When Words Collide: One of the Best Canadian Writing Conferences
- James Downe
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Last weekend, I was lucky enough to attend When Words Collide in Calgary as a presenter. I’ve gone to Can*Con (woooo!) and some other Canadian writing conferences before, but When Words Collide was a step up from all of them. Happening in the Hyatt Regency in downtown Calgary, it's a massive conference with panels, workshops, special guests, live readings, lectures, and a marketplace – all of which focus on writing (with a leaning towards speculative fiction).
Friday: The Arrival
I’d never been to Calgary before. (Well, one time on a flight to Victoria we had to stop there, but I don’t count that.) My good friends and fellow authors Don Miasek and Peter G. Reynolds met me at the hotel. They both had panels at noon, so I had to decide which of them I liked better...
I got my presenter package then spent the afternoon wandering, watching panels, and meeting other awesome authors. That night, there was a live reading session where writers read passages from their books. I wasn’t brave enough for that, but Peter got up and read two of his darker poems. Good times had by all!
My Panels
I was on three panels over the weekend. Well... wait. Over the Saturday. All three over one day. I had done my research, spoken with the other panellists briefly over email, and was reeeeeeaaaaaally looking forward to all three and was not disappointed.
Panel 1: Writing Outside Our Lived Experiences
Saturday morning, I moderated a lovely panel about writing outside our lived experiences. Can we, as writers, write other cultures/religions/experiences? Should we? On the panel I had Robert J Sawyer, Finnian Burnett, and Huck Kahng. This was a big one for me. Both because of the subject matter and the panellists. We talked about representation versus appropriation, the pros and cons of sensitivity reads, and best practices for researching these topics for your stories. (Hint hint, it’s more than just google.)
I’m still not sure we can ever completely divest our own lived experiences completely from the characters we create, or even if we should attempt to, but the panel was a huge success. We presented to a completely full room, and had a bunch of really great questions. I came out of there just beaming.
Photo taken by Don or Peter The moderator's view... Robert J Sawyer, Finnian Burnett, and Huck Kahng deep in conversation. Photo taken by Don or Peter. Damn, we look good!
Panel 2: Making Monsters
At noon, I was on a panel about how we craft monsters in our writing. The panel was moderated by Fiona McTaggart, who did a wonderful job keeping me, Kim Harbridge, and Sam Wilket in line. I wasn’t sure about this one going in, but hot damn it was awesome!
Instant chemistry between all of us. I had only just met all three and it felt like we had been friends for years. We chatted about all things monster, how we approach writing scary beasties, how much to show and when, and what monsters in stories actually are. (You know... trauma...) It’s kind all a blur now, but again we had great audience participation and a packed room.
Panel 3: Cinematic Storytelling
I’ve always thought of my writing as “cinematic”, but I’ve had some writer friend tell me it’s a negative and not to promote that when talking about my books. So, when I had a chance to talk about cinematic storytelling with other authors and really get into what that means, I jumped on it. Moderated by the intrepid Chris Corvan, along with screenwriter Michael Peterson, author Rick Overwater, and my good friend Don Miasek, we hashed out what cinematic storytelling meant for each of us and how movies, tv shows, video games, and books all differ in what they can do over the others.
As with all things artistic, this is a subjective and malleable topic, but it was a lot of fun to meet and chat with these amazing writers about how they go about balancing big booming explosions with character introspection.
Continuing the Con
I met so many writers during my panels, and it’s nice to be recognized after and continue the topics with random people in the hall and marketplace. I can’t stress how important networking is, at least for me, and I feel I’m making a good impression at every writing conference across Canada I’ve been too. Sure, I’m still small potatoes, but I’m doing this the way I want and loving every second of it.
Drinks in the bar. Random conversations in the halls. Running into fellow presenters in the lounge and talking over coffee and snacks. Good things and bad. What works and what doesn’t. All of this matters so much to me.
Me and Don Miasek James Downe in moderator mode Me making friends with Finnian Burnett! Me and Finn Burnett, genuinely laughing Peter happy. James also happy. Me, Leslie Shai, Don Miasek, Peter G. Reynolds, Ambré Olivari, Rick Overwater, and Jeff R. Campbell
A How-To for Canadian Writing Conferences
I never take as many pictures as I should. I’m trying to remember, during the moment, to do so, but it’s hard.
I also recommend finding out which parts of these Canadian writing conferences work for you. I steer away from the business/accounting side of things. I’m a punk at heart, and talking money just depresses me. I’m not interested in that, and those aspects kill my buzz. I focus on panels and workshops that address the craft side of writing, and it makes me so much happier.
If that IS your jam though, embrace it. Some of my friends have no interest in inspiration. They want to get better at the business end of it, so that’s what they do.
It’s also hard to just walk up and say hi to people, but it’s so satisfying when I do. Everyone at these events is a writer and has something interesting to say. Sometimes you gotta get by someone’s sales pitch, but those things take practice too so just let them happen. You never know, you might find your next amazing read.
Canadian writing conferences are full of oddballs, so take risks and make some new friends. As always, thanks for reading!
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