 31 and is $80 CAD (!); the price after that is only $105 CAD until December 31 and then $130 CAD thereafter. When I say this schedule is packed, I mean it is packed like my dresser drawer that holds my Superman T-shirts. You will never be bored; you will never have a moment where you’re like Meh, nothing interests me. I’ve actually never attended a conference with such dense programming—a good problem to have.

Did I mentioned that next year’s featured guests include fantasy godfather Terry Brooks, the terrific team behind The Shit No One Tells You About Writing podcast (agents CeCe Lyra and Carly Watters and award-winning author Bianca Marais), AND Kevin McDonald (of Kids in the Hall fame)? *bounce bounce bounce*

But Jenn, what about closer to home?

Word Vancouver

Word Vancouver is a days’ long event with tons of programming—and free, I might add!—to celebrate what else: WORDS. It runs September 14–20, 2025, downtown at UBC Robson Square. GO LOOK: https://www.wordvancouver.ca/

Wine Country Writers’ Festival

The next conference on my schedule is the Wine Country Writers Festival in Penticton, September 26–28. The official summary from their website:

Join us for a weekend of workshops, panels, readings, and more at the 2025 Wine Country Writers’ Festival. This celebration of the literary arts kicks off with a free reading Friday afternoon, followed by a Friday night gala at Linden Gardens, and a jam-packed day of writerly events at Okanagan College Penticton Campus, including:

• A morning keynote by a featured author Carleigh Baker
• 3 cross-genre workshops offered on a rotating basis by featured writers Premee Mohamed, Miranda Krogstad, and Finnian Burnett. (All attendees will have opportunities to attend all three workshops.)
• An end-of-day panel with our 3 workshop providers to discuss current issues in writing and publishing
• Our fan-favourite 1st-page “Slush Pile” contest
• A Saturday evening full of literary fun, including an open mic. (This is a free event where attendees can share work with the broader Penticton community.) Hosted by Andrew Buckley.
• Opportunities to mix and mingle with other writers and featured guests

Since Pulp Literature is one of the festival sponsors, I’ll be attending alongside our Poetry Editor, Sierra Louie. I’ve never been to Penticton, so huzzah! New adventures await! Please find me and say hello if you’re planning to attend. TICKETS: https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/2025-wcwf-saturday-pass

Word on the Street Toronto

If you’re on the other side of the country, check out Word on the Street Toronto, Canada’s largest literary festival, where power couple Carolyn Clink and Robert J Sawyer kindly take care of our book table. You’ll find all sorts of events and fabulous booksellers. Best of all, it’s FREE to attend.

Surrey International Writers Conference

And at last check (this morning), tickets are still available for the Surrey International Writers Conference, the crème de la crème of West Coast writing conferences, which runs October 24–26, with two days of master classes October 22 and 23. Jen Landels, our founding editor, will be there taking pitches; I will be there making sure my friends stay hydrated and entertained! Full disclosure — SiWC ain’t cheap, but fancy meals are included with the full-conference packages. If you want to save some bucks, opt out of the meals (though these are a great opportunity to meet and gab with fellow word warriors). I’ve been going off and on since 2007, and it’s always a bucket-filling weekend (sometimes my bucket runneth over, but let’s not dwell on that).

FBCW Fall Writing Retreat

Looking for a quieter getaway where you can focus less on talking shop and more on writing words? The Federation of BC Writers is hosting a five-day, four-night, meals-included writing retreat at Loon Lake Lodge in Maple Ridge. I’ve never gone to this one before, so I am definitely looking forward to it, especially after hearing rave reviews from friends who’ve stayed at this scenic venue before. Join us: https://fbcwadmin.com/events/fall-into-writing-retreat. And if you’re not already a member, join the Fed and save $200 on the retreat price!

OK, enough from me for this week. Jen is going to tell me this blog post is too long (I cannot help it I have so many things to tell everyone), so I will leave you with these parting words:

Make time for conferences and festivals and writers’ retreats. Your writerly brain requires refreshment.

P.S. ONE MORE THING: We’re on the verge of announcing our SECOND ACQUISITION for PulpFemme, so stay tuned!

P.P.S. WAIT — Long-form fictionaries: Have you entered the FIRST PAGE CAGE yet? Get on it, my scribes! Rules and entry here!