Whistler Writers Fest tickets go on sale Aug. 21

Tickets for the 23rd annual Whistler Writers Festival will be available beginning Aug. 21. 

Guests will have 12 reading events to choose from over the four-day event, ranging from fiction to memoir to poetry. 

“The thing I’m most excited about this year is that each of our authors are bringing deeply personal or important societal issues to the forefront, and tackling those big questions many of us share, like how to be happy, or how to find meaning, or how to address contemporary concerns,” says Rebecca Wood Barrett, festival artistic director, in a press release. “We’re going to hear wide ranging discussions, all within the welcoming and intimate atmosphere our festival is known for.” 

Wade Davis headlines the festival in a segment titled "Beneath the Surface", where he joins moderator Leslie Anthony to talk about his newest book, Beneath the Surface of Things: New and Selected Essays. This collection brings together a myriad of topics, from the birth of modernity to war in the Middle East.

Poets Ali Blythe, Conor Kerr, and Rhea Tregebov will talk about confronting the personal in a public way.

The fiction reading event, which includes Caroline Adderson and Jowita Bydlowska, directly reflects on how the heart learns what it needs. 

Popular events like the Literary Cabaret will feature Dallas Hunt, Natalie Sue, Bob McDonald, Michael V. Smith and Alli Vail.

The Sunday BookTalk tackles issues like decolonization, loss of culture, mental health, privacy, fake news and more with Kerr, Bob McDonald and Leanne Toshiko Simpson. 

Amber Cowie, S.C. Lalli and Hannah Mary McKinnon will read from their latest thrillers in a panel moderated by Vancouver radio host and "Heaven Bent" podcast founder Tara Jean Stevens.

Eight workshops are also in the program to help writers of all levels brush up on their skills.

“The workshops are a unique aspect of the festival and part of our efforts to connect everyone to the storytelling arts,” Wood Barrett says. “The workshops give emerging and established writers a chance to get hands-on and learn from incredibly talented writers or have a few minutes one-on-one with a publisher, editor, or literary agent.”

The Whistler Writers Festival runs from Oct. 17-20, 2024. Get 15 per cent off tickets until Sept. 15, and 10 per cent off until Oct. 1. Visit https://whistlerwritersfest.com/ for the latest news and announcements.