Five years ago, we established the Kamloops Society for the Written Arts (KSWA) in order to:

(a) hold an annual festival for readers and writers celebrating the written arts;
(b) provide professional development opportunities for writers; and
(c) promote and support the written arts throughout the community.

Since then, we’ve grown the Kamloops Writers Festival into Words Alive Kamloops, held dozens of writing workshops, author talks, and other events, and run two editions of our Write-a-Thon fundraiser.

Now it’s time to reflect on what we’ve done and what we might do in the future. We’ve started a community conversation around two big questions: 1) In the digital age, what does it mean to foster a community of writers in a particular place or region (e.g. Kamloops), and 2) What is the role of a non-profit organization in fostering that community (if any)?

As part of our conversation, we are asking the writing community in Kamloops and region for their input. By completing the survey below, you’ll help us determine where to focus our energies, and we invite you to add to that pool of energy!

Thank you in advance!