Reflecting on Wordfest 2014

I know a lot of people worked very hard to make this happen, not least your sponsors and promoters and volunteers. A city that promotes its arts and fosters creativity is a city that will never be short of ideas and inspiration. Thank You!

—Michael Robotham, Wordfest 2014, author of Life or Death

As the chilly holiday season approaches, the Wordfest team is devouring advance reading copies and constructing a framework of engaging events for Wordfest’s 20th anniversary in 2015.

If you were not able to make it to the Festival this year, you may not be aware of the new projects that we have launched to nurture artistic expression in our community and connect our community with incredible voices.

The 19th annual Festival was a tremendous success thanks to patrons like you. I am delighted to share some Festival highlights with you and invite you to get in touch to share your feedback.

Wordfest 2014 brought readers in contact with 90 authors, including five 2014 Governor General’s Literary Awards (GG) shortlisted authors and four 2014 Scotiabank Giller shortlisted authors, in 150 events that captivated readers of all ages. The First Calgary Financial Book Rapport program wowed approximately 10,000 students from Junior Kindergarten to grade 12 in a variety of events that featured 17 diverse authors in 59 schools. The program has nearly doubled in size.

The Festival included one-on-one interviews, poetry readings, workshops, live illustrations, the second edition of Literary Death Match and new event formats created by our volunteers.

Many Wordfest events were captured for online programming including the GG Award Celebration. Video content from previous Festivals and 2014 video content is continually uploaded to reach new audiences and connect readers and writers through online platforms. The Festival looks forward to releasing more content in early 2015 using footage captured by staff and the Festival’s new Digital Reporters. Stay tuned!

Earlier this year Wordfest launched a Writer and Editor in residence program to nurture new works and emerging voices in our community. During the Festival, Wordfest’s workshops were fully subscribed and embraced by Calgary’s writing community.

This year 250 volunteers dedicated 3,000 hours to connect readers and writers through a variety of activities. An energetic youth advisory committee was formed and created White Noise Talks with the first installment, Technocreep, launched during Wordfest. White Noise Talks will continue throughout 2015 with an event scheduled in spring 2015.

Overwhelming feedback from the Festival’s popular Volunteer Reader program resulted in the first edition of the Readers Choice event featuring four of the most-discussed novels by our volunteers. The program is set to be rebranded and relaunched in January and will run until June 2015. The program is a unique platform for engaging with our community and to gauge interest in themes and topics for the next Festival.

Media sponsors including Alberta Views, Avenue Magazine, Calgary Herald, CBC, CJSW, FFWD Weekly, Mountain FM, Pattison Outdoor, SWERVE contributed to a media campaign that assisted in getting the word out. Additionally, new audiences found us on Instagram, Pinterest and Flickr as well as our revamped tablet-friendly website.

One of my personal Festival highlights took place at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. Dan Bar-El performed for a transfixed audience of young readers. After an hour of energetic tales he personally signed copies of books for all kids in attendance as well as each child residing at the Ronald MacDonald House of Southern Alberta.

We were thrilled to learn that Wordfest authors Thomas King and Marianne Dubuc were among the Governor General Literary Award recipients. Dubuc, in good company with beloved writer and illustrator Ruth Ohi and prolific author Dennis Lee, read, rhymed and won-over youngsters during the first edition of the TD Family Literacy Series. Thomas King presented his much-anticipated The Back of the Turtle to riveted fans in both Banff and Calgary with support from Glasswaters Foundation.

We continue to receive positive feedback from our community of readers and writers. I cannot thank you enough for your support.

The Wordfest team wishes you and yours a very cozy holiday season full of great stories, family gatherings and overall merriment.

Warm regards,

Jocelyn Hebert
Fund Development Associate

PS if you need some reading suggestions…