The popular Digital Festival returns, featuring a mastercut of the Vancouver Writers Fest’s October Festival! 

Our flagship Festival this October brought together award-winning and emerging writers, along with record numbers of audience members, for an exhilarating week of celebrating books through conversations that were entertaining, thought-provoking, and galvanizing. We’re excited to now share a curated selection of 25 recorded events in this Digital Festival Release. Featuring a wide range of genres and formats, these events represent some of the most outstanding offerings from our 2023 Festival. Watch and rewatch them from wherever you are, from December 15 through January 31.  

We hope these events, many of which were previously sold out prior to Festival Week, will reach people far and wide. We've allocated significant resources toward recording high quality videos of our events as part of our ongoing commitment to accessibility for our community. For those unable to attend in person (or who couldn't be in two places at once!), we're proud to provide this online offering.

If finances are a barrier for you, the Digital Festival pass is available as pay-what-you-can. Featuring 25 events (the average cost to attend each in-person being $25), we value the Digital Festival pass at $100. We invite you to consider how much you'll watch, as well as your ability to support our investment in accessibility efforts, when selecting a payment option. 

 

SEND SOMEONE A DIGITAL FESTIVAL GIFT PASS

We think the Digital Festival will make a truly exceptional holiday gift for your favourite book lover. When you purchase a Digital Festival Gift Pass by December 22,  you will receive a purchase receipt email immediately, and within 2 business days we'll email you the access code separately in a festive email you can forward to your gift recipient, along with a printable gift certificate that can be slipped in a card or stocking. Please click here to book a Digital Festival Gift Pass.

 

ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION

Captioning is available on all of the events.

Although ASL interpretation was provided onsite for some of the events, it is not featured in the video presentations.

Your purchase receipt will include instructions to stream all festival content on demand (December 15 through January 31).

Pay-what-you-can options are available if finances are a barrier.

The Line-Up

25 fully-captioned, full-length events from the 2023 Festival are included in this all-access pass:

 

#01. The Alma Lee Opening Night Event: Page-Turning Thrills

featuring Louise Candlish, Shari Lapena, Liz Nugent, with moderator André Picard

 

#02. Roaming

featuring Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki, with moderator Sarah Leavitt 

 

#03. Inheriting Truth

featuring Janika Oza, katherena vermette, Ada Zhang, with moderator Elamin Abdelmahmoud

 

#04. Word!

featuring fanny kearse, Em Nimetz, D Fretter, with host Jillian Christmas

 

#05. Bestselling Teen Fiction for a Reason

featuring Cherie Dimaline and Jen Ferguson, with moderator Molly Cross-Blanchard

 

#06. The Company We Keep

featuring Patrick DeWitt, Catherine Hernandez, Sean Michaels, with moderator Robert J. Wiersema

 

#07. She’s A Scream
featuring Ashley Audrain, Mona Awad, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia, with moderator Jael Richardson

 

#08. Blackness as a Portal, Blackness as the Frame

featuring Suzette Mayr, Christina Sharpe, Aisha Harris, with moderator Jasmine Sealy

 

#09. Anne Berest in Conversation with Marsha Lederman

 

#10. Season of the Witch
featuring Cherie Dimaline, Anna Maxymiw, Zalika Reid-Benta, with moderator Elamin Abdelmahmoud

 

#11. Celeste Ng in Conversation with Jael Richardson 

 

#12. Smells Like… 90s Lyrics Night
featuring Omar El Akkad, Chelsea Wakelyn, John Freeman, Jen Sookfong Lee, Kevin Chong, Mona Awad, Aisha Harris, Emma Healey, Sean Michaels, Michael V. Smith, Claudia Dey, Sam Shelstad, William Ping, with host Elamin Abdelmahmoud

 

#13. The Best of History
featuring Emma Donoghue, Paul Harding, Janika Oza, Kai Thomas, with moderator Aislinn Hunter

 

#14. Book Banning in a Precarious Age
featuring Aden Polydoros, Jen Ferguson, and Casey Plett, with moderator Marsha Lederman

 

#15. Lauren Groff in Conversation with Alix Ohlin 

 

#16. Landbridge

in tribute to Y-Dang Troeung — featuring Dionne Brand, David Chariandy, Madeleine Thien, Christopher B. Patterson, with moderator Doretta Lau 

 

#17. Rebecca Solnit in Conversation with Kathryn Gretsinger 

 

#18. Chinatown: Past and Future

featuring Daniel Innes, Christina Wong, Fae Myenne Ng, Henry Tsang, with moderator Kevin Chong

 

#19. Novel Ideas

featuring Michael Crummey, Emma Donoghue, Elizabeth Hay, with moderator Marsha Lederman

 

#20. Michelle Good in Conversation with Carleigh Baker 

 

#21. Poets on Family and Time

featuring Lorna Crozier and Susan Musgrave, with moderator Hal Wake

 

#22. The Literary Cabaret

featuring Patrick deWitt, Jenny Erpenbeck, Elaine Feeney, Paul Harding, Kai Thomas, Tania James, with musical accompaniment by Benjamin Millman and the Oxymorons

 

#23. The Conversations: Jenny Erpenbeck, Elaine Feeney

with moderator Marsha Lederman

 

#24. Pictures on the Wall: The Power of Art

featuring Jeannie Marshall, Max Wyman, Michael Audain, with moderator Sirish Rao

 

#25. Not Too Late: The Climate Conversation 

featuring Rebecca Solnit, Chris Turner, John Vaillant, with moderator Matt Galloway