The 2024 Wild Writers Literary Festival

Welcome to the 13th annual Wild Writers Festival.

I would like to begin by acknowledging that the Wild Writer Festival takes place on the Haldimand Tract, land promised to the Haudenosaunee people of Six Nations, which includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. This is the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishnaabeg, and Haudenosaunee Peoples. We gratefully acknowledge these Indigenous nations for their ongoing guardianship of this land. We agree to peaceably share in responsibility for stewardship of this land, its waters and all of its biodiversity. All those who come to live and work here are responsible for honouring these relations in the spirit of peace, friendship, and respect.

This is our eleventh festival and the first time we’re back in person since our 2019 iteration. We are thrilled and grateful to be able to meet people face to face, to see audience members chatting with writers, to see people compare notes after events.  We’re returning to our format of the readings, conversations, panel discussions, and workshops that will stimulate both readers and writers alike. At The New Quarterly our aim is to bring together a community of writers, showcasing their work in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. We bring this same sense of community and curiosity to Wild Writers, where you can meet the writers, ask questions, be curious.

The festival planning has been an interesting process to say the least as we take stock of what venues are available, which writers to bring to the festival, and generally figure out how to run an in-person event again! I want to thank Carol Motuz, Lillian Bass, Lara El Mekaui, and Evelyn Dekker for their creative input and logistical finesse. Thanks to Taylor Holmes and Sarah Caley, our Volunteer Coordinators. We are indebted to our co-op intern Ivena Yeung who works on marketing and processing tickets, and Carolyn Pegg, our Office Administrator who takes care of finances. A special thanks to Eleni Zaptses, our festival manager, who has been a much welcome asset, and done a stellar job in making sure the operation runs smoothly.

We could not run our festival without our partners at Words Worth Books who helps with programming and takes care of book sales, as well as our partners at the Balsillie School of International Affairs who generously provide their venue for our Friday night reception and the workshops and panels on Saturday.

A special thanks to our sponsors, donors, and volunteers without whom there would be no festival. To all of the writers, TNQ Board members, and to our audience members who come out to events with great energy and enthusiasm, thank you for making the Wild Writers Festival a highlight in the literary calendar.

Enjoy the conversations. Be inspired.