News

WGA Membership Prices Increasing – Buy Now and Save $15

June 23, 2025

Following the WGA’s annual AGM, membership have approved a price increase to our member fees that will go into effect on July 2nd, 2025. You can still purchase a membership at our current prices until then with all of the same benefits for 2025-2026, so be sure to buy or renew yours now. New Membership Prices: Regular Members: $95 Senior (60+) Members: $65Low Income Members: $45 And as usual, students enrolled in full-time high school or post-secondary studies can join

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WordsWorth 2025: OURTIME Registration Form

June 14, 2025

  Week 1 (ages 11-14): July 13 – 18, 2025  [Registration closes noon on July 11th)Week 2 (ages 15-19): July 20 – 25, 2025 (Registration closes noon on July 18th) Early Bird rate: $630 (until April 30, 2025)Regular rate: $655 Location: Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP), Red Deer, AB Classes and Instructors: Learn more about this year’s instructors and classes here.  Please select the WordWorth program you wish to register for below. You may pre-order WordsWorth t-shirts and copies of the

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Tell Us About Your 2025 Books

June 10, 2025

We would love to know what our members are publishing in 2025! If you have a book slated for publication in 2025 and would like to tell us about it, please do so via the form below. All books by WGA members that are commercially available in 2025 are welcome, including self-published and ebook or audiobook exclusives. If your book was published in a previous year, past year’s forms can be found here. Submissions to this form may be included

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2025 Alberta Literary Awards Winners

June 7, 2025

2025 Alberta Literary Award Winners Announced! The Writers’ Guild of Alberta is pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 Alberta Literary Awards. This year’s award winners were announced at and in-person gala in Calgary on June 6th. The winner of the Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize was announced in May as part of the Edmonton Arts Prizes. This celebration marked the 43rd anniversary of the Alberta Literary Awards and brought together writers from across Alberta. The Alberta Literary Awards

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2025 WordsWorth Instructors & Courses

June 4, 2025

Registration is open! Early Bird rate: $590 (until April 30th) Regular rate: $630 Week 1 (ages 11 – 14): July 13 – 18, 2025 Week 2 (ages 15 – 19): July 20 – 25, 2025 Location: Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP), Red Deer, AB T-shirt: $25Anthology: $12 WordsWorth is a week-long sleepover creative writing residency for young writers who believe in the power of words. Writers will be completely immersed in the creative and diverse world of writing. Guided by established and respected

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WGA Branded T-Shirts Now Available!

April 15, 2025

We have exciting news! We’ve just launched our exclusive WGA-branded t-shirts, and they’re ready for you to wear with pride! They’re perfect for showing your support and participation in the guild. You can find them here!

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The Writers’ Guild of Alberta 2025 Golden Pen Award Recipient

April 8, 2025

The Writers’ Guild of Alberta Golden Pen Award is presented to acknowledge the lifetime achievements of outstanding Alberta writers. Past recipients are W.O. Mitchell, Grant MacEwan, Rudy Wiebe, Myrna Kostash, Robert Kroetsch, Merna Summers, Aritha van Herk, Fred Stenson, George Melnyk, Alice Major, Betty Jane Hegerat, Greg Hollingshead, Candas Jane Dorsey, Cecelia Frey, Bob Stallworthy, Vivian Hansen, Chris Wiseman, Joan Crate, and Marty Chan. Richard Harrison was introduced to Alberta as the University of Calgary’s Canadian Writer in Residence with the

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2025 Alberta Literary Awards Finalists Announced!

April 1, 2025

2025 Alberta Literary Awards Finalists Announced! The Writers’ Guild of Alberta is excited to announce the finalists for the 2025 Alberta Literary Awards. Each year, the Alberta Literary Awards celebrates the highest standards of literary excellence from Alberta authors. The WGA would like to send our congratulations to those whose work is among this year’s finalists! We look forward to celebrating your creativity and hard work, and we will do all we can to spread the word about the wonderful writing you

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 *Save the Date* 2025 Alberta Literary Awards Finalist Readings (Calgary)

February 28, 2025

*Save the Date* 2025 Alberta Literary Awards Finalist Readings (Calgary) Friday, April 25th, 20257:00pm to 9:00pm MTat the Marriott Residence Inn (Calgary/Beltline District)610 – 10th Ave SWFREE Please join us for a special evening of celebration recognizing the finalists of the 2025 Alberta Literary Awards (not yet chosen), as well as the Calgary-based winners of the 2025 Kemosa Scholarship. Readers will be announced in early April. Stay tuned! This event is sponsored by the Artists Inn Residence Program at the

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 *Save the Date* – Late Summer Writers’ Retreat 2025

February 28, 2025

*Save the Date* – Late Summer Writers’ Retreat  Thursday, August 28th to Sunday, August 31st, 2025at Sanctum Retreat11 Sanctum Way, Caroline, AlbertaOption to stay two or three nights.Registration information coming soon. Stay tuned. Please join us late this summer as we return to the beautiful Sanctum Retreat Centre in Caroline for a weekend of craft development, creativity, and connection. We are so excited to announce two award-winning Authors in Residence: poet and essayist Jenna Butler and scientist and speculative fiction author Premee

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Join Us in Nurturing Alberta’s Creative Voices: Become a Monthly Donor Today!

February 14, 2025

At the Writers’ Guild of Alberta, we believe in the transformative power of storytelling and the vital role that writers play in shaping our communities. Every story deserves to be told, and with your help, we can ensure that aspiring and established writers alike have access to the resources they need to thrive. By setting up a monthly donation through Canada Helps, you become an integral part of our mission. Even just a few dollars a month can have a

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EMAIL SCAM ALERT TO WGA MEMBERS

February 2, 2025

EMAIL SCAM ALERT TO WGA MEMBERS We have been made aware of a recent email scam targeting members of our community. It has come to our attention that some individuals are receiving fraudulent emails from scammers pretending to be representatives of the Writers’ Guild of Alberta. These scam emails may request you to download files or documents, claiming they contain important information. We urge you not to download any suspicious attachments or click on links within these messages. To help

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8th Annual Kemosa Scholarship Winners Announced

January 23, 2025

Winners of the 8th Annual Kemosa Scholarship for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Mothers Who Write The Writers’ Guild of Alberta and Nhung Tran-Davies are pleased to announce the winners of the 8th Annual Kemosa Scholarship for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Mothers Who Write. First established in 2017 by Dr. Nhung Tran-Davies in partnership with Tlicho Dene author Richard Van Camp, the Kemosa Scholarship offers an opportunity for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Mothers to obtain resources to help

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WGA Members List Email Scam Alert

January 17, 2025

We have been made aware of a scam targeting our community. Some WGA members have received fraudulent emails claiming to offer our Registrants/Members List for sale. We want to emphasize that these emails are not from WGA, and we have never and will never sell our members’ information. Any list being offered is likely outdated information scraped from an old online directory, which we no longer maintain. We have reported this scam to the perpetrators’ Internet Service Provider in accordance

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Controversy @ Noon Returns in 2025!

December 16, 2024

Controversy @ Noon returns quarterly in 2025. The WGA will host panels in February, May, August, and November. Check back in the New Year for more details about upcoming discussions. In the meantime, our December C@N panel will be available on the WGA YouTube channel, starting December 23rd at 12 PM MST.

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