2024 Imaginairium Homepage

The 2024 Imaginairium: 50+ Authors in 30+ Events

Boom! It’s time for a confetti cannon of imagination for your brain! Wordfest’s Imaginairium, Canada’s Liveliest Literary Festival, returns to Calgary’s Beltline neighbourhood on Oct. 15 to 21, 2024.

We know it’s going to be hard choosing between all this wordy goodness. But we know you’re ready to squeeze every bit of joy out of these six special days in October. Our insider tip? Treat Wordfest’s fall festival as a menu of life-affirming ideas. Savour your favourite returning authors. Sample breakout stars. Devour the intimate, inspired pairings. Relish the variety and talk shows, storytelling and poetry events, and the return of Literary Death Match! Add your literary dreams to the mix in our interactive How To’s.

But wait… there’s more. (There’s always more at Wordfest!) We’re also presenting tasty off-festival shows from September through December, which you will discover if you scroll to the bottom of this page. And we’ll be announcing new events throughout the fall, so please sign up for our newsletter to avoid FOMO.

This is What WonderFull Looks Like

YEAR-ROUND SCHEDULE

November

Wordfest Presents Jody Wilson-Raybould

Nov 27 @ 7 PM MT $15 - $25

Memorial Park Library, 2nd Floor
1221 2 St SW

SOLD OUT

More Info

Wordfest is honorued to welcome back lawyer, politician, and best-selling author Jody Wilson-Raybould with her new book, Reconciling History: A Story of Canada. We're thrilled to announce that she'll be joined onstage with her co-author—lawyer and educator Roshan Danesh, who has been on the frontlines of advancing Indigenous rights and reconciliation in Canada. Reconciling History is a continuation of the vital conversation fuelled by the history shared in True Reconciliation, which sparked one of Wordfest’s most meaningful in-person experiences in 2022. The conversation, hosted by Wordfest's Shelley Youngblut, includes an audience Q&A and book signing. READ MORE

Book Lover’s Dream Market

Nov 28 @ 5:30 PM MT FREE

Memorial Park Library, 2nd Floor
1221 2 St SW

More Info

Join us for a Book Lover's Dream Market. We’ve assembled all your favourite indie booksellers—Cookbook Co. Books, Owl’s Nest Books, Shelf Life Books & Slow Burn Books—who have curated selections of their fave books from 2024 to solve all your holiday gift needs. Because it’s the night before Black Friday, you can expect some sweet deals. Our friends at the Calgary Public Library Foundation will also be there with special gifts ideas for all ages that go toward supporting Calgary’s exceptional library system. It will also be your first chance to scoop up a Wordfest 2025 season pass or Imaginairium festival pass—as well as one of the limited number of All-Access passes that give you, well, everything, including reserved seating, book with tickets events, and food and spirited drink experiences, in addition to personalized concierge service. We’ll also have limited-edition totes and Lisa Brawn pins, with proceeds going toward Wordfest’s vital Youth Progam, supporting teen literacy. There will be hot chocolate, wine, beer, bubbly—and music. Come celebrate this vibrant, book-loving community we have created together. This event is FREE. Please RSVP so that we'll know how much cider to mull. READ MORE

January

One Yellow Rabbit & Wordfest Co-Present The First Bad Man

Jan 30 @ 7:30 PM MT $55

Memorial Park Library, 2nd Floor
1221 2 St SW

More Info

Not quite your mother's book club, this immersive theatre experience offers far more than just a literary discussion. Audience members will join a live performance featuring Dublin’s Pan Pan Theatre, based on a reading of The First Bad Man, a novel by Miranda July. Grab a seat and settle in as Kitty Blennerhasset, John Benno, Rose McVittie, and Freya Golden explore the first book featured in their book club, returning week after week, along with the characters of Miranda July’s debut novel. This production of The First Bad Man is a humourous, thoughtful, and occasionally unsettling look at how we engage with others, drawing on the book's themes of loneliness and isolation. Ticket price includes an advance copy of The First Bad Man. READ MORE

About Us

Wordfest™ beams out from Calgary, Canada in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, Treaty 7 territory. We are an entrepreneurial arts non-profit founded in 1996 as one of Canada’s leading literary festivals. Our small team’s mission (which is to connect the world’s best audiences with the world’s best authors) has evolved to include producing lively, accessible shows year-round, in addition to the fall Imaginairium Festival. Our unique (and free) Wordfest Youth program focuses on Grades 5 to 12 to fuel teen literacy, providing interactive experiences and class sets of books to thousands of students every year. We also produce Imagine On Air Audio, as well as online programming.

Our goal? To help you think bigger, dig deeper, and build meaningful relationships. Sign up for our newsletter here to become a part of the vital Wordfest community.

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