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Nova Scotia Literary Festivals, Book Fairs, & Reading Series

Information in this index is updated as organizers contact us. Please consult individual websites for dates, schedules, and names of featured authors.

To submit or update a listing, email contact@writers.ns.ca with all required information (including a website or social media account) and the subject line “Nova Scotia Festivals, Fairs, & Series.”

Festival or fairLocation(s)DurationSpecialtiesFrequency
AfterWords Literary FestivalHalifaxMulti-dayAnnual
(Oct/Nov)
Atlantic Book Awards FestivalHalifaxMulti-dayAnnual
(May/June)
BooktoberfestHalifaxOne-dayNova Scotian authors & pressesAnnual
(Oct)
Cabot Trail Writers FestivalSt. Ann’sMulti-dayAnnual
(Sept/Oct)
Dartmouth Comic Arts FestivalDartmouthOne-dayComics & cartooningAnnual
(Aug)
Funny PagesHalifax & Queens CountyMulti-dayChildren's booksAnnual
(Apr)
Hackmatack Festival of ReadingHalifaxMulti-dayChildren's booksAnnual
(May)
Hal-ConHalifaxMulti-dayScience fiction & fantasyAnnual
(Oct/Nov)
Lunenburg Literary FestivalLunenburgMulti-dayAnnual
(Oct/Nov)
Port Medway Readers' FestivalPort MedwayMulti-dayAnnual
(July/Aug)
Read by the SeaRiver JohnMulti-dayAnnual
(July)
SeriesFormatSpecialtiesLocationDates & times
dARTspeak: A Writers' Open MicOpen micDartmouth
(The Dart Gallery)		first Thursday of each month (7pm - 9pm)
Plum PoetryFeatured reader (selected by invitation or application); open mic; and workshopPoetry & spoken wordHalifax
(The Maxwell's Plum)		every Tuesday (7pm - 10pm)
Saint Mary's (SMU) Reading SeriesOne to three feature readers (selected by invitation); reflective introductions by the organizers; and moderated Q&AFiction, nonfiction, poetry, & spoken wordHalifax
(Atrium building, room 101, Saint Mary's University)		variable dates September through March (evenings)

1113 Marginal Road

Halifax, NS B3H 4P7

902 423 8116

contact@writers.ns.ca

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Operational Investors

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia is based in Kjipuktuk, in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship,” which Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) Peoples first signed with the British Crown in 1725. The treaties do not deal with surrender of lands and resources but in fact recognize Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) title and establish the rules for an ongoing relationship between nations.

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Simultaneous Submissions

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) administers some programs (and special projects) that involve print and/or digital publication of ‘selected’ or ‘winning’ entries. In most cases, writing submitted to these programs and projects must not be previously published and must not be simultaneously under consideration for publication by another organization. Why? Because our assessment and selection processes depends on all submitted writing being available for first publication. If writing selected for publication by WFNS has already been published or is published by another organization first, copyright issues will likely make it impossible for WFNS to (re-)publish that writing.

When simultaneous submissions to a WFNS program are not permitted, it means the following:

  • You may not submit writing that has been accepted for future publication by another organization.
  • You may not submit writing that is currently being considered for publication by another organization—or for another prize that includes publication.
  • The writing submitted to WFNS may not be submitted for publication to another organization until the WFNS program results are communicated. Results will be communicated directly to you by email and often also through the public announcement of a shortlist or list of winners. Once your writing is no longer being considered for the WFNS program, you are free to submit it elsewhere.
    • If you wish to submit your entry elsewhere before WFNS program results have been announced, you must first contact WFNS to withdraw your entry. Any entry fee cannot be refunded.

Prohibitions on simultaneous submission do not apply to multiple WFNS programs. You are always permitted to submit the same unpublished writing to multiple WFNS programs (and special projects) at the same time, such as the Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program, the Emerging Writers Prizes, the Jampolis Cottage Residency Program, the Message on a Bottle contest, the Nova Writes Competition, and any WFNS projects involving one-time or recurring special publications.

Recommended Experience Levels

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) recommends that participants in any given workshop have similar levels of creative writing and / or publication experience. This ensures that each participant gets value from the workshop⁠ and is presented with information, strategies, and skills that suit their career stage. The “Recommended experience level” section of each workshop description refers to the following definitions used by WFNS.

  • New writers: those with less than two years’ creative writing experience and/or no short-form publications (e.g., short stories, personal essays, or poems in literary magazines, journals, anthologies, or chapbooks).
  • Emerging writers: those with more than two years’ creative writing experience and/or numerous short-form publications.
  • Early-career authors: those with 1 or 2 book-length publications or the equivalent in book-length and short-form publications.
  • Established authors: those with 3 or 4 book-length publications.
  • Professional authors: those with 5 or more book-length publications.

Please keep in mind that each form of creative writing (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and writing for children and young adults) provides you with a unique set of experiences and skills, so you might consider yourself an ‘established author’ in one form but a ‘new writer’ in another.

For “intensive” and “masterclass” creative writing workshops, which provide more opportunities for peer-to-peer feedback, the recommended experience level should be followed closely.

For all other workshops, the recommended experience level is just that—a recommendation—and we encourage potential participants to follow their own judgment when registering.

If you’re uncertain of your experience level with regard to any particular workshop, please feel free to contact us at communications@writers.ns.ca