When Words Collide 2026

Writing has been called a singularly lonely profession. However, for those who seek to build a long-term career as a writer, finding and building your writing community, your people, is perhaps the most important thing you can do (next to actually writing). 

Join a panel of authors as they share their experiences and tips on finding and building community, and why these steps have been so important to each of them. 

Putting yourself out there can be hard for introverts, but the positives are incalculable. It’s where you find Beta readers, mentors, and support groups that will make a difference to your work and career. Engaging with the writing community is where you’ll find ARC reviewers and blurb providers, and form relationships with agents, publishers, and media. It’s also where you make friends who will join you on your journey and gain the deep sources of inspiration that help keep you going during the dark days. 

What attendees will learn:
•    Steps to finding your community
•    How to develop and grow your community – and why
•    Why finding and investing in you, and in your writing community, is critical to your long-term career. 

   Featuring a retired homicide detective, a forensic criminal psychiatrist, a divorce attorney, and a prolific author of neurodivergent characters, this panel will expose the psychology of the villain's mind and the investigator's drive. Understanding why people commit criminal acts can enrich your writing and bring realism to the crime writer's story.    Panelists will share insights and methods for developing nuanced criminal characters and investigators, discuss psychological diagnoses, and offer ideas on how to tackle sensitive topics such as trauma, addiction, and mental health.
   Panel takeaways:
   * Creating well-rounded, believable criminal characters.
   * Discovering the motive(s) driving your main characters.
   * Approaches to writing about mental health issues and trauma in a sensitive and realistic way.
   * Developing investigative characters who understand and respond to the criminal mind.

Talking about the importance of names and language while writing. It can be easy to allow oppressive voices seep into our narratives and ignore important aspects of name giving and sourcing. All cultures have sacred practices around naming, how can we utilize those practices to breath new, authentic life, into the stories we tell.

This interactive Q&A flips the traditional panel format on its head. Instead of listening to pre-set discussions, attendees bring their own questions and get answers from a cross-section of the publishing industry. Whether you're curious about submissions, revisions, contracts, marketing, or career paths, this panel is shaped entirely by what you want to know.

The science in Science Fiction need not be a barrier for readers.

From the World War II style of Star Wars to the physics-bound solar system of 2001: A Space Odyssey, authors have a spectrum of how accurate and detailed the science should be.

1. Will pages of mathematical formulae on black holes turn readers away?
2. Will characters breathing in space cause your audience to laugh during a tense, dramatic scene?
3. Do you need a PhD in neuroscience, or will a quick glance at the Wikipedia page on brains suffice?
4. Just how did Andy Weir make growing potatoes exciting?

A story's science is as much about world building as a magic system is to a fantasy setting, and communicating that to readers is no less important. In this forum, panelists will discuss the pros and cons of hard science, how to go about researching a topic, and how best to integrate it into their writing.

Conducting historical fiction research takes many forms. Some writers prefer to research, both virtually and through books. Some prefer to conduct ‘on the ground’ research in their story locations. Some prefer a combination of both. Each method has pros and cons. Join historical fiction authors Donna D. Conrad, Marie Powell, and J.C. Corry as they share their preferred methods, and some tips and tricks they use to get the most out of their preferred research method. 

Explore how authors draw on the rich mythologies, folklore, histories, and landscapes of China, Japan, East and Southeast Asia to create immersive fantasy worlds. This panel will examine the unique approaches to magic, spirits, animals, and societal structures in Asian fantasy and speculative fiction, offering insights into worldbuilding, character design, and narrative style that go beyond Western tropes. Writers will leave with practical strategies for crafting authentic, compelling fantasy inspired by these traditions.

In many tales, plot dynamics hinge on who has power and who doesn't. How are some characters marked and how does that affect their agency in a fantasy or science fiction world? How can you use viewpoint to emphasize power dynamics? Panelists will talk about how to handle power ebbs and flows when writing speculative fiction.

How do we keep creating when the world feels unbearable? This panel explores art as resistance, writing through despair, and finding joy in storytelling when everything around us is crumbling. These authors will talk about writing through the hard stuff and practical strategies for self-care when everything sucks. 

Many writers believe there are only two paths to publishing a book: securing a “Big 5” deal after years in the query trenches, or self-publishing. This session explores a powerful third option: publishing with a small, independent literary press.

Led by three first-time authors with novels debuting in 2026, this candid panel demystifies how to secure a traditional book deal without a literary agent. You’ll learn how these writers leveraged mentorships, the writing community, cross-genre publications, and conferences like When Words Collide to land a publisher. The panelists themselves met through an Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society (AWCS) course, highlighting the value of engaging with your local literary community.

Attendees will learn to identify independent presses that align with your specific genre and master the submission strategies that get you past the slush pile. Plus, you’ll discover how to turn workshops, free writer-in-residence resources, and paid courses into not only a network, a wealth of experience and material, but a robust literary résumé that attracts publishers.

Whether you are a debut novelist or an established author, a disciplined writing group is a powerful engine for professional growth. Join our panel of three seasoned writers for a strategic look at how to build, lead, and sustain a high-functioning literary community. The presentation will conclude with an interactive Q&A session to address your specific group challenges.

Post-apocalyptic fiction like pandemics, climate collapse, nuclear war, and zombie plagues is still going strong.

Why is apocalypse so appealing? This panel could explore what post-apocalyptic narratives offer readers and writers. They could discuss how politics are embedded in their apocalypses, whether "cozy catastrophe" is even possible, what anxieties their stories channel, and when stories can be exploitative versus cathartic.

In today’s dynamic literary landscape, many authors are venturing beyond the confines of a single genre, crafting stories that blend cozy mysteries with heart-pounding thrillers, or intertwining fantasy with contemporary romance.

But how can multi-genre writers effectively manage their diverse narratives while maintaining a coherent voice and a loyal readership? Join us for an enlightening panel featuring experienced multi-genre authors who will unravel the complexities of branding, reader expectations, and audience engagement.

This session is designed for writers navigating the challenges of appealing to multiple audiences without sacrificing their unique voice. Our panelists will delve into essential strategies for building a recognizable brand that resonates across genres. Learn when to strategically use pen names versus unified branding approaches to ensure clarity and consistency in your marketing efforts. 

Discover practical techniques for creating clear entry points into your various works, enabling readers to transition from one genre to another without feeling lost or confused. 

Whether you’re an established author looking to branch out or an emerging writer eager to explore new literary avenues, this panel promises actionable insights on navigating cross-genre storytelling. Join us as we explore how to protect your creative voice while engaging diverse readerships, celebrating the rich tapestry of literature that thrives at the intersection of genres. 

We live in a world made up of peoples of diverse races, cultures, and ethnicities. We often forget that colonization has had an immense effect on how we write characters. What are these colonial fallacies and stereotypes and how do we remove them from our fiction?

Getting a manuscript completed is a huge effort, getting one published is an even more Herculean task. But what adjective can be used to describe the follow-up novel, and the one after that, and the one after that… Brobdingnagian, we suppose. Join four authors who have done just that: learn about the long game, what hurdles these authors have faced from their first, through multiple publications, what helped and hindered their careers, and how do they keep going? This panel will illuminate their journeys in order to help yours!