Wordfest presents An Intimate Evening with Louise Penny
Friday, October 23 @ 7 pm $125 (includes 2 books)
Announcing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend a carefree evening with Louise Penny. The beloved Canadian writer (who will be in Calgary as the Lifetime Achievement Guest at Bouchercon) wants to gather with 120 of her biggest fans in the intimate Wordfest theatre on the second floor of Memorial Park Library, Alberta’s oldest library and a National Historic Site.
You’ll be treated to a lively conversation with Louise, along with zero-proof cocktails by Calgary’s Wild Folk and lemon tarts inspired by Louise’s own recipe. Every $125 ticket comes with a pre-signed copy of Miss Wolcott’s Ghost (to be released on Oct. 20) and a new paperback edition of The Black Wolf. Proceeds support Wordfest Youth, which provides free author events, busing, and class sets to thousands of Calgary students in Grades 5-12, fuelling the next generation of Louise Penny fans.
As you can imagine, this will be a truly special event. To give Louise’s most devoted readers an equal chance to gather with her, tickets will be allocated via a lottery. The lottery will open for registration on Aug. 1 via this link and close to entries on Aug. 30 at 11:59 PM. The winners will be randomly drawn on Sept. 1. Winners will be notified by email and then have five business days to purchase their ticket.
Note: This special event has been organized in direct collaboration with Louise’s publisher; therefore, Wordfest is unable to make an exception to the lottery system for All-Inclusive and Year-Round passholders, who are encouraged to enter the draw.
Lottery Terms & Conditions FAQ
How many entries are allowed?
Only one lottery entry per person will be accepted. Duplicate entries will be removed before the random draw.
If I’m selected, how many tickets can I purchase?
If your entry was selected, you are entitled to purchase up to 2 tickets. Please ensure that you’ve selected the correct number of tickets needed on the lottery entry form as it won’t be possible to change this information after the draw.
When does the lottery close (last chance to enter)?
Entries will be accepted until August 30, 2026 @ 11:59pm.
When will the draw take place? How will I know if I'm selected?
The random draw will take place on September 1, 2026. Winners will be contacted the week of September 1 with an invoice in the amount of $125 + GST per ticket, due within 5 business days of receiving the invoice. The invoice must be paid by the deadline or the winner will forfeit their spot. No exceptions.
If not all invoices from the first draw are paid by the deadline, additional names will be drawn until the show is sold out.
What if I’m unable to attend after paying for my tickets?
You must notify Wordfest immediately and no later than Oct. 11. You’ll have the option of either donating the full value of your ticket back to Wordfest in support of Wordfest’s teen literacy programming (and receive a charitable tax receipt), or you may request a refund less a $25 administration fee. No refunds will be given after Oct. 11.
NOTE: Your ticket cannot be transferred or resold. Re-selling tickets at a higher price than is listed on the ticket is strictly prohibited. The individual purchasing tickets and their guest (if applicable) must also be in attendance at the event. Photo identification may be requested at the door.
Louise Penny
Louise Penny is the multi-award winning author of the Chief Inspector Gamache novels, set in her home province of Québec, Canada. Her books, including State of Terror written with Hillary Rodham Clinton, have sold more than 18 million copies worldwide, topped international bestseller lists (including The New York Times), and been translated into 32 languages. The recipient of both the Order of Canada and l’Ordre national du Québec, her country’s highest civilian honours, her Three Pines Foundation reaches out to those in crisis and offers financial and emotional support, with a special focus on literacy as well as dementia care. Her husband, Michael, died of dementia in 2016. She lives with her Golden Retrievers Muggins and Charlie in a village south of Montréal.
Instagram/Threads: @LouisePennyauthor
Website: gamacheseries.com
Miss Wolcott's Ghost
Armand Gamache returns!
“There’s a body in Lost Nation.”
“Where?” demands Armand as he scribbles on the pad by his bed.
But the line goes dead before Chief Inspector Gamache can question the caller.
The head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec has no idea where Lost Nation is, or who woke him in the small hours of the morning at his home in Three Pines. What he does know is that the man was terrified.
And so Armand is thrust out of a deep sleep and into the surrounding forests in search of the mythical Lost Nation. And a body.
When he and his team of Jean-Guy Beauvoir and Isabelle Lacoste find both, the situation only grows more bizarre. The unidentified dead man appears to be from an era more than a century old. He’s lying in a long-abandoned cemetery, on top of a grave with a date, but no name.
Adding to the mystery, the early morning call appears to have come from Gamache’s friend and neighbor, Clara Morrow. While she denies any knowledge of it, it becomes clear there is some connection between her, the Morrow family, and Lost Nation.
Soon, Gamache and his team are faced with tracking down not just the legend of Lost Nation, but a lost ship, lost documents belong to an eccentric Victorian botanist, , and a mysterious plant not seen in a century, that might save, or take, countless lives.
As the murder investigation deepens, nightmarish spectres from the past begin to haunt the Sûreté officers, only heightened by the appearance of one of Gamache’s former and now disgraced proteges, with whom he must form an uneasy alliance.
As the ghosts begin to gather, Gamache, Beauvoir, and Lacoste, with the help of Reine-Marie, Clara, and the other villagers of Three Pines, realize that the body on the grave is far from the only death. To solve the crime and avert catastrophe they must look to rancid secrets and old lies no longer dead and buried.
The Black Wolf
The 20th mystery in the #1 New York Times-bestselling Armand Gamache series.
Somewhere out there, in the darkness, a black wolf is feeding.
Several weeks ago, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec and his team uncovered and stopped a domestic terrorist attack in Montréal, arresting the person behind it. A man they called the Black Wolf.
But their relief is short-lived. In a sickening turn of events, Gamache has realized that plot, as horrific as it was, was just the beginning. Perhaps even a deliberate misdirection. One he fell into. Something deeper and darker, more damaging, is planned. Did he in fact arrest the Black Wolf, or are they still out there? Armand is appalled to think his mistake has allowed their conspiracy to grow, to gather supporters. To spread lies, manufacture enemies, and feed hatred and division.
Still recovering from wounds received in stopping the first attack, Armand is confined to the village of Three Pines, leading a covert investigation from there. He must be careful not to let the Black Wolf know he has recognized his mistake. In a quiet church basement, he and his senior agents Beauvoir and Lacoste, pore over what little evidence they have. Two notebooks. A few mysterious numbers on a tattered map of Québec. And a phrase repeated by the person they had called the Grey Wolf. A warning…
In a dry and parched land where there is no water.
Gamache and his small team of supporters realize that for the Black Wolf to have gotten this far, they must have powerful allies, in law enforcement, in industry, in organized crime, in the halls of government.
From the apparent peace of his little village, Gamache finds himself playing a lethal game of cat and mouse with an invisible foe who is gathering forces and preparing to strike.
What to Expect
Rare Opportunity
Intimate Setting
Ticket Access by Lottery Only
Two pre-signed books
Lively Conversation
Lemon Tarts (based on Louise’s recipe!)
Wild Folk zero-proof cocktails
Audience Q&A
Show Duration
60 minutes. No intermission