Bringing writers together

Winnipeg

A new conference with a focus on Canadian literature will bring writers from across the country to the University of Winnipeg later this month.

From Wednesday, May 27 through Friday, May 29, the U of W will play host to the Canlit, Writing, Publishing and Pedagogy conference. Panel discussions, workshops, keynote speeches, and more are scheduled, featuring writers from across Canada.

Organizers Lindsay Wong and Celiese Lypka, both writers and professors in the University of Winnipeg’s English department, decided to launch the conference, in part, as an alternative for Canadian writers who don’t feel comfortable travelling to the United States to attend the annual Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference, the largest such gathering in North America.

“With what’s going on in the south, a lot of marginalized writers don’t feel safe going or comfortable sending their money. This is a bit of a response to that,” said Wong, whose novel, Villain Hitting for Vicious Little Nobodies, is out with Penguin Canada. “So much writing is spent alone. This is an opportunity to gather and talk about writing with other writers.”

“I thought we were putting together a small conference that would be a couple people who would want to get together and talk writing, teaching writing, and what’s going on in Canlit right now,” Lypka said. “We’re at about 100 people now. It’s grown a lot. But that’s a good problem to have.”

The conference is not just for working writers or academics; students and emerging writers are welcome

“We want to keep it accessible,” Wong said, noting that a $50 rate, as opposed to the regular $200 fee, is available for students and low-income community members.

Each of the three days of the conference will begin at 9 a.m., with a number of panels ongoing at any time. A box lunch is included in registration fees.

“There’s a little bit of everything, from readings and panels where there’ll be discussions on everything from genre to trends in publishing, to workshops,” Lypka said.

“It’s a place to learn but also to have really great conversations with other writers who you wouldn’t necessarily meet if you didn’t have the opportunity to travel,” Wong said. “The conference, at a glance, can be intimidating, but you can pick and choose. Not everything will resonate or work for everyone.”

Keynote speakers include Stephanie Sinclair, publisher at McClelland & Stewart, and Cody Caetano, a literary agent with CookeMcDiarmide and award-winning author of Half-Bads in White Regalia.

“We have such a wide-ranging amount of sessions on genre, specifically. That’s what I’m most excited about,” Lypka said. “We have poetry, fiction, non-fiction, ’zines, comics, critical race theory and more. If it were me, I’d be picking something outside my comfort zone, to learn something new.”

While the sessions will wrap daily at 5:30 p.m., offsite programming is also planned, including a conversation titled “Unforgettable Characters”, hosted by Wong and featuring authors Zilla Jones, Alison Gadsby, and Hollay Ghardery, at McNally Robinson Booksellers on May 28 at 7 p.m.

“We really focus a lot on literary centres like Toronto and Vancouver, but people overlook Winnipeg as a place for art and literature,” Wong said. “But it’s a testament to how many writers are in Winnipeg who want to come to this and how many writers from across Canada are excited to come here and gather.”

“Winnipeg has a thriving writing community and has for a number of years, who are really supportive of festivals and events,” Lypka said. “Theres’ lots of opportunity to continue this work on a bigger scale in the future.”