When Words Collide 2026

When Words Collide 2026

A Festival for Writers, Readers, and Fans

LT

Laura Thomson

12:00pm MDT

It's a Bird. It's a Plane -- Crafting Realistic Imaginary Creatures for Sci-Fi and Fantasy Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 9Shelly Campbell The AI Argument Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 5D.G. Valdron • Jason Pearce • Cleodel Khrishna • Alison McBain

1:30pm MDT

A CRASH COURSE IN CONTRACTS FOR WRITERS Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 7D.G. Valdron Fear Factor: How Fear Rewires Your Character’s Behavior, Logic & Responses Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 9Angela Ackerman Game Theory 101 for writers Hyatt Regency Calgary - Stephen BRon S. Friedman Short & Sweet, Why Word-Economy Needs to be in Every Writer's Toolkit Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 8Alexis Marie Chute

3:00pm MDT

From Overwhelmed to Organized: Your 12 Month Marketing Plan Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 7Angela Douglas Let's Talk About Sex: Writing Effective Sex Scenes Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 9Brenna Bailey-Davies High stakes short fiction Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 8Lexie Angelo

4:30pm MDT

Book Banning and Censorship: Looking at the Bigger Picture Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 8Kit Dobson The Whole Package: Creating a Top-Quality Published Book That Jumps Off the Shelf and Attacks Your Reader (Nicely) Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 7Jennifer Sommersby Things That Make You Go: Go! A Workshop on Keeping Your Momentum Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 4Deniz Soykurumcetin

5:00pm MDT

Take your character from an RPG to a Novel Hyatt Regency Calgary - Stephen BDarren Tenor

7:00pm MDT

Goblin Casino & Market Hyatt Regency Calgary - Thompson Social HubKim Firmston

9:00pm MDT

Noir at the Bar Hyatt Regency Calgary - Thompson Social HubNiall Howell

9:00am MDT

Selling Your Book Without Platform Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 7Jessica Waite What's Under the Bed - Creating monsters who'll haunt readers long after they've closed the book Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 9Shelly Campbell Writing While Neurodiverse: ADHD Strategies for Authors Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 8Nicole Bross

10:30am MDT

15 Ways to Make Money in the Writing World Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 7Suzy Vadori Whose Plot is it Anyway? How to Master the Dominant Arc in Hybrid Fiction Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 8Kim Cheel

12:00pm MDT

A CRASH COURSE IN COPYRIGHT Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 7D.G. Valdron An Author's Guide to Longevity and Adapting to the Changing Publishing Landscape Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 5Mark Leslie Lefebvre • Robert J. Sawyer Making Monsters: the Art & Craft of Writing Horror Hyatt Regency Calgary - DollFiona McTaggart • James Downe • Kim Harbridge • Sam Wilket Queer Rep in Mainstream Media Hyatt Regency Calgary - HeraldSarah L. Pratt • Danny Ramadan • Tanya MacIntosh • Adriaan Brae

1:30pm MDT

Confessions of a Pants-aholic — How to Plot a Novel When You’d Rather Do Anything Else Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 9Claire Bonneau Surviving Publishing Hyatt Regency Calgary - DollRhonda Parrish • Jason Pearce • Margaret Curelas • Krista D. Ball This too shall pass… write what you want/write for the market. Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 5Bradley Somer • Ali Bryan • Marcello Di Cintio • Ben Zalkind

3:00pm MDT

Beyond the Bottom Line: Running an Anticapitalist Author Business Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 7Brenna Bailey-Davies Disability, Romance, and Adventure: Yes, Your Book Can Have Them All! Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 5Alex Benarzi • Lavinia Leon • Blake Ravenhart • Julie A. Christiansen • Cait Gordon Accelerate It: Writing in Flow Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 8Rosey Hwang

4:30pm MDT

Breaking Barriers: Writing, Developing, and Creating Despite Disabilities Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 7Steffanie Costigan The Most Powerful Characterization Detail You're Overlooking: A Character's Job Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 8Angela Ackerman

7:30pm MDT

Readings From Your Next Favourite Romance Authors Hyatt Regency Calgary - Thompson Social HubJennifer Sommersby • Rosey Hwang • Alix Kelinda • Lily Chu

9:00pm MDT

Open Mic Night Hyatt Regency Calgary - Thompson Social HubRandy McCharles • Valerie L. King

9:00am MDT

What Next? Self-editing Strategies for Moving Your Manuscript Forward Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 9Sandra McIntyre

10:30am MDT

Creativity & Chaos Hyatt Regency Calgary - DollAndrew Buckley • Finnian Burnett Embrace the cringe of the Canadian identity to find success Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 9Lexie Angelo Ten Ways to Market Your Book on a Budget Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 7Faye Arcand The importance of names and language Hyatt Regency Calgary - HeraldLareina Abbott • Jason Pearce • Camilla Tracy • Onyx Shelton Marketing Without the Ick: Show Up, Be Seen, and Share With Heart Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 8Rosey Hwang

12:00pm MDT

The Do's and Don'ts of Cover Design Hyatt Regency Calgary - Stephen BCrystal Kladreau Get that grant! How to win literary arts grants Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 8Lexie Angelo

1:30pm MDT

How to Make Readers Fall in Love (or Hate) Your Characters Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 9Chris Corvan Your Process, Your Way: The Busy Wordsmith’s Sustainable Writing Practise Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 7Nicole Bross Power Dynamics in Fantastical Worlds Hyatt Regency Calgary - HeraldSusan Forest • Randy McCharles • Alison McBain • Kim Cheel • Blake Ravenhart

3:00pm MDT

Why Do We Keep Destroying the World? Hyatt Regency Calgary - DollAmbre Olivari • Rick Overwater • Nikki Vogel • Chris Carolan Write-Her Rhythm Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 8Laura-Jeanne Stollery

4:30pm MDT

Developmental Editing Your Book Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 7Suzy Vadori Something in the Air Tonight: Using Setting to Reflect Emotion Hyatt Regency Calgary - Imperial Ballroom 8Fiona McTaggart The Hidden Architecture of Character Desire: How Want, Fear, and Contradiction Drive Every Scene Hyatt Regency Calgary - Stephen BSarah Brinley Cross-Genre Careers: Keeping Series & Voice Coherent Across Genres Hyatt Regency Calgary - DollJennifer Sommersby • Alison McBain • Alexis Marie Chute • P.D. Workman