Welcome to the SWG’s 2026 Conference. The Big Picture! All events are held in Regina at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel (1975 Broad Street) in the Moose Jaw Room. Free events and livestreamed options are noted. Registration required.
Friday, October 23, 2026
7:00 pm - Caroline Heath Memorial Lecture
"Wayfinding: Creativity and Community in Hard Times" with Dr. Jenna Butler
Moose Jaw Room + Live-streamed + Available on SWG YouTube post-conference
This event is free and open to the public
Join us for the annual keynote lecture by Dr. Jenna Butler. Writer and advocate Arundhati Roy advises us, “Change is one thing. Acceptance is another.” Change will certainly come; it is, as the adage goes, the only constant, and it is barreling at us in multiple forms now, whether we like it or not. Choosing to quietly accept that change is another thing entirely. In times of climate crisis, war, global unrest, and dissolution, writers hold the ability to bring communities into difficult and vital conversation with each other: our words call us home to individual responsibility and collective agency.
Register for Zoom here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NsEXTVZMSim8K8llSew0_Q
8:15 pm - John V. Hicks Long Manuscript Award in Literary Nonfiction ceremony
Moose Jaw Room + Live-streamed + Available on SWG YouTube post-conference
This event is free and open to the public
It’s a celebration of the winners of the 2026 John V Hicks Long Manuscript Award in Literary Nonfiction! The first, second and third place winners will read from their work. Winners will be announced by late September.
Register for Zoom here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5kWoCFqWTjGBuHsPZ8gE-A
Saturday, October 24, 2026
8:00 am - Breakfast
Moose Jaw Room
The coffee’s on, and the food is hot! Join Guild Board members, staff and other writers for a hearty breakfast buffet to kick off our Saturday conference events. Included in full conference pass.
9:00 am - Annual General Meeting
Moose Jaw Room
Did you know that we have over 650 members in Saskatchewan and beyond? That our staff of 8 runs programs year-round that reach almost 5,000 people? That our volunteer board of directors plays a vital role in the governance of the Guild?
Attend our Annual General Meeting to learn more about Guild operations and programs for 2025-26 and help us set directions for the new year. Your participation is important!
SWG Members who attend the AGM can claim their return mileage at $.22/km: please speak to SWG staff about submitting a claim form after the AGM.
10:20 - 11:15 am - Craft Talk
"How to incorporate Big Truths into Small (truthful) Lies in Fiction" with Melanie Schnell
Moose Jaw Room
Albert Camus said, "fiction is the lie that tells the truth". How can you tell the truth while telling lies? How can you think about craft in a way that allows for space to tell the truth (with a capital T) in the scenes, characters, worlds you create? How can you write so that your (truthful) lies land as revelation or awareness in readers’ minds and hearts?
11:30 am - 12:25 pm - Craft Talk
"The Big Questions: Why Poetry? And How? with Chelsea Coupal
Moose Jaw Room
How might our poetry impact others and ourselves?
And when our lives are full of responsibilities, how do we maintain a writing practice?
This Craft Talk will cover:
- Why poetry?: Why confessional poetry? Why does it matter?
- Writing influences: Other writers, other art, our own experiences, current events. What can our personal lives offer our art? What can our art offer the world?
- Over and Over: Maintaining a writing practice.
12:25 – 1:30 pm - Lunch
Moose Jaw Room
Catch up with old and new writing friends during buffet lunch. Included in full conference pass.
1:30 – 2:30 pm – Onstage Conversation with David Gane and Angie Counios
Moose Jaw Room
Regina writers David Gane and Angie Counios have a lot in common. They are co-writers of the award-winning Shepherd and Wolfe YA mystery series, which will soon include their fifth and final book. Listen in as they discuss the writing life, their “big picture” observations of writing and teaching, and what may be next for them.
3:00 – 4:00 pm – Panel
“Looking Back at the Big Picture" with Tara Gereaux, Alison Lohans
Moose Jaw Room
Each writer has their own unique characteristics and writing journey. While writing encompasses a wide range of craft and readers, let's dive into understanding our common history for some Saskatchewan writers. What is the inspiration behind their work, what personal and institutional challenges were faced and how has their writing evolved throughout the years? By stepping back to see the big picture, this panel of Tara Gereaux, and Alison Lohans will remind us that words are a part of something greater!
4:15 – 5:15 Panel
"Convex Futures" with Dr. Jenna Butler, Chris Brown, Ibukun-Oluwa Fasunhan, and host Christian Riegel
Moose Jaw Room
Get your wide-angle lens out because we’re looking at the future. Time and time again, new futures have had to be imagined and built, so we ask: what futures are in focus for us right now with the rise of GenAI and other LLM systems, censorship issues, and book banning? What are our current publishing trends, and do they need an edit? Are Literary Awards serving the community as they should? How do we, as individual writers, make meaningful change that adjusts the aperture and illuminates a better way forward in our industry? Let’s swap in a macro lens and dig into some of these questions with panellists Jenna Butler, Chris Brown, Ibukun-Oluwa Fasunhan and host Christian Riegel.
7:00 pm - Stories Under a Living Sky Showcase
Moose Jaw Room
This event is free and open to the public
Saskatchewan is an evolving story. Kaleidoscope skies dance across limitless horizons, checkerboard prairies ripple with passing cirrus clouds, and a legion of wriggling waters run. Prairie poets pen the personal and the profound, the everyday and the once-in-a-lifetime, the subtleties and the nuanced and the truth as it’s discovered (or always known.) These stories are not only for us, but they are also about us.
Featuring stories and poetry from Carrie Biner, Jesse Desjarlais and Aniasonwa Ekuka Favour. Hosted by Shayna Stock.
8:30 pm - Community Stage Open Mic with host Dash Reimer
Moose Jaw Room
This event is free and open to the public
Have you heard the amazing range of talent in our writing community? Have you been itching for a chance to share your own work with fellow writers? Our Community Stage Open Mic is a chance for all writers to share new or old, unpublished or published writing. Writers of all genres and experience levels are invited to perform a 3-minute piece or just listen with your writing community. Hosted by Dash Reimer.
