THIS TICKET MUST BE REDEEMED AT THE FESTIVAL OFFICE FOR A PHYSICAL PASS UPON ARRIVAL FOR YOUR FIRST EVENT.

Admission to events 1-21. Please note that this pass does not include admission into Special Event A. 

THIS TICKET MUST BE REDEEMED AT THE FESTIVAL OFFICE FOR A PHYSICAL PASS UPON ARRIVAL FOR YOUR FIRST EVENT.

Admission to events 2-8. 

THIS TICKET MUST BE REDEEMED AT THE FESTIVAL OFFICE FOR A PHYSICAL PASS UPON ARRIVAL FOR YOUR FIRST EVENT.

Admission to events 16-21. 

In Zoe Whittall’s newest book, Wild Failure, characters encounter feelings of shame, desire, attachment and disconnection as they find themselves navigating their way through bad decisions, unusual situations, and fraught relationships.

Zoe Whittall is the author of five novels, including the recent bestseller The Fake, which was longlisted for the Toronto Book Award. The New York Times called her fourth novel The Spectacular, “a highly readable testament to the strength of the maternal bond.” Her third novel The Best Kind of People was shortlisted for The Scotiabank-Giller Prize. Her second novel Holding Still for as Long as Possible won a Lambda Award, and was an American Library Association’s Stonewall Honor Book. Her debut novel Bottle Rocket Hearts won the Writers’ Trust of Canada’s Dayne Ogilvie prize. She is also a Canadian Screen Award-winning TV writer. She lives in Prince Edward County. 

Gurjinder Basran’s latest novel takes us to The Wedding as we bear witness to the coming together of two South Asian families and the ensuing fun and drama.

Gurjinder Basran is the award-winning author of four novels: Everything Was Goodbye, winner of the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and a Chatelaine Magazine Book Club pick; Someone You Love Is Gone; Help! I’m Alive!; and, most recently, The Wedding, published by Douglas & McIntyre. A Simon Fraser University Writer’s Studio alumna hailed by the CBC as one of “Ten Canadian women writers you need to read,” Basran balances the demands of her creative life with her “other” career in the tech sector. She is currently the Director of Learning, Development and Communications at Bell Canada. She lives in Delta, BC, with her family.

Holly Hogan’s newest book, Message in a Bottle, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction in 2023 and won the 2023 BMO Winterset Award.

Holly Hogan is a writer and wildlife biologist with a focus on seabirds. During her more than thirty years as a scientist, she has spent about a thousand days at sea conducting avian and marine mammal surveys and providing educational programming with expedition teams. Her work has taken her to the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans, and every latitude in between. She has been interviewed for CBC Radio, appears in a National Film Board series called Ocean School and provided expertise on seabirds and the impact of marine plastic for the award-winning documentary Hell or Clean Water (2021). Holly is a mother of three and lives in St. John's, NL, with her husband, Michael—and an assortment of cats and dogs, depending on the day.

Caroline Adderson’s newest book, A Way to Be Happy, is a collection of short stories that considers what it means to find happiness—and how we so often seem to understand it through our encounters with the lives, and the stories, of others.

Caroline Adderson is the author of five novels (A Russian Sister, Ellen in Pieces, The Sky Is Falling, Sitting Practice, and A History of Forgetting), two previous collections of short stories (Pleased to Meet You and Bad Imaginings), as well as many books for young readers. Her award nominations include the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, two Commonwealth Writers’ Prizes, the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Rogers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist. The recipient of three BC Book Prizes, three CBC Literary Awards, and the Marian Engel Award for mid-career achievement, Caroline lives and writes in Vancouver.

Bruce McIvor (Indigenous Rights in One Minute: What You Need to Know to Talk Reconciliation) and David A. Robertson (52 Ways to Reconcile: How to Walk with Indigenous Peoples on the Path to Healing), together with author Daniel Heath Justice, will discuss Indigenous rights and the meaningful ways we can work together to advance reconciliation.

Bruce McIvor is the founder and senior partner at First Peoples Law LLP and an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia’s Peter A. Allard School of Law. He is the author of Standoff: Why Reconciliation Fails Indigenous People and How to Fix It (2021). He is a member of the Manitoba Métis Federation, and lives in Vancouver, BC.

David A. Robertson is a two-time winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award, and has won the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and the Writers’ Union of Canada Freedom to Read Award. He has received several other accolades for his work as a writer for children and adults, including being named Globe and Mail Children’s Storyteller of the Year in 2021, and for his work as a podcaster, public speaker and social advocate. In 2023 he was honoured with a Doctor of Letters by the University of Manitoba for outstanding contributions in the arts and distinguished achievements. He is a member of the Norway House Cree Nation and lives in Winnipeg, MB.

Moderator Daniel Heath Justice is a Colorado-born citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a Spears-Foreman-Riley descendant. He is Professor of Critical Indigenous Studies and English and a Distinguished University Scholar at the University of British Columbia on unceded and occupied Musqueam territory. His research extends from Cherokee literary and cultural history and Indigenous literary expression more generally, to literary considerations of other-than-human kinship, speculative fiction, Indigiqueer belonging and animal studies. His fully revised twentieth-anniversary edition of Our Fire Survives the Storm: A Cherokee Literary History, is forthcoming in December, with an updated focused on Cherokee citizenship and sovereignty.

Nita Prose’s newest book, The Maid’s Secret, is a spirited heist caper and an epic love story; a spell-binding whodunnit that will capture your heart.

Nita Prose is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Mystery Guest, The Mistletoe Mystery and The Maid, which has sold more than two million copies worldwide. A Good Morning America Book Club pick, The Maid won the Ned Kelly Award for International Crime Fiction, the Fingerprint Award for Debut Novel of the Year, the Anthony Award for Best First Novel and the Barry Award for Best First Mystery. The Maid was also an Edgar Award finalist for Best Novel. Her latest novel is The Maid’s Secret. Follow Nita on Instagram @NitaProse or at nitaprose.com.

Guy Vanderhaeghe’s newest book, Because Somebody Asked Me To, is a collection of nonfiction that invites readers to ponder the transformations Canadian writing has undergone, where it is now, and where it might go from here.

Guy Vanderhaeghe’s book of short stories, Man Descending, won the Governor’s-General Award for Fiction and the Faber Prize in Great Britain, and his novel, The Englishman’s Boy, was short-listed for the Dublin IMPAC Prize, the Giller Prize, and earned him his second Governor’s-General Award, as well as several Saskatchewan Book Awards. His novel, Homesick, was co-winner of the City of Toronto Book Prize and The Last Crossing, was a winner of CBC’s Canada Reads Competition and received three Saskatchewan Book Awards. He was given his third Governor’s-General for Daddy Lenin. August Into Winter, won the Glengarry Prize and the 2022 Saskatchewan Book Award for Fiction and was shortlisted for the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. His most recent book is a collection of nonfiction, Because Somebody Asked Me To. He has been the recipient of the Timothy Findley Prize, the Harbourfront Literary Prize, and the Lieutenant Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award in the Arts, all given for a body of work. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Member of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Brian Thomas Isaac’s newest book, Bones of a Giant, is a haunting and tender return to the Okanagan Indian Reserve and a powerful story of struggle and redemption.

Brian Thomas Isaac was born in 1950 on the Okanagan Indian Reserve, near Vernon, BC. After completing grade eight, he found work in the Alberta oil fields and in construction, eventually retiring as a bricklayer. He came to writing late in life. In 2022, his bestselling debut, All the Quiet Places, won an Indigenous Voices Award, was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction and the Amazon Canada First Novel Award and was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and CBC’s Canada Reads. He lives with his wife in West Kelowna, BC.

Daniel Heath Justice is a Colorado-born citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a Spears-Foreman-Riley descendant. He is Professor of Critical Indigenous Studies and English and a Distinguished University Scholar at the University of British Columbia on unceded and occupied Musqueam territory. His research extends from Cherokee literary and cultural history and Indigenous literary expression more generally, to literary considerations of other-than-human kinship, speculative fiction, Indigiqueer belonging and animal studies. His fully revised twentieth-anniversary edition of Our Fire Survives the Storm: A Cherokee Literary History, is forthcoming in December, with an updated focused on Cherokee citizenship and sovereignty.

This year Coast Writes features two authors from the qathet region. National Magazine Award-winner andrea bennett (Hearty: On Cooking, Eating, and Growing Food for Pleasure and Subsistence) and Huber Evans Non-Fiction Prize-winner Charlotte Gill (Almost Brown: A Mixed-Race Family Memoir) come together with writer and BC Book Prizes Interim Executive Director Megan Cole for a conversation on books and writing.

andrea bennett is a National Magazine Award–winning writer and a senior editor at The Tyee. Their writing has been published by The Walrus, Chatelaine, The Atlantic, the Globe and Mail and many other outlets. Their first book of essays, Like a Boy but Not a Boy, was one of CBC Books’ 2020 picks for the top Canadian nonfiction of the year. Originally from Hamilton, bennett is now back on the west coast in Powell River, BC after a stint in Montreal.

Charlotte Gill was born in London and raised in the United States and Canada. Her latest book, Almost Brown, a mixed-race family memoir, is published by Penguin Random House. She is also the author of Eating Dirt, a national bestseller that won the B.C. National Award for Canadian Nonfiction. This title was a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize and the RBC Taylor Prize. Her previous book, Ladykiller, was a Governor General’s Award nominee. Her fiction and narrative nonfiction have appeared in Vogue, The Guardian, Oprah Daily, Lit Hub, The Walrus and many other newspapers and magazines. Gill is a Cohort Director in the Journalism, Writing & Publishing Program at the University of King’s College.

Megan Cole is an artist of many projects. She’s an amateur drummer, dabbler in alternative photography, fibre artist and writer. She believes she has one of the best jobs as the interim Executive Director for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. Her role includes hosting and producing a weekly podcast, and she’s interviewed authors such as Billy-Ray Belcourt, Michelle Good, Joel Bakan and more. Megan lives in qathet on the territory of the Tla’amin Nation.

Susin Nielsen’s newest novel, Snap, delivers flawed but relatable characters whose heartaches, foibles, and choices will make you cringe as you laugh out loud.

Susin Nielsen is the multiple-award-winning author of seven middle grade novels. Her books have won the Governor General’s Literary Award, the UKLA Award and over a dozen Young Readers’ Choice Awards. In 2019 she was presented with the Writers’ Trust Vicky Metcalf Award for a body of work. Her books have been translated into more than fifteen languages. Nielsen is also a prolific screenwriter: her latest award-winning TV show, Family Law, airs around the world. Snap is her first adult novel.

David A. Robertson’s book, All the Little Monsters: How I Learned to Live with Anxiety, reveals what it’s like to live inside his mind and his body and describes the toll his mental health challenges have taken on him and his family, and how he has learned to put one foot in front of the other as well as to get back up when he stumbles.

David A. Robertson is an author, editor and speaker on Indigenous issues, mental health and freedom of expression. His books include the novel The Theory of Crows, the memoir Black Water, the picture books When We Were Alone and On the Trapline and the Misewa Saga middle-grade series. He has won awards such as the TD Canadian Children’s Literary Award, the Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction, the Carols Shields Winnipeg Book Award, the Governor General’s Literary Award and has been shortlisted for many others. He was the writer and host of the podcast Kiwew, which won the 2021 RTDNA Prairie Region Award for Best Podcast. In 2023, the University of Manitoba honoured him with a doctor of letters for his contributions to the arts. David A. Robertson is a member of Norway House Cree Nation. He lives in Winnipeg, MB.

Powerhouse graphic novelists Sarah Leavitt (Something, Not Nothing: A Story of Grief and Love) and Teresa Wong (All Our Ordinary Stories: A Multigenerational Family Odyssey) will discuss the unique joys and challenges of telling stories in the graphic form with moderator and author Tara McGuire.

Sarah Leavitt is a cartoonist and educator living in Vancouver, BC. She is the author of the graphic memoir Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer’s, My Mother, and Me (2010). A feature-length animation based on Tangles is in production, with release planned for 2026. Sarah is also the author of the award-winning historical fiction comic Agnes, Murderess (2019). Her most recent book is Something, Not Nothing: A Story of Grief and Love (2024). This is a collection of short comics about grief and loss that she drew in the first two years after the death of her partner, Donimo. Sarah is an assistant professor in the School of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, where she has developed and taught undergraduate and graduate comics classes since 2012.

Teresa Wong is a writer and cartoonist based in Calgary, AB. Her comics and illustrated essays have appeared in The Believer, The New Yorker, McSweeney's and The Walrus. Her first graphic memoir, Dear Scarlet: The Story of My Postpartum Depression (Arsenal Pulp Press), was a finalist for the City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize and was longlisted for CBC's Canada Reads. In 2021–22, she served as the Canadian Writer-in-Residence at the University of Calgary, and she currently teaches comics at Gotham Writers Workshop.

Moderator Tara McGuire is a writer, editor and former broadcaster whose first book, Holden After & Before: Love Letter for a Son Lost to Overdose, is a hybrid work in memoir and fiction exploring grief, motherhood and the overdose crisis. It was a finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award and one of The Walrus' Best Books of 2022. Her essays have appeared in Chatelaine, The Globe and Mail, The Ex-Puritan, Geist, Room, Montecristo, The Tyee and on CBC Radio. Along with her writing, McGuire enjoys engaging with the literary community as a teacher, speaker and moderator—she believes dialogue is the way forward.

Eddy Boudel Tan’s newest book, The Tiger and the Cosmonaut, is a noirish page-turner about a mysterious disappearance and a moving portrait of a Chinese Canadian family navigating insecurities, expectations and simmering anger in their small BC town.

Eddy Boudel Tan has been a finalist for the Edmund White Award, the ReLit Best Novel Award and the Ferro-Grumley Award for his novels After Elias and The Rebellious Tide. He was named a Rising Star by Writers’ Trust of Canada in 2021. His short stories can be found in Joyland, Yolk and various literary journals and anthologies. The Tiger and the Cosmonaut from Penguin Canada is his third novel.

Three acclaimed poets discuss their new work with moderator Tara McGuire. Lorna Goodison’s opus, The Inferno, re-imagines Dante’s classic with a Jamaican setting using Jamaican vernacular. Renowned Secwépemc poet Garry Gottfriedson has dedicated his latest collection, The Flesh of Ice, as a tribute and remembrance to Residential School survivors. Evelyn Lau examines climate change, environmental devastation and poetry in increasingly intensifying weather phenomena in Parade of Storms.

Lorna Goodison is the author of 15 books of poetry, most recently Mother Muse which was shortlisted for The Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry. Véhicule Press released her first-ever book of essays in Canada, Redemption Ground, in 2023. Born in Jamaica, Goodison has taught at the University of Toronto and the University of Michigan, and now lives in Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia. Goodison was Jamaica’s Poet Laureate from 2017 to 2020 and was the recipient of The Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2019.

Garry Gottfriedson is from Kamloops, BC. He is strongly rooted in his Secwépemc (Shuswap) cultural teachings. He holds a Masters of Education Degree from Simon Fraser University. In 1987, the Naropa Institute in Boulder, CO, awarded a Creative Writing Scholarship to Gottfriedson for a Masters of Fine Arts Creative Writing. There, he studied under Allen Ginsberg, Marianne Faithfull and others. Gottfriedson also achieved an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Northern British Columbia and a Doctor of Letters from the Thompson Rivers University. Gottfriedson has thirteen published books, including Skin Like Mine, Clinging to Bone (Ronsdale Press, 2010; 2019) and, most recently, Bent Back Tongue (Caitlin Press, 2022), and has presented his work across Canada, United States, South America, New Zealand, Europe, and Asia. Gottfriedson’s work unapologetically unveils the truth of Canada’s treatment of First Nations. His work has been anthologized and published nationally and internationally, with a forthcoming book to be published in Spanish.

Evelyn Lau is the Vancouver author of fifteen books, including ten volumes of poetry. Her first book, Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid (HarperCollins, 1989) was published when she was eighteen; it was made into a CBC movie starring Sandra Oh in her first major role. Evelyn's short stories, essays and novel have been translated into a dozen languages. Her poetry has received the Milton Acorn Award, the Pat Lowther Award, a National Magazine Award and nominations for the BC Book Prize and the Governor General's Award. Her poems have been chosen for inclusion in both the Best Canadian Poetry and Best American Poetry anthologies. From 2011-2014, Evelyn served as Poet Laureate for the City of Vancouver. Her previous collection is Cactus Gardens (Anvil, 2022), which was included in CBC's Top 20 Poetry Books of 2022, shortlisted for the City of Vancouver Book Award and received the Fred Cogswell Award. Parade of Storms is her tenth collection of poetry.

Moderator Tara McGuire is a writer, editor and former broadcaster whose first book, Holden After & Before: Love Letter for a Son Lost to Overdose, is a hybrid work in memoir and fiction exploring grief, motherhood and the overdose crisis. It was a finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award and one of The Walrus' Best Books of 2022. Her essays have appeared in Chatelaine, The Globe and Mail, The Ex-Puritan, Geist, Room, Montecristo, The Tyee and on CBC Radio. Along with her writing, McGuire enjoys engaging with the literary community as a teacher, speaker and moderator—she believes dialogue is the way forward.

Amal Elsana Alh’jooj is a passionate activist and thinker bringing attention to issues facing Indigenous communities, especially those of Bedouin Palestinian heritage. Hope Is a Woman’s Name is her debut memoir.

Amal Elsana Alh'jooj is a founder of several NGOs, including the Arab-Jewish Centre for Equality, Economic Empowerment and Cooperation, and the recipient of many international prizes. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (2006), she was included in Genius 100 Visionaries of the Future (2017); and awarded the New Israel Fund's Human Rights Award (2013). Amal has a PhD in Social Work from McGill University and a post-doctorate from the Harvard Kennedy School of Public Policy in the Women Public Policy program. She currently lives in Montreal, QC.

Two distinct new voices are showcased in this event—which has become a Festival favourite—moderated by Megan Cole. Author and playwright Deirdre Simon Dore’s debut novel, A Reluctant Mother, praised for its inventive storytelling, is a finalist for the 2025 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. Ardra Shephard was a typical 20-something until she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Her first book, Fallosopy: My Trip Through Life with MS, is a story of possibility, reinvention and the inevitability of uncertainty.

Deirdre Simon Dore is a Canadian writer. Her short fiction has won, among other awards, the Journey Prize and has been published in numerous journals and translated into Italian. Her plays have been produced in Vancouver and Calgary. Originally from New York and a graduate of Boston University, she has an MFA in creative writing from UBC. After homesteading on a remote island in BC, she moved inland where she acquired a woodlot licence on which she planted trees and learned to use a chainsaw. She lives near a large lake in the interior of British Columbia with her husband, black lab and assorted livestock. She has two children.

Ardra Shephard is a trailblazing voice in the MS and disability communities, celebrated for her sharp wit and candid storytelling. She is the creator of the award-winning blog and podcast Tripping On Air, which has built an impressive social media following. Yahoo Lifestyle reported that “@ms_trippingonair is the number-one chronic illness account to follow on Instagram.” Named one of The Kit’s 2023 Changemakers, Ardra's work has been featured in FASHION, InStyle, WebMD, BezzyMS, Healthline and other magazine and online publications. As the host of AMI-tv’s Fashion Dis and a consultant on various TV projects, Ardra is reshaping the narrative around disability. Her highly anticipated memoir, Fallosophy, continues to explore these themes with her trademark blend of insight and humour. Ardra lives in Toronto, ON. Follow her on Instagram @ms_trippingonair.

Megan Cole is an artist of too many projects. She’s an amateur drummer, dabbler in alternative photography, fibre artist and writer. She believes she has one of the best jobs as the interim Executive Director for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. Her role includes hosting and producing a weekly podcast, and she’s interviewed authors such as Billy-Ray Belcourt, Michelle Good, Joel Bakan and more. Megan lives in qathet on the territory of the Tla’amin Nation. 

Timothy Caulfield’s newest book, The Certainty Illusion: What You Don’t Know and Why It Matters, lifts the curtain on the forces contributing to our information chaos and unpacks why it’s so difficult—sometimes even for experts—to escape the fake.

Timothy Caulfield is a Professor in the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Health, and Research Director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta. He has published nearly 400 academic articles on topics like stem cells, genetics research ethics, the public representation of science and has won numerous academic, science communication, and writing awards. Caulfield’s previous books include The Cure for Everything, The Science of Celebrity, and Relax.

Engaging and honest, Ryan McMahon’s music is written from the heart and sung from the soul, following the lead of his peers Jason Isbell, Nathaniel Rateliff and Warren Zevon. With six releases under his name and two with his side project, the acclaimed trio Lion Bear Fox, Ryan McMahon has established himself as one of western Canada’s most prolific singer-songwriters, leading to multiple Vancouver Island Music Awards and supporting slots for Burton Cummings, Tom Cochrane, Mother Mother, Lee Harvey Osmond and others. On his latest album, Live Now, Ryan’s storytelling remains deeply personal, drawing on real-life stories. While firmly rooted in folk and roots, the album also explores hints of rock and Americana, creating a dynamic range to his music that makes each song an individual journey. It’s McMahon’s unique blend of folk and rock that will close this year’s Festival. 

The aim of this session is to people your stories and novels with characters who might walk right off the page. We will cover the meaning of names, explore techniques to deepen characterization, examine the hidden motivations of your fictional creations, trace their character arcs, and make sure that when they speak (and they will!) effective dialogue comes out of their mouths. Come prepared to write, read and share.

Caroline Adderson is the author of five novels and three collections of short stories as well as many books for young readers. Her awards include three BC Book Prizes, three CBC Literary Awards, the Marian Engel Award for mid-career achievement and a National Magazine Award Gold Medal for Fiction. She teaches in the Writing and Publishing Program at SFU and is the Program Director of the Writing Studio at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.