The Writers' Guild of Alberta strives to make the literary arts accessible all across the province, including in communities outside major urban centres that may have less opportunities for literary events.
Current and past rural and remote outreach initiatives include:
- Read Alberta Books: A travelling display of the nominated and winning books from the Alberta book awards season tours small libraries within the Alberta regional libraries systems. Author visits to select libraries are also included in this initiative.
- Online programming: To make programs and services accessible all across the province, we are focusing this year on expanding our online offerings. So far we have launched popular podcasts and webinars, and we hope to develop online courses next.
- Rural Writers in Residence: Periodically, we have worked with the Library Association of Alberta to place writer in residence in rural libraries that may have never had a writer in residence. The writers in residence offered manuscript consultations and public workshops.
- Alberta Culture Days: In past years we have taken the opportunity during Alberta Culture Days to partner with regional libraries to bring authors to rural communities. We have organized readings, author Q&A events, and writing workshops.